Ella Parker

(Did you mean the Canadian Ella Parker?)

(January 1, 1916 – February 1993)

Sadie Shaw and Ella Parker, right, at RePetercon, 1964. From the collection of Forry Ackerman.

Ella Anderson Parker was a London conrunner and fanzine editor. She chaired Loncon II, the 1965 Worldcon.

After writing to Archie Mercer, she attended a fan gathering in 1958, where she met Ken and Pamela Bulmer and Ron Buckmaster, who introduced her to fanzines.

The following year, she took over Orion from Paul Enever. In 1960, it won the Skyrack Readers Fan Poll for Best Fanzine of the year. In 1961, she won again for The ATom Anthology. Parker ceased publication of Orion in 1962, after she published its 29th issue. That year, she won the Skyrack Readers Fan Poll, this time for Fan Personality of the Year, and took over editorship of Vector for two issues. In 1963 and 1964, she published her apazine Compact for the Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association. She was a member of IPSO, and served as UK agent for Starspinkle from late 1963.

From 1960–64, she hosted a BSFA open house on Friday evenings at The Penitentiary, her home at 151 Canterbury Road, Kilburn, London (the name came from an elaborate pun based on Parker’s Pens). She ran and hosted meetings of the Science Fiction Club of London, as well. Ella also served as BSFA’s Secretary and as editor of the BSFA Newsletter in the early ’60s. She was on the committee for London, the 1960 Eastercon.

The Parker Pond Fund was created to bring her to the Seacon, the 1961 Seattle Worldcon. The first installment of her trip report, Parker's Peregrinations, was voted one of the Top Ten British Fan Publications of the year. In 2020, Rob Hansen expanded this report with accounts by various fans (including letters from Ella Parker herself) of the rest of her trip, and this was published as the Ansible Editions ebook The Harpy Stateside (subtitle of Parker's Peregrinations). A fanthology, The Compact Ella Parker, followed in 2022.

Ella was born in Scotland and, with her brother, Fred Parker (d. 1976), was raised in an orphanage. (Fred lived with Ella and took an interest in her doings, but wasn’t a fan.)

• Audio (.wav) of Ella at Loncon II Opening Ceremonies.
• Prolapse 12 contains much fanhistory mentioning Ella.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• The ATom Anthology
• BSFA Newsletter
• Compact (for OMPA)
• The Compact Ella Parker
• The Harpy Stateside
• Orion
• Parker's Peregrinations
• Vector (issues 16-17)

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1960 -- Skyrack Readers Fan Poll
• 1961 -- Parker Pond Fund, Skyrack Readers Fan Poll
• 1962 -- Skyrack Readers Fan Poll

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Person

1916—1993

This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names.