OMPA

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Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association was organized by Ken Bulmer and Vin¢ Clarke on June 19, 1954 as the first UK APA. Founding members included Chuck Harris, Joan Carr, Ron Bennett and Archie Mercer. The Official Organ was Off Trails. It was published four times a year: March, June, September and December. OMPA lasted into the late 70s but "faded away", as Rob Hansen put it, somewhen during that era. Many members felt that the effort of putting on OMPAcon '73 (an Eastercon) sapped its energy… though it is maintained by some that OMPA still exists, just that nobody has made minac since 1977.

In the advertising world it would have been called a brainstorming session. It began in the late afternoon of Saturday, June 19th, 1954, and carried on into the cool of a beautiful summer evening. When it had finished, Ken Bulmer and I had roughed out the plans for the first British SF fan publisher’s association.

It’s hard to say what was the catalyst which finally acted on this particular project. The atmosphere was right. British fandom was on its feet in a burst of activity which made this, the year of the SuperManCon, a small Golden Age. Numerous fans were interested in publishing, and the SF professional ’zines were bringing in new faces, throughout the year. I think it was Ken who decided that now was the moment for launching into reality the dream of years, and I think it was myself who, after various euphonious titles had been tried out for a couple of hours, suggested that echo of a trombone, OMPA. It would, we thought, disperse any stuffiness about the introduction of an association with a real Constitution into the happily anarchic fandom of the time... and, moreover, it ran trippingly off the

tongue.

— Vin¢ Clarke, APAthy, 1959; quoted in Rob Hansen, Generation Femizine

OEs[edit]

In its first year – September 1954 to June 1955 – OMPA President was Ken Bulmer, Association Editor was Vin¢ Clarke, and Treasurer was Chuck Harris. In its second these positions were taken by Pam Bulmer, Joy Clarke, and Daphne Buckmaster respectively.

– Hansen; whose Apendix 5 also lists women members and contributions "during the years of Femizine’s existence" (until 1960) and notes it "was taken from APAthy (September 1959, ed. Joy Clarke), an index to the first five years of OMPA mailings. This can be found at Fanac.org under “References”.

1954/55 means a term from September 1955 to June 1955. For many years this was the standard term of an OE, as OMPA launched in the autumn. 1970–73 means the full years 1970, 71, 72, and 73.

1954/55 Vincent Clarke
1955/56 Joy Clarke
1956/57 Archie Mercer
1957/58 John Roles
1958/59 Roberta Gray
1959/60 Ron Bennett
1960/61 Daphne Buckmaster
1962/63 Ken Cheslin
1963/65 Ethel Lindsay
1965/66 Brian Jordan
September 1967 Archie Mercer
March 1968 Heinrich Arnez
1969 Beryl Mercer
1970-73 Ken Cheslin
1974-75 Pat and Mike Meara
1976-77 Keith Walker
1978/79 Keith Walker

Contributors and APAzines[edit]

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
The Off-Trail Magazine Publisher's Association, formed 19 June 1954 to provide British fen wit an equivalent of FAPA. Ken Bulmer and Vin¢ Clarke organized it, and were first president and first Association Editor (respectively) of the group. "We weren't proud", says Vin¢; "we borrowed wholesale from the rules of FAPA." This isn't quite right, since FAPA's Secretary and Vice-President duties were combined with, respectively, the Association Editor's and President's, and the group was smaller (45 members plus the Keeper of the Printed Books British Copyright repository, carried as "Member #0"]). Founder members included eminent Anglofen like Chuck Harris (first Treasurer), Joan Carr, Ron Bennett, and Archie Mercer. The group grew rapidly; original membership of 25 had to be increased to 29 with the first mailing and later to its present level. Beginning in 1956 it became extensively infiltrated with Americans and some alarm and despondency over possible loss of British character was heard.
Publication 1954—1981
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