R. D. Swisher
(November 16, 1910 – March 10, 1996)
Robert D. “Bob” Swisher, Ph.D., aka Doc Swisher, a research chemist at Monsanto, became active in fandom starting in 1935 and through at least the 1940s. He was a member of the Stranger Club in Boston and of FAPA and attended the Nycon. He was one of the charter members of the National Fantasy Fan Federation in 1941.
He married Frances Kerr on March 3, 1935. They kept index cards on SF stories, authors, fanzines, and prozines. The result of this indexing was the SF Checklist, a listing of the titles of early fanzines. He is remembered today primarily for this Swisher Index, and his extensive correspondence with Astounding editor John W. Campbell, Jr.
In 1939, the Swishers attended the first Worldcon together. They went to the Second Washington Confabulation in 1941.
The Swishers hosted two of the early Boskones at their home in Winchester, MA. They brought their daughter, Frances Nevada Swisher II (July 3, 1940–November 7, 2006), to Stranger Club meetings.
Swisher also wrote scientific articles for prozines, including "Plan for a Universe" and "What Are Positrons?" in Astounding. In addition, he wrote several chemistry textbooks.
- Founding Member article in February 2019 issue National Fantasy Fan.
- Early short biography in Who's Who in Fandom 1940, page 13.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1989 — Noreascon 3 (as part of the Stranger Club)
| Person | 1910—1996 |
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