Ken Potter
(????[1] –)
Ken Potter was a British fan from Lancaster active from the early 1950s. He founded The British Teenage Fantasy and Science Fiction Society, better known as the Junior Fanatics, and was a member of OMPA.
Potter met Dave Wood at a Scout camp in August 1950 and the two struck up a friendship. They formed the 'Junior Society of SF Readers' in 1951 which ultimately came to nothing although when Potter submitted a story to Operation Fantast and mentioned the idea in a covering letter Ken Slater named them The British Teenage Fantasy and Science Fiction Society and they soon had fifteen members.
Potter and Wood attended the NECON in 1951 and the London SF Con in 1952. In January 1953 they published the first issue of their clubzine, Peri. The British Teenage Fantasy and Science Fiction Society, now renamed the Junior Fanatics, planned to stage a play at Coroncon but tried to pull out with the gafiation of their leading man, Tony Cooper. However, the committee insisted they go ahead, now with Potter as the male lead.
Walt Willis said of the Coroncon that 'these younger fans keep very much together and don't mix with us old has-BNFs'[2] leading Potter to reply, 'If liaison did not take place between the Young Blood and the anemic, it was your fault'[3].
Potter was a charter member of OMPA in September 1954, leaving in June 1956 and rejoining in December 1958. He married fellow fan Irene Gore around 1956–7 and Ron Bennett's Directory of Science Fiction Fandom for 1959 has them at an address in London where they were members of the Science Fiction Club of London. They did however return to Lancaster at some point as they're shown there in Bennett's 1966 directory.
It's unclear when Potter dropped out although Jim Linwood remembers seeing him at a party at Ella Parker's flat in 1969[4] after he'd returned to London. He did attend Rubicon I in August 1986 as reported in Ansible# 47 (November 1986). It was seemingly a flying visited as he's not further reported in its pages.
- Brennschluss [1954-61] (for OMPA)
- Fix [1958-60] (for OMPA)
- Hi De Hi [1950s] (with Dave Wood)
- Incantations [1954-55] (for OMPA)
- Peri [1953-4] (with Dave Wood)
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