The Heirs of Anthony Boucher Marvin Lachman

Other Fan Magazines and Organizations: 1 0s
of the Agatha Christie Society, whose chairman was Mathew Prichard, Christie’s
grandson; the president was Christie’s mother, Rosalind Hicks. Kate Stine edited the
newsletter and acted as the society’s US director. It included an article, “Teaching
Agatha Christie,” by Gordon Clark Ramsey, who in 1967 wrote the first of more than
a dozen books about Christie. Other articles told of Christie celebrations, including
the society’s annual trip to see The Mousetrap in London and the yearly gathering of
the society in Torquay, Christie’s hometown. By 2003, the Society (and its magazine)
had been disbanded, and replaced by an English website, AgathaChristie.com, called
“The Official Online Home of Agatha Christie.”
The Short Sheet (1987–1988)
Josh Pachter’s column, “The Short Sheet,” in Mystery Scene outgrew the space it
was allowed, so in April 1987, Pachter, a fan as well as a writer and editor of the short
story, started The Short Sheet. Though Edward D. Hoch had written a column about
the short story for TAD, Pachter’s publication was the first fan magazine devoted to
the mystery short story.
News of the short story and summaries of anthologies and magazines was an
important part of Pachter’s magazine. He interviewed authors known for their short
fiction, for example Brendan DuBois. An interesting feature was “Critic’s Choice,”
which contained reviews of favorite past anthologies. Morris Hershman reviewed
Ellery Queen’s anthology 101 Years Entertainment (1941), and I reviewed The Pocket
Mystery Reader (1942), edited by Lee Wright.
In December 1987, Pachter wrote an “obituary” for Espionage, a digest-sized fiction
magazine started in 1984 that, after a promising start, failed to attract enough
subscribers to continue. Ironically, the next issue, January-February 1988, was the
last for The Short Sheet.
The Margery Allingham Society and The Bottle Street Gazette (1988–)
This was a society that started in England but had an American branch. It began
in 1988 “to celebrate the life and work of a great ‘Queen of Crime.’” Barry Pike, author
of Campion’s Career: A Study of the Novels of Margery Allingham (1987), and Pat Watt
were co-editors of the society’s newsletter, The Bottle Street Gazette, which Pike now
edits alone. Its title comes from the location of Campion’s London flat. It has included
biographical material about Allingham, candid photographs of her, and copies of
her correspondence. In America, Maryell Cleary was editor of the US newsletter. The
final issue of the US edition was Fall 1995, but the society remains active in England,
with an annual dinner, trips, and publication of the semiannual newsletter. In 2004,
the society celebrated the centenary of Allingham’s birth with a traveling exhibition
of visual and literary material from the Allingham archives; publication of a volume
of articles and essays about her by other crime writers, friends, and fans; and the
unveiling of a commemorative plaque at her former London home.
Pulp Vault (1988–1996)
Pulp Vault, one of the best pulp fan magazines, was started in February 1988 by
Doug Ellis of Chicago. In addition to reprinting pulp stories, each issue had articles
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