Walter Alexander Willis (1919–1999) was a well-known Irish
science fiction fan
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...
, resident in Belfast.
Work
Willis was awarded a 1958
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
as "Outstanding Actifan" (active fan), which replaced the Best Fanzine category that year. He was nominated for a best fan writer
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...
in 1969 and two
retro-Hugo
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
s in the same category (in 2001, 2004 for work in 1951, 1954). In 1959 and 1957 he was nominated in the fanzine category for ''Hyphen'', and he received
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
retro-Hugo
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
nominations in 2004 for ''Slant'' and ''Hyphen''. He shared a retro-Hugo for ''Slant'' with that fanzine's art editor
James White.
His best known single work is ''
The Enchanted Duplicator
''The Enchanted Duplicator'' is science fiction fan fiction written by Walt Willis and Bob Shaw. It was originally published in February 1954, in an edition of 200 numbered copies, and has been reprinted many times, notably in an edition illustra ...
'' (1954), co-written with
Bob Shaw
Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" ...
, an allegory of a fan's quest to produce the perfect fanzine. This appeared to be closely modeled on
The Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...
by
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
(though Willis and Shaw denied having read it beforehand).
Along with White, Shaw, George Charters, Ian McAulay, and John Berry (an English policeman then with the Belfast force), Willis represented the influential Irish Fandom, also known as the Wheels of IF (named after the
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
fantasy story and collection). Willis, White and Shaw were also referred to as the Belfast Triangle.
Willis was known for his droll, humorous writing, especially in a column "The Harp That Once or Twice" that began in the US fanzine ''Quandry'' edited by
Lee Hoffman
Lee Hoffman, born Shirley Bell Hoffman, (August 14, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois – February 6, 2007 in Port Charlotte, Florida) was an American science fiction fan, an editor of early folk music fanzines, and an author of science fiction, Wester ...
in 1951. This led to Willis's fame in US science fiction fandom and to his attending the 1952
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
in Chicago as a special guest, recipient of travel funds raised by fans, under the leadership of fan Shelby Vick, who called the fund-raising "the Willis Campaign," with the slogan, "WAW with the crew in '52!" which led to the establishment of the annual
TransAtlantic Fan Fund
The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, often known as ''TAFF'', is a crowdfunding project created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular members of science fiction fandom familiar to fans on both sides of the ocean, acro ...
. Willis published the founding document for TAFF in "Hyphen 4" (October 1953) following a discussion with "the available leaders of British fandom" at that year's Coroncon.
"The Birth of TAFF October 1953"
/ref> This in turn inspired funds such as the Down Under Fan Fund
The Down Under Fan Fund, also known as ''DUFF'', was created in 1970 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular members of science fiction fandom familiar to fans on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
History
DUFF was create ...
between Australia and the United States and the Get Up and over Fan Fund (GUFF) between Britain and Australia. Willis's humorous articles about his trip (later collected in a single volume as ''The Harp Stateside'' (1957)) established the tradition of fund-winners (and other fan travelers) writing trip reports, usually as separate chapters printed in different fanzines on both sides of the funded trip. The Willis Campaign was not the first attempt by fans to arrange such a visit, but its huge success in promoting international good will encouraged the regular fan funds and also various one-off individual travel funds.
From 1952 to 1959 Willis wrote the ''Fanorama'' column in the British science fiction magazine ''Nebula''.
He attended the 1992 Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
in Orlando, Florida, as the Fan Guest of Honor.
He published one book professionally, under the pseudonym Walter Bryan: ''The Improbable Irish'' (1969), a linked sequence of mostly humorous essays about Ireland, its history and its people.
In 1980, Richard Bergeron, also a former publisher of Willis's fan writing, produced a 600-page hardcover mimeographed fanzine, issue 28 of his fanzine ''Warhoon'', devoted to collecting most of Willis's fannish writings.
References
External links
''The Enchanted Duplicator'' (1954)
''Hyphen'' (1952-1965; 1987)
''Slant'' (1948-1953)
''Fanorama'' column in ''Nebula'' (1952-1959)
''The Willis Papers'' (1961)
"Fan Funds home page"
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Walt
1919 births
1999 deaths
Irish male writers
Science fiction writers from Northern Ireland
20th-century British writers
Hugo Award-winning fan writers
20th-century male writers