Forgotten Magazine: Fantastic Science Fiction, July, 1960
Here's the story about why I'm reporting on this magazine. A friend (the former college president here) and I were talking about a round-robin story we'd read in an SF magazine in the '50s. We thought it was in either Amazing or Fantastic, but we we looked through all our digests and couldn't find it. That's because it was published in 1960, which I discovered by asking the knowledgeable folks on Fictionmags. So now that I had the info on the right magazine, I could reread the story. So I did.
Both my friend and I remembered this story as being wonderful. I think that must have been because of the novelty of it. Neither of us had ever read a round-robin story before. I don't believe I've read one since. I no longer think the story's wonderful. I'm not even sure I understand it. The only part I remembered on the reread was the one written by Robert Sheckley. I'm not sure why that is. I'm also not sure what to say about the story, so I'll just let you read what the magazine's editorial director (Norman M.
Lobsenz) had to say about it.
Here's the story about why I'm reporting on this magazine. A friend (the former college president here) and I were talking about a round-robin story we'd read in an SF magazine in the '50s. We thought it was in either Amazing or Fantastic, but we we looked through all our digests and couldn't find it. That's because it was published in 1960, which I discovered by asking the knowledgeable folks on Fictionmags. So now that I had the info on the right magazine, I could reread the story. So I did.
Both my friend and I remembered this story as being wonderful. I think that must have been because of the novelty of it. Neither of us had ever read a round-robin story before. I don't believe I've read one since. I no longer think the story's wonderful. I'm not even sure I understand it. The only part I remembered on the reread was the one written by Robert Sheckley. I'm not sure why that is. I'm also not sure what to say about the story, so I'll just let you read what the magazine's editorial director (Norman M. 
5 comments:
Asimov noted in his IN JOY STILL FELT (memoirs v. 2) that any one of the writers involved could've produced a better story on his own. Still haven't read it yet. Round robins can be fun...but at times, too many, more fun to write than read...
The editor certainly makes it sound great. Too bad it’s a dud.
Norman Lobsenz, NL, the Editorial Director, was never the editor of the magazine...he mostly wrote the slick but empty editorials and responses to the readers in the letter column, while editor Cele Goldsmith, later Cele Lalli did all the editing. She was young when she took on the job, and Ziff-Davis didn't want her to be left on her own. After they sold the fiction magazines out from under her in 1965, she moved over to the ZD bridal magazines, MODERN BRIDE and all, and she retired after a few decades of that, including more than a decade as editor in chief and being the most influential editor in that field.
Many things we read as youngsters and loved are difficult to read today. As our minds mature, those early stories no longer grab our attention. Not to say they weren't wonderful back then, it's just that our mind (intellect?) has changed.
Good memories. The Cele Goldsmith years were an important part of my teen-age years, regardless of story quality. I remember another round-robin from those mags and years, a Lovecraftian-themed story that I liked at the time.
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