Goodbye to the beloved Pat Lupoff
All of us at Tachyon are saddened by the news of the groundbreaking
Pat Lupoff’s death.
Pat Lupoff with husband Dick at Pittcon, the 1960 Worldcon
Lupoff is perhaps
best known, alongside her husband Richard “Dick” Lupoff, for
editing the famed fanzine Xero, which
helped to usher in comic book fandom and featured many astonishing
established and up-and-coming contributors including Dan Adkins,
ATom, Otto Binder, James Blish, L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, Avram
Davidson, Roger Ebert, Harlan Ellison, Ron Goulart, Larry Ivie, Roy
Krenkel, Fred Pohl, Bill Schelly, Robert Shea, Steve Stiles, Roy
Thomas, Don Thompson, Maggie Thompson, Bob Tucker, Donald Westlake,
Ted White, Paul Williams, and Don Wollheim. Pieces of the zine, which
ran for only 10 issues from 1960-1963, were collected in three
volumes: All In Color For a Dime,
The Comic Book Book,
and THE BEST OF XERO. In 1963, the publication won the Hugo
for Best Fanzine, making her the first woman to win the distinguished award.
Remarkably, her only other Hugo nomination came 42 years later for
co-editing (again with Dick) THE
BEST OF XERO.
Beyond Xero,
she edited several fanzines including Feringstan No!, Horrib
(with Dick), One Page Only, OPO, and The Stygian
Gazette.
Pat and Dick at the 2014 San Dieog Comic Con (photo: Scott Edelman)
Lupoff was active
throughout her life in fandom, belonging to (Second) Futurian Society
of New York, founding the Fanoclasts, and running Eastercon (NY). She participated in the APAs Lilapa and The Cult. With Dick, her
appearance at Pittcon, the 1960 Worldcon, dressed as Captain Marvel
and Mary Marvel, is well known and fondly remembered.
Our thoughts are with Dick and their children. She will be missed.
