You are holding in your hands the final issue of DESPATCH

You are holding in your hands the final issue of DESPATCH is a 1981 open letter and flounce by Gail Saville (Slugger) and Barbara Metzke (DH aka Dark Horse).
Saville and Metzke were the editors of the long-running zine series, Despatch and president of the Mark Lenard International Fan Club. The club and zine had a focus of Mark Lenard and some of the characters he portrayed on Star Trek: TOS (The Romulan Commander), Here Come the Brides (Aaron Stempel), Planet of the Apes (Urko), and The Secret Empire (Emperor Thorvald).
 
Metzke and Saville's letter is long, resentful, often sanctimonious, and full of hubris. It must have been devastating for many fans, to receive. It also must have been humiliating for Mark Lenard ("Our Beloved Honorary") to read. 
The open letter is an example of the stresses that many fan club presidents endured. While club presidents enjoyed access to the celebrities they reported upon, including personal visits with their family and friends, access to sets, and getting insider information, these fans often also incurred personal debt, loss of time for their own family and friends, and altered relationships with other fans.
While many of Saville and Metzke's reasons for ending the club were valid, one cannot emphasize enough how boredom and weariness with fandom and fans could inflate other problems. When something that was once fresh, and new, and exciting becomes drudgery, the human tendency of finding fault with fans and fandom as an excuse to duck out is appealing. The expected challenges such as expenses, wrangling fans and their demands, and the late night phone calls become irritants. Some fans use their weary departures as an excuse to scold, complain to others, and unharness bitterness. 
Saville and Metzke's joy, and then resentment, towards their club and newsletter is an old story. It has been repeated by fans who have found the responsibility and expectations of their fan activity and the product they have provided to others to have become a burden. Some fans bow out gracefully with open communication, others simply lose touch and disappear. Still others, such as Saville and Metzke, write four-page, single-spaced flounces that place the blame on others in a way that projects maximum damage. 
A similar letter in 1984 is IDIC by Susan McCutchen. 
Other examples of fandom flounces. 
==Some Topics Discussed==
* running a fan club and publishing its newsletter is financially and personally draining, and it wasn't fun anymore
* many fans will be rude and unreasonable
* fans are too snoopy
* as one gets to know one's object of affection, you find out they are regular people and you are disillusioned to discover they have feet of clay
* Saville and Metzke wouldn't dream of passing on their massive burden to anyone else, and they want to save other fans from their own terrible fate (despite the fact that they were the fourth set of editors/presidents of the zine/club)
* the editors felt misunderstood regarding their motives for agreeing to their duties
* no, they weren't having sex with Mark Lenard 
* fans need to get on with their life
* Mark Lenard participated in his club as a favor to fans; he didn't enjoy it
* most fans are needy and psychologically messed up, and Saville and Metzke were tired of being their therapists
* while not mentioned in the letter itself, but commented on by other fans, the assassination of John Lennon had just occurred, and this had a chilling effect on fandom and fans
* much more!
==Some Context==
Metzge and Saville were the fourth leaders for the club since its inception in 1969. Early membership appeared to be about 125; when the club disbanded, membership was just under 150.
Lenard himself was mostly a good sport about the club, visiting with fans, participating in set visits, and contributing information to the zine. But he could also be sporadic in his communication, something that various club presidents directly shamed him in editorial comments "If the club is to continue, I will have to find some solution to the problem of getting out the newsletters. However, in view of the lack of response from Our Beloved Honourary, it might be the best thing to finish up this club year and then disband the club. -- from Despatch #13 (1971) "I hope there’ll continue to be the material supplied by Our Beloved Honorary himself, his letters about his recent activities and answers to your 'Question Mark' questions. In past Despatches, however, he’s shown himself to be a member of the tribe of Dilatory Letter Writers. (A DLW can be made to feel guilty for not having written -- but can't be made to write.) Maureen sometimes chose to delay publication of the Despatch until there was material from ML to include; I think I’ll plan on regular publication, even without Mark Lenard in the table of contents." -- from Despatch #14 (1973) . At one point, Lenard's wife took up a pen and answered on his behalf, saying Lenard wasn't very good about letters. 
Lenard tolerated interviews, phone calls, and visits, but he could also be a bit (understandably) caustic, impatient, and prickly at times. 
Shortly before the club folded, he attended a con in his honor, NonCon. By several accounts, some fans had been too intense and inappropriate which made him, and others, uncomfortable. From a fan's letter in the last issue of Despatch: 
==From the Letter==
 
 
Image:despatch44-2.jpg|from Despatch #44, the open letter
Image:despatch44-3.jpg|from Despatch #44, the open letter
Image:despatch44-4.jpg|from Despatch #44, the open letter
Image:despatch44-5.jpg|from Despatch #44, the open letter
==Fan Reaction==
Fan reaction to the letter is unknown. Since it was published in the last issue of Despatch, there was no opportunity in that venue for fans to respond.
==References==
Category:1981 Open Letters
Category:Star Trek Open Letters
Category:Actor Fan Clubs