Connie Mackenzie

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(???? – )

Constance 'Connie' Mackenzie was a fan from London, UK active in the 1950s. She is likely best known for her part in a fannish hoax at the Supermancon.

She was married to fellow fan Stuart Mackenzie and both were attending the Supermancon although Connie wasn't arriving in Manchester until the night of the first day. Realising that she would be unfamiliar to the local fans, a group of Londoners contrived to pass her off as Pat Mahaffey, sister of Bea Mahaffey and an unexpected visitor from the United States. Her attendance was supposed to be a 'secret', but Supermancon organiser Dave Cohen found out and arranged a taxi to take himself, Walt Willis, Ted Carnell and Stuart Mackenzie to the station to meet 'Pat'. Cohen then introduced Pat to various northern fans who were completely taken in. It was only some weeks later that Mackenzie admitted the truth and then as much as anything 'to discourage a local fan by the name of Ron Deacon who had been as taken in as the Northerners and who since the convention had been persistently trying to date her' (Rob Hansen, Then).

As Willis explained in Oopsla #15 (November 1954):

[Deacon] had never met Stu's wife and fell for the hoax completely. In fact he fell for 'Pat' herself and, perhaps encouraged by the remarkable progress Stuart Mackenzie had seemed to make with her, started a campaign to try and date her. This went on with letters and phone calls and other advances weeks after they all got back to London, while Ron thought 'Pat' was a guest at Stu's house. Finally Stu got tired of seeing Deacon trying to seduce his wife under his nose and broke the news to him as gently as possible. Altogether it was a remarkable hoax, and one that deserves to go down in fannish history.

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