Aauugh! I get home really late after a long day to find this huge thread, and being too tired to give a good, long reply. Deuce, Skippyfox, it's kind of you to name-drop, but as Fred describes, he's the real expert (and part of my inspiration) - He was present at most of the major stages of the fandom as it evolved in the 70s and 80s. Me, I came in at the start of the 90s, and while I'm a librarian, I don't have a vast personal library. I don't know if anyone has a huge physical collection of old photos, comics or zines; I think Chairo's group has the most, except I forget what the acronyms mean (and I'm extremely tired right now). Fred was the first person to put effort into making a chronology of the fandom, and there are others who've been looking into the fandom's history too - Ironbadger, Joe Strike - WikiFur, by communal effort - and I listened to an interesting panel about Japan's kemono fandom from a fellow going by the name Imuhata. But none of us have written our stuff down in a form to be easily shared.
My historical interest in the fandom is a little more abstract - not about the hard facts and figures, but instead about its social evolution and changing internal drama and politics. I've done panels at WhatTheFur and FurFright about it, and if I didn't screw up the online form, offered to do a panel at this year's Anthrocon. But I don't know when they finalize their programming, so I don't know if it'll be included (or how much time it'll be given), which is a bit stressful 'cause I need all the advance preparation I can get, and have way too much that I could talk about. And my notes are a mess. :P
I'll try to post other comments for this thread tomorrow, or the day after, when I'm feeling more awake and composed.
Aauugh! I get home really late after a long day to find this huge thread, and being too tired to give a good, long reply. Deuce, Skippyfox, it's kind of you to name-drop, but as Fred describes, he's the real expert (and part of my inspiration) - He was present at most of the major stages of the fandom as it evolved in the 70s and 80s. Me, I came in at the start of the 90s, and while I'm a librarian, I don't have a vast personal library. I don't know if anyone has a huge physical collection of old photos, comics or zines; I think Chairo's group has the most, except I forget what the acronyms mean (and I'm extremely tired right now). Fred was the first person to put effort into making a chronology of the fandom, and there are others who've been looking into the fandom's history too - Ironbadger, Joe Strike - WikiFur, by communal effort - and I listened to an interesting panel about Japan's kemono fandom from a fellow going by the name Imuhata. But none of us have written our stuff down in a form to be easily shared.
My historical interest in the fandom is a little more abstract - not about the hard facts and figures, but instead about its social evolution and changing internal drama and politics. I've done panels at WhatTheFur and FurFright about it, and if I didn't screw up the online form, offered to do a panel at this year's Anthrocon. But I don't know when they finalize their programming, so I don't know if it'll be included (or how much time it'll be given), which is a bit stressful 'cause I need all the advance preparation I can get, and have way too much that I could talk about. And my notes are a mess. :P
I'll try to post other comments for this thread tomorrow, or the day after, when I'm feeling more awake and composed.
(thump - zzzzzzzz)