Ian Crozier

Ian Crozier (1929 - 27 November 2012"Ian Crozier, AFPA and Etherline" by Chris Nelson, Mumblings from Munchkinland #33 (2013) (via Wayback Jun 20/24) TBS&E Number 52 – October to December 2012, by Garry Dalrymple, p. 27, on efanzines.org) was one of the early members of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club in the 1950s and member of Amateur Fantasy Publications of Australia (AFPA) along with Merv Binns, Dick Jenssen, Race Matthews and Lee Harding. Crozier's involvement in Melbourne's science fiction fandom was relatively brief, however his contribution to fan publishing was significant and he was considered the driving force behind Etherline, the MSFC's newsletter, from 1953-1959. His record of 101 issues before the zine folded for a time was an Australian record held for many years.
== Fannish History ==
=== MSFG and AFPA ===
Crozier first became part of fandom as a member of Ken Slater's Operation Fantast, where he was given contact details for other sci-fi fans in Melbourne. At the time the Melbourne Science Fiction Group (as it was initially known) was planning to publish fanzines and Crozier joined the AFPA, proving to be what the group needed to become productive:
In early 1953, while assisting Lee Harding, Dick Jenssen and Merv Binns, Crozier became the editor of the MSFG's newsletter, Etherline, taking over and completely remodelling it from Bob McCubbin, who was finding it too time-consuming. He had also assisted with and contributed to the AFPA's other zines, Perhaps and Bacchanalia, before releasing another, Question Mark. Crozier's business-like approach to fandom was at odds with some members of the AFPA - when Lee Harding brought out another, independent zine, Waste-basket, he was 'charged' with "producing a magazine in direct competition with an AFPA publication" - he blamed Crozier for instigating the resulting Court of Enquiry and testifying against him. The situation was resolved by the development of a publication schedule and a new membership set up of the AFPA, but Harding was ousted from the AFPA and went on to continue his own publications.
=== Etherline ===
By 1956, Etherline had become established as the prominent science fiction fandom news magazine, largely due to Crozier's efforts. Merv Binns recalled to Mumblings in Munchkinland that:
Besides the MSFC's reports, Crozier also published news from Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane fandom, the latter two cities being isolated by their lack of their own fanzines. He also reported on social gatherings, including several at his own family's home and he was the source of the early Australian Science Fiction Convention con reports (for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th conventions).It was also at the 4th Convention that he was prevailed upon to act as an impartial Chairman during a particularly stormy Business Meeting. He may have been considered impartial at the time, but his later comments were rather scathing:
Telling people to "grow up" was a common theme with Crozier - he'd used the same language in his editorial for the first issue of Etherline in 1953!Ian Crozier, 'Viewpoint', Etherline #1, 1st March 1953, p. 4, on fanac.org
Etherline was published fortnightly (aka bi-weekly) for the most part, although the schedule became irregular before Olympicon as Crozier was on the convention committee as publicity officer and was editor of the program book. From issue #81 publication changed to every three weeks, but faltered in mid-1958 as Crozier took on other interests and got engaged. Issue #101 was, despite an editorial promising to return to a regular schedule, his final issue.
== Impact on Fandom ==
Etherline - and by extension, Crozier - were and are credited with being an important part of building Australian sci-fi fandom as well as bringing notice of it to "the rest of the world" (i.e., the U.S.). In his 1954 issue of Scansion (#22), Bill Veney "awarded" Crozier with a fan academy award for his efforts:
Then in 1973, Merv Binns had this to say when trying to resurrect Etherline:
In her biographic essay, "Helena on the Fringe of Fandom - The Authentic Story", Helena Binns relates how Crozier welcomed her to the MSFC:
== References ==
Category:Deceased
Category:2012 Deaths
Category:Fanwriters
Category:Zine Editors
Category:Convention Organizers