Gene Lees
(February 8, 1928 – April 22, 2010)
Frederick Eugene John Lees was a music critic, biographer, lyricist and journalist from Canada. It would be stretching a point to refer to him as a fan or pro as his contact with both these sides of the science fiction world was glancing. It does however involve a massive coincidence stemming from two interconnected incidents: he published a single genre story, 'Stranger from Space' as by Gene Lees, in Science Fantasy v3#7 (March 1953), and he accidentally attended the Supermancon in Manchester, UK in 1954.
In 1954 Lees travelled to Europe with a commission from the Montreal Star to write about Canadian forces attached to NATO. He thought to surprise the only two people he knew in the UK, Ted Carnell, the editor who had published his story the previous year, and the trumpet player Kenny Wheeler. However, when he arrived in London he found both were away. Wheeler, he learned, was on tour and playing in Manchester so Lees decided to see him. Checking into a hotel in the early hours of the morning he was told that there was a science fiction convention taking place, and a stunned Lees learned that by chance he was booked into the room next door to Carnell, the only other person he knew in the entire country. Lees had an enjoyable two or three days 'hanging out with the science-fiction writers'.
Lees recounted this incident in his book Arranging the Score: Portraits of the Great Arrangers (2000) and this was quoted by Fred Smith in an article, 'Parkinson & Me'[1]. Smith was himself a jazz fan and musician and was aware of the work of Lees and Wheeler, but while he had been at the Supermancon he didn't know about Lees's presence at the convention until he read about it in the book fifty years later.
Carnell wrote about the incident in New Worlds #25 (July 1954) and admitted that until they met he thought Lees was female.
Links
- Gene Lees at en.wikipedia.org.
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- ↑ Banana Wings #20 (November 2004).
| Person | 1928—2010 |
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