J. Ben Stark

(April 11, 1916 -- September 4, 1995 )

A fan who was very active in Bay Area conrunning and fan publishing, mainly in the 50s through the 70s. He lived in El Cerrito, California, and published The Index of Science Fiction Magazines 1951-1965 (compiled by Norm Metcalf) in 1968.

He was one of the key players in San Francisco in '64 (which brought Pacificon II to the Bay Area and with Al haLevy he chaired Pacificon II, the 1964 Worldcon in Oakland, CA and thus was at the center of the Breendoggle. He was also part of the unsuccessful Baycon II in '72 Worldcon bid.

He chaired the Westercon which was part of SFCon (it was held Friday, September 3 1954) while Worldcon, with separate chairmen and GoHs, was held the Saturday September 4th through Monday September 6th. He was also involved in the unsuccessful Burlingame in '66 and Burlingame in '67 Westercon bids.

The Index of Science Fiction Magazines 1951-1965 seems to have been fraught. Norm Metcalf, who was to do the research while Stark did the publishing, seems to have been a perfectionist. Stark eventually gave up on waiting and published what he had and Metcalf never forgave him.

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Person

1916—1995

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