Date: 1 Mar 1997 05:34:30 GMT



In article ,
James Morrow  wrote:
>   Fan  this and that.  Fanatic?  To what degree are we defininting
>this word please?   What do you have to do and to what degree do you
>have to do it in order to be called a F A N   ?
>
The basic difference is:  A reader reads.  A fan associates with other
fans within the subculture called fandom.  ("Fandom" by this time is like
"The City" -- it means different things to different people.... What Gary
Farber is talking about is written-sf fandom.)

What you have to do is associate with other fans at club meetings or less
formal gatherings below convention-size, often enough that people remember
who you are; or participate in some way in fanzines and/or in fannish apas
(Amateur Press Associations).

Another way of categorizing:  If someone asks "Are you in fandom?" and you
say either "Yes" or "Which one?" you're probably a fan.  If you say "What
is fandom?" you probably aren't.

Note:  At least one person now in fandom was thoroughly annoyed at his
first convention by someone who insisted on explaining to him that he
wasn't a fan -- he was merely a reader.  Damfino why either of them
thought it was a matter of status.
--
Dan Goodman
dsgood@visi.com
http://www.visi.com/~dsgood/index.html
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.

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