Terry Overton

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Terence 'Terry' K. Overton was a UK fan from Abertridwr near Cardiff in Wales active in the 1930s and into the 1960s. He produced the first Welsh fanzine and was the first Welsh fan to attend a convention, the Midvention in 1943. He was an early member of the British Fantasy Society and served on its advisory board. He was also a member of the Science Fantasy Society. At the time of his military call-up in 1944, J. Michael Rosenblum said, 'Mr. Overton was a comparatively new fan, who was just making his mark on the Anglofan scene, a process which we hope will continue.'

Overton is first mentioned in Futurian War Digest #6 (March 1941). The first issue of his Galaxy went out as a rider with #22 in August 1942. It was the first fanzine issued from Wales and ran for seven issues. He also produced the single-issue Colossus with Donald Houston and there was talk that this might transform into a fanzine to be called Phoenix but there's no evidence this happened. He attended the Midvention in 1943, travelling overnight on the train to get there. On the Saturday evening he opposed the motion in the formal debate on the question proposed by Bert Lewis that 'there should be no precise line of demarcation between s-f and Fantasy'.

He appeared on the first membership list of the British Fantasy Society and quickly became active within the group, serving on its advisory board and advocating for sections for bibliophiles and weird fiction enthusiasts and that the Society subscribe to Astounding and Weird Tales. The weird section was successful but Overton had to relinquish his directorship to Arthur F. Hillman when he was called up in February 1944. He continued to be active, meeting other fans when circumstances allowed.

After the War he attended the Whitcon in 1948, Loncon in 1949 and the Festivention in 1951.

His is listed in Ron Bennett's Directory of Science Fiction Fandom for 1955 at an address in Essex. He is mentioned a few times in Skyrack with a change of address to Colchester in February 1964 and he was a member of Loncon II in 1965.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Colossus [1943] (with Donald Houston)
• Galaxy [1942–3] (distributed with Futurian War Digest)
• Phoenix (projected by seemingly never produced)

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