Shavertron: The Mimeograph Years

by Richard Toronto

Science fiction fan clubs have cranked out thousands of fanzines since Ray Palmer mimeographed the very first issue in 1930. Out of these thousands, only three were dedicated to the science fiction phenomenon known as the Shaver Mystery. There was a reason for this: SF fandom blackballed the Shaver Mystery and its namesake, Richard Shaver from the SF community. The first Shaver Mystery fanzine to enter this hostile environment was the original and best of the lot--The Shaver Mystery Magazine. Produced by The Shaver Mystery Club, it was typeset and printed on an offset press. It ran for nine issues (a 10th is rumored to exist) between 1947 and 1949. The Shaver Mystery Club Letterzine followed shortly thereafter. Typed and mimeographed by a small group of Shaver fans, it produced 16 issues. But by 1950, Dick Shaver had abdicated his throne as leader of the Shaverism movement to become a farmer. Without the Shaver Mystery Club to support his fan base, the notion of a Shaver fanzine died out for good. Or so everyone thought. Fast forward to 1979, the year the first issue of Shavertron: The Only Source of Post-Deluge Shaverania rolled off a modern Xerox machine. The world had changed in the 29 years since the last Shaver Mystery fanzine saw print. Richard Shaver was no longer among the living and the disco era was well underway. Then a young fanzine editor named Richard Toronto began to redefine the Shaver Mystery for the post-modern age. Shavertron became the longest-lived Shaver Mystery fanzine, with 29 issues to its credit. Out-of-print for nearly 25 years, this elusive icon of the Shaver Mystery saga is now being offered in three volumes, the second and third to appear in 2014.

132 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2013

About the author

Richard Toronto is the author of War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer and the Strangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction, a comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of two of the most controversial figures in 20th Century Science Fiction: Ray Palmer and Richard Shaver. Toronto corresponded with Richard Shaver and in 1975 attempted to co-author a book on Shaver's life. A sequel to War, Shaverology: a Shaver Mystery Home Companion is due out in September 2013. Toronto is a California native and a former newspaper reporter with a BA in Journalism from California State University Sacramento. He has been the editor of Shavertron, the only surviving all-Shaver Mystery fanzine, since 1979. It is now online at www.shavertron.com