Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 20:37:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Rich Lynch <rw_lynch at yahoo.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Harry
To: WSFA members <wsfalist at keithlynch.net>
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Some sad news: my friend Harry Warner, Jr., died
yesterday at his home in Hagerstown, Maryland. The
news has been circulating in various Internet
listserves and on rasff all day.

Harry was one of the most famous science fiction fans
of any and all decades, and had been active as a fan
since 1936. He might not be a familiar name to many of
today's fans, though, because he didn't have (or
desire) Internet access, or, for that matter, a
computer. Not only that, he hated large crowd scenes,
and preferred his contact with other fans in groups of
two or three at the largest. If you wanted to meet
him, you had to go to his home. Small wonder he became
known throughout sf fandom as the "Hermit of
Hagerstown."

There will be some kind of graveside service in
Hagerstown on Friday, and I'll likely go there for
that. Tomorrow I'm supposed to call a lady at the
Hagerstown newspaper who's doing his obituary -- Harry
actually worked for that newspaper for many years,
mostly successfully keeping his fan activities unknown
from his fellow co-workers.

One other thing about Harry that's worth mentioning is
that he was both a collector and a fan historian -- I
edited one of his fan history books (A Wealth of
Fable, which won the Hugo Award in 1993 for Best
Nonfiction Book). His attic is supposed to be
jam-packed with old fanzines, many of them extremely
valuable to collectors and other historians. I know
Harry was meticulous enough to leave a will, but since
I was one of the people who knew him best, I feel it
will be my responsibility to make sure his collection
is not disposed of as trash by some overzealous
realtor. (As far as I know, he has no living
relatives.)

If Harry hadn't been a total teetotaler, I'd be
lifting one in his memory about now. Several,
actually. As it is, all I can do is be angry about the
various missed opportunities I had over the years to
be a better friend, and to learn more about some of
fandom's past eras. I'll miss him. Damn.

=====
Rich Lynch
==========
MIMOSA web site: http://jophan.org/mimosa/
1960s Fan History Site: http://jophan.org/1960s/

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