From: AprilValen (Martha)

How long has Starsky & Hutch fandom been around?>>

The fandom that we most often talk about is media fandom, which -
- as Flamingo pointed out -- grew out of Star Trek fandom, which 
in the mid sixties grew out of Science Fiction fandom. (don't 
they call it first fandom, Flamingo?)  There were Science Fiction 
conventions and fanzines, although they never paid their writers 
to appear, as professional Trek or media cons pay the actors and 
they took a certain pride in making their zines look as "fannish" 
as possible, i.e. homemade, mimeo- produced.  Their zines usually 
had articles about certain SF or fantasy books and some original 
fiction.  

When Star Trek came along, and then got cancelled, its fans 
desperately wanted more of it.  So the early Trek zines created 
new adventures for the characters to go on -- there were zines 
centered around many of the individual characters, some were 
adult or mature in subject matter, others for people of any age.  
When a zine had variously themed stories, it was called a 
genzine.  If it specialized, it was a Kirk/Spock (though the 
slash did not yet connote a sexual relationship) zine or a 
Klingon zine (aliens from the Trek universe) or a Vulcan zine, 
etc.  

Gradually people began to speculate on just how deep Kirk and 
Spock's relationship was and a few brave souls began to write and 
share stories in which they became lovers. Eventually shortened 
to K/S, the term came to mean stories in which Kirk and Spock 
were lovers... then other fandoms arrived on the scene -- as I 
said in an earlier post, I believe SH fandom is the first non-SF 
related media fandom (as in fandom that is structured the way the 
fandoms I'm discussing is).  

The first Trek zines were done in the late sixties, the first 
media cons were Trek cons, starting in about '73.  Then, in 1977, 
Star Wars came out in the movies. And some Trek fans started 
doing Star Wars costumes and zines.  

At about the same time, the first SH zine, "Zebra Three,"  
appeared.  Mysteriously, a number of well-known and creative Trek 
fen virtually disappeared and were soon found happily doing SH.  
It was like blasphemy to us (at the time) Trek-purists, but the 
splintering of fandom and the eventual broadening of it ended up 
creating what we have as media fandom today.

April

Subject:  [VP] S/H history, the edited version
Date: 25 Jun 1999
From: arogers

Hi all,

I'm rushed for time as usual but I'll see if I can't get some of the
history, as I recall, in this post.

K/S was most definitely first.  A couple of years ago, in a discussion at
Friscon, all of us old guys started comparing notes and decided that the
first K/S story was written in 1968 by a Brit -- God Bless our Brit slash
writers -- but I don't remember the name.  Gerry's "Alternative" added to
that along with the two zines with the Gayle Freyer art workk -- help me
out here, Elaine.

The first S&H zines came out while the show was still on and there is a
list of those in the old S&H Letterzine (mine are in a box somewhere) that
was started in 1979.  The first S/H zine in the US was
"Code 7" and came out in 1980 or 1981.  (Sorry, the brain cells are rusty).
 This is the issue that had no author's names in it -- another long story.
I think my "Butterfly Bush" was in that zine.  The first Zebra Con was in
1979.  

Connie Faddis and I did a gen zine called "Strange Justice" (which Kari has
permission to duplicate) in 1981 or 1982 (more rusty brain cells) and it
won a FanQ at MediaWest.  I think it was first non-Trek zine to win a FanQ,
but again with rusty brain cells I won't claim that for certain.  I do
remember that those of us who had left Trek fandom for that stupid cop show
were shunned.

Pros fandom developed somewhere in the early 1980s because many of the S/H
fans moved from S/H to Pros -- a show I've never been able to find an
interest in.

I'd love to see someone put all this stuff together.  A lot of it is in
that first letterzine and then the ones that followed.  I think our history
is important but it needs to be written by someone more objective than I.

Alex

Subject: [VP] Archival information
Date: 16 Apr 1999
From: kslangley

For the historians in the group, "Code 7" wasn't actually the first S/H
zine. That honor goes to "Forever Autumn," a British zine, written by Sue
M. and Sue S., in March of 1980. Then there was an very short S/H
story in "10-13" Vol. 1 (also a British zine, by Terri Beckett and Chris
Power, 1980).

"Code 7" #1 was the first American S/H zine, though, published in 1981.

ksl

Subject: Re: [VP] Archival information
Date: 20 Apr 1999 
From: kslangley

Flamingo:

Just realized I left out the name of the author of the slash story in
"10-13" Vol. 1. The story was titled, "Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn" by
Pamela Dale. (Beckett and Power were the zine editors.)

Kathy


>>Then there was a very short S/H story in "10-13" Vol. 1 (also a British
zine, by Terri Beckett and Chris Power, 1980).>>