Ken Slater (1917–2008) was a British science fiction fan and bookseller.[1][2][3] In 1947, while serving in the British Army of the Rhine, he started Operation Fantast, a network of science fiction fans which had 800 members around the world by 1950 though it folded a few years later. Through Operation Fantast, he was the major importer of American science fiction books and magazines into Britain - an activity which he continued, after its collapse, through his company Fantast (Medway) up to the time of his death. He was a founder member of the British Science Fiction Association in 1958.

Awards and honours

He was Guest of Honour at Brumcon, the 1959 Eastercon[4] and at Conspiracy '87, the 1987 Worldcon, jointly with his wife Joyce. He received the Doc Weir Award in 1966 and the Big Heart Award in 1995.[5] At the first Hugo Award ceremony in Philadelphia in 1953, Forrest J Ackerman won the trophy for #1 Fan Personality, but said that the award should have gone to Slater.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Obituary - File 770
  2. ↑ 'Something to read' by Ken Slater
  3. ↑ Obituary - SFWA
  4. ↑ Slater at Brumcon by Peter Weston
  5. ↑ "Science Fiction Awards Watch » About the Big Heart Award". Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  6. ↑ Obituary - British Science Fiction Association


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