Richard E. Geis
(July 19, 1927 – February 4, 2013)
Dick Geis, initialized REG, a fan and writer from Portland, OR, is probably best known for his Hugo-nominated fan writing and multiple-Hugo-nominated-and-winning fanzines, Psychotic, Science Fiction Review, The Alien Critic, The Geis Letter, and Richard E. Geis -- A Personal Journal. In the late 1970s, he wrote "The Alien Viewpoint" essay column for Galaxy.
Geis published some of the most interesting and controversial fanzines from the 1950s to the 1980s but he did not publish continuously. He had a long absence due to his professional, mostly pornographic, writing career. His fanzine publishing is also a bibliographer's nightmare.
Psychotic was a highly regarded fannish fanzine for 20 issues (1953-1955), then he changed it to a sercon title, Science Fiction Review for the last issue, #21. When he resurfaced with Psychotic in 1967, he continued the numbering from the last issue of Psychotic (#21). With #28 a year later, he again changed the title to Science Fiction Review until #43 in 1971. He then started a new fanzine Richard E. Geis in 1972 and for three issues then changed the title to The Alien Critic in 1973 and published it to issue #11. With #12 (1975), he changed the title to, of course, Science Fiction Review. He kept this title and numbering into the mid-1980s. Just to keep things interesting, he also published Controversy in Review, Conspiracy Newsletter, and Richard E. Geis -- A Personal Journal as a perzine. He was a member of The Cult.
Throughout all this period, Geis' fanzines were full of highly opinionated, inciteful, argumentative and entertaining material. From 1967, for nearly 20 years, Psychotic and Science Fiction Review et al. were focal point fanzines. Big-name authors and fans were regular contributors or wrote major letters of comment. The zines were filled with controversial views and reviews. Some often resulting in highly emotional feuds. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the zine were its editorials. Geis kept his "psychotic" personality in these by making them conversations (sometimes even arguments) between himself and his "Alter Ego" personality.
He was nominated for Best Fan Writer from 1970-1986 missing only 1972 and won in 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977 (tied with Susan Wood), 1978, 1982 and 1983.
His publications were nominated for the Hugo Award for every year they were eligible in 1956 and from 1968-1987. Psychotic was nominated for the 1968 Best Fanzine Hugo. Science Fiction Review was nominated for the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1969-1971. The Alien Critic won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1974 (in a tie with Algol) and in 1975. Science Fiction Review was again nominated from 1976-1983, winning in 1977 and 1979. When the Best Semiprozine Hugo was created SFR was nominated for it from 1984-1987.
In all, he received a astonishing total of 30 Hugo nominations and 8 Hugos.
He was honored with a LASFS Fanquet in 1960, and it was rumored that he turned down numerous invitations to be Fan GoH at conventions. (He was quite a recluse and even when he was most fannishly active, he did not attend local club meeting or conventions.) He was GoH at OryCon 1.
In 1980, he wrote and published a one-shot, Star Whores, a mimeographed pornographic science fiction novel. As of 2005, Geis said he had published 114 books, "110 of them soft-core porn." A few are SF.
Fanzines and Apazines: Geis' fanzines are a/ c/o/m/p/l/i/c/a/t/e/d/ m/e/s/s/ many and varied. For clarity, we will present them here in time order rather than alphabetic order. In particular, Science Fiction Review, Psychotic, Richard E. Geis, The Alien Critic, and TAC can all be considered phases of one fanzine usually known as Science Fiction Review.
| Dates | Title | Issues | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–???? | Schizo | For 7APA | ||
| Jul 1953–Oct-Nov 1955 | Psychotic | 1-27 | ||
| 1955–1971 | Science Fiction Review | 21-43 | ||
| 1967–1969 | Psychotic | 21-27 | ||
| 1969–1971 | Science Fiction Review | 28-43 | ||
| 1971–1972 | Richard E. Geis (Fanzine) | 1-3 | ||
| Jan 1973 -- Nov 1974 | The Alien Critic | 4-11 | ||
| 1975 -- 1975 | Science Fiction Review (TAC) | 12-13 | ||
| Feb 1975 -- Win 1986 | Science Fiction Review | V4#1-V15#4 (No. 61) | ||
| 1975 | Richard E. Geis -- A Personal Journal | 1-3 | ||
| 1978-1981 | Richard E. Geis -- A Personal Journal | 1-23 | Second series; numbers restarts at 1 | |
| 1980 | Star Whores | 1 | A mimeo one-shot | |
| early 80s | Conspiracy Newsletter | 1-77 | ||
| 1985-86 | The Naked Id | 1-14? | ||
| 1980s | Controversy in Review | 1-16 | ||
| late 80s | There was also a FAPA contribution in this period named Richard E. Geis | |||
| Spr 1990 -- May 1992 | Science Fiction Review | 1-10 | ed. now Elton Elliott | |
| 1995-96 | Taboo Science Fiction | 1-2 | ||
| 1990-2000 | The Geis Letter | 1-71 | ||
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
| Person | 1927—2013 |
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