The other night, in preparation for a long bout of science fiction, at about three AM I came across an article in Doug Ellis’ “Pulp Vault No 14” about a trip Otto Binder and two other Chicago science fiction fans made to the east coast to meet with their counterparts in New York City in 1935, the likes of Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz. For those who don’t know, Otto Binder was an early science fiction author, who wrote with his brother Earl, under the nom de plume Eando Binder. Their first story “The First Martian” was published in the October 1932 edition of Amazing Stories. You can read it here – https://archive.org/details/TheFirstMartian
Eando Binder wrote a series of stories about a robot called Adam Link. The first Link story was published in 1939 entitled “I Robot.” The same name was applied to Isaac Asimov’s 1950’s collection of positronic stories and chosen by the publisher against Asimov’s wishes. The Binder’s “I, Robot” was an episode of the TV series “The Outer Limits” on November 14, 1964, with Leonard Nimoy as a newspaper reporter. “I, Robot” also aired on the remake of the Outer Limits, July 23, 1995, this time with Nimoy playing the lawyer that defends Adam Link.
When Otto moved to New York City his partnership with his brother ended. From 1941-1953, Otto wrote for Fawcett’s Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr line of comic books. From 1948 until 1969, in addition to his works of science fiction, he wrote for DC Comics’ line of Superman books.
The article, possibly published in a fan magazine, described a meeting with the editors Hugo Gernsback and F. Orlan Tremaine and a whirlwind of sightseeing. Somewhere after reading I managed to climb into bed for a few hours sleep. The next morning I experienced synchronicity. As I checked my email, I noticed a post from a pulp magazine group with three letters from Otto Binder from 1937, which you can find here – https://www.blackgate.com/2016/02/11/the-great-pulp-gathering-that-time-jack-williamson-l-sprague-de-camp-frank-belknap-long-edmond-hamilton-john-w-campbell-manly-wade-wellman-otis-adelbert-kline-and-others-gathered-at-mort-weis/. They were a perfect continuation of what I had started the dark morning before.
Stories of science fiction fans. Most went on to become well-known writers, publishers, and editors. As a bonus, there are two photos of all the notables in front of Mort Weisinger’s house. Jack Williamson, L. Sprague de Camp, Frank Belknap Long, Mort Weisinger, Edmond Hamilton, Otis Adelbert Kline, Otto Binder, Manly Wade Wellman and Julius Schwartz. John W Campell and Seabird Quinn showed up too late to be in the snapshots.
What? Oh, yeah, Fandom Is A Way Of Life.