Bloomington News Letter
Entry updated 25 July 2025. Tagged: Fan, Publication.
US Fanzine, specifically a Newszine published by Wilson (Bob) Tucker from his home town Bloomington, Illinois. US quarto, mimeographed, later planographed (ie. lithographed); initially one page, latterly up to 24pp. 29 issues from December 1946 to Summer 1953, plus various supplements.
Early issues were mostly about Fandom and its doings; but although such matters were never excluded, Bloomington News Letter increasingly balanced fannishness and Convention reports with lively commentary on the professional sf publishing scene, including usually brief but generally perceptive book reviews. Correspondents included Poul Anderson, E F Bleiler, James Blish, Robert Bloch, Anthony Boucher, Ray Bradbury, Kenneth Bulmer, John Carnell, August Derleth, Leslie Flood and Frederik Pohl. A forthcoming title change to Science-Fiction News Letter was announced in #14 (December 1949); #15 (April 1950) was so titled; subsequent issues dropped the hyphen to become Science Fiction News Letter. The final issue #29 (Summer 1953) included the newsletter's first fiction, a noir/sf/PI spoof by William F Nolan; a negative review of Ray Bradbury by Harlan Ellison; and a survey of differences – in character names, plus other revisions and omissions – between the magazine and book versions of Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man (January-March 1952 Galaxy; 1953). An unnumbered one-page supplement published in October 1953 confirmed the end of the newsletter for financial reasons: "the publisher lost his fat, plush job", and the $75 cost of each mailing (with fewer than 200 subscription copies out of some 400 printed) became unfeasible.
Science Fiction News Letter, under that name, received a Retro Hugo in 2001 as best fanzine of 1950. [DRL]
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