Leslie J. Johnson
Did you mean the American writer Les Johnson active from the 1990s?
(May 18, 1914 – July 3, 1982)
Leslie Joseph 'Les' Johnson was a fan and bookseller from Liverpool active from the 1930s through to at least the 1970s. He was a founder of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS), attended the 1937 Leeds Convention, and was a member of the Science Fiction Association, joining in May 1937.
Johnson was the secretary of the the Universal Science Circle, the UK's second fan group after the Ilford Science Literary Circle. The group dissolved around 1932 and in 1933 he was a founder of the BIS and became its first Hon. Secretary and later its treasurer, editor of its bulletin and journal and a vice president. In 1934, he proposed to run a Liverpool chapter of the Science Fiction League. He attended the 1937 Leeds Convention with fellow Liverpudlian Eric Frank Russell and spoke at the Second British Convention in 1938. When a Liverpool branch of the Science Fiction Association was created in 1938 he almost inevitably became its president.
From 1937 he was a partner with Ted Carnell in the Science-Fiction Service mail-order book selling business although somewhat confusingly the name on the letterhead was actually 'V. H. Johnson', Johnson's brother. Their premises in Liverpool on Houghton Street, known as 'The Office', became a focal point for local fans. The shop was dismantled in 1940 as Johnson was about to be called up. After the Second World War he launched Science-Fantasy Publications, this time using the name 'H. M. Crossen', his wife's maiden name. Frank Milnes joined the business around 1950, using the name 'A. L. Milnes', his mother's name, and shortly afterwards it was renamed Milcross Book Service. In 1951 their shop was used for the first meetings of the Liverpool Group. Milnes left around 1954 but Johnson continued, renaming the business 'H. M. Johnson' in August 1956. This operated from his home into the 1960s, until at least mid-1962. Johnson occasionally attended further conventions including Thirdmancon, the 1968 Eastercon, and the first Faancon in 1976.
He also wrote fiction, including collaborating with Russell on the SF novella 'Seeker of To-morrow', published in Astounding in 1937. A solo story appeared in Tales of Wonder #3 (Summer 1938).
He married Hilda Crossen on August 28, 1938.[1] His autobiography My Personal History of The British Interplanetary Society Liverpool 1933 to 1937 was published in 2020.
Links
- Leslie J. Johnson in Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Science-Fiction Service at fiawol.org.uk
- Milcross Book Service at fiawol.org.uk
| Person | 1914—1982 |
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