Ulf Westblom
(1951 --)
Ulf Westblom appeared in Swedish fandom as a full-fledged fanzine publisher in 1967, when the first issue of his S.S.F.S. Fanzine arribed in the mails. Then a student in a Stockholm high school, he had formed his own club, modestly named the Swedish Science Fiction Society, and started to publish. After the first six issues, in mid-1968, his fanzine changed its name to Mentat och survived for a further six issues, now as a major fan publication. After its demise in 1970, Westblom along with his close fan associates Torkel Franzén, Per Insulander, and John Ågren, instead began publishing the fannish DNQ, which had seven issues before finally folding in 1981. Before then, Westblom and Insulander, both studying medicine at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, also put on the 1972 Stockholm sf convention SF•72, the first Swedish con held in a hotel and the first to feature a foreign guest of honor (in this case John Brunner); here you could follow the adventures of Sheriff Pete Sulander [see fan Per Insulander] on the outskirts of Gafia Mountains. Further, Westblom and John Ågren also co-wrote two novels, both published: a heavily tuckerized wild west novel named Du ska dö ("You Shall Die", Wahlström Publishing, Stockholm 1974), published as by "John West", then under their own names an sf novel called Porten mot evigheten ("Gate to Eternity", Berghs, Stockholm 1976); this one also contained references to things and characters fannish.
But Westblom's fan activity diminished during the later part of the 1970s, largely due to the demands of his medical training, and after his marriage to medical secretary Inga-Lill and their emigration to the US in 1980, he retained only his membership in FAPA. He later became head of internal medicine for the VA hospitals in Texas, leaving his position in 2005 in order to work full time at his wineyard in McLennan.
- S.S.F.S Fanzine/Mentat 12 issues, 1967–1970, a major fanzine
- Asgard [early 70s] (A bidzine for Stockholm in 1976)
- DNQ [mid-70s] (with John-Henri Holmberg and Per Insulander)
- On the Road to Gafia Wonderland [early 70s] (for FAPA)
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