S and H (Starsky and Hutch letterzine)

S and H (spelling based on the first issue) is a Starsky and Hutch letterzine with varying editors. There were thirty-eight issues in all and ran from June/July 1979 (a month after the show ended in the US) to January 1983. The editors had a policy of printing every letter received and printing them unedited.
In the beginning, all of the letters to the letterzine were gen. When slash appeared on the horizon, and became a major subject, it was also discussed in an often-heated, non-explicit way. The first, true slash letterzine, though, was Hanky Panky.
In the December 1980 issue, an index to LoCs was available for issues #1-#12 from a S and H reader for a SASE.
This zine won an Encore Award.
For other Starsky and Hutch letterzines, see List of Letterzines.
==The Issues: Summaries==
See the subpages for details about individual issues, including quoted opinions and summaries of fannish views on topics then current:
==Some Comments Illustrating a Wide Range of Discourse==
* "There is a kind of calm, sisterly give-and-take in S&H fandom that makes me itch for the typewriter, even when I'm dog-tired. Reading the Letterzine, with all its variety and even with all its faults, is like a comforting sniff of favorite cookies baking." from a fan in issue #21
* "I've decided not to read your letters anymore. The only good thing they are good for is ruining a perfectly good day."from a fan in issue #18
* "Here you can say anything outrageous and we'll still love ya!" from a fan in issue #12
* "If I weren’t so polite, I’d tell you to put your ‘fuck that’ where it’ll do you the most good… I thought you and I had privately agreed that we had nothing to say to one another that was worth printing in these pages." from a fan in issue #28
* "Some folks are hobbits: they need to be aware there are wider vistas than that of Bag End. Some are wizards: they must take care not to strike and blast as forcibly as they feel like, because there is always some fuzz-footed clown out there just itching to swipe yer Ring. The most useful thing anyone can learn is when to shut up. Like now."from a fan in issue #18
* "The image of S&H fandom as a family is apt and, as in any large family or community, total unanimity is a most unrealistic notion." from a fan in issue #30
* "I think we'd save time by simply accepting that we're a bunch of cantankerous, contentious critters and get on with enjoying the war." from a fan in issue #21
==The Birth of a Fandom==
S and H is notable for many reasons. One, it began just as the show ended and documents the very beginning of a brand-new fandom. Two, slash in Starsky and Hutch had so far existed only in drawerfic, and few readers seemed to have seen, or admitted to seeing, any. Slash fiction zines didn't become available until a year or so after the letterzine's first issue.
==The Fandom's Zine Culture Begins==
Within the letterzine, one can see the very beginnings of a zine culture, one that pre-dates personal computers and civilian Internet access by a decade and a half. (Amazing as it may seem, zine culture—with letterzines such as those circulated by the Amateur Press Association—has been around since the early 1940s.) Readers, as with the letterzines of the time, had enormous patience, waiting months between writing a letter of comment about a story they'd read, hearing about a con they didn't go to, and sometimes just saying 'hello' to a fellow fan.
Common topics of conversation were how to review a story, speculation the characters' religions, was Kira a bad girl, were Starsky and Hutch sexist, would Starsky and Hutch both remain on the force after the episode 'Sweet Revenge,' what kind of a car would Hutch get next, the beauty of two (most readers would say straight) men touching and willing to die for each other, complaint about the sameness of story plots (despite the fact there were probably less than 100 stories written at the time), and of course, slash. In fact, it was pretty much what Starsky and Hutch fans talk about today.
==Varying Subtitles==
There were a number of different playful subtitles applied by different editors. "Letterzine" was sometimes changed to "Litterzine." "Snarlzine" was added at least once. "Scrodsky & Wretch" was substituted for "Starsky & Hutch" as well. One issue joked it was "a Letterzine for dedicated trading stamp collectors."
==Slash==
While slash was often discussed (and always in a non-explicit way), the letterzine wasn't technically a slash publication. It was simply a forum for discussion. Readers, many from Star Trek: TOS fandom, were wary, and weary, of the rifts that slash had created in the ST fandom. There were countless pleas, warnings, and pats on the back that S and H would not approach that level of acrimony. This was, perhaps, a bit of wishful thinking, as there was much heated debate, civilized and often otherwise.
Regarding the use of "/" and the word "slash": this letterzine is the first published fanwork where the word "slash" is used to refer to a m/m relationship. 
While the symbol is by far the most utilized, there are exactly three instances of using the word "slash" in this letterzine. 
* #18 (February 1981). "Actually, my main complaint about S/H is the term 'Starsky *stroke* Hutch.' It is just too coy. I like *slash*. It sounds so masculine, like passion in the night and lust that strikes like lightning. *Stroke* sounds so cutesy. *Slash* sounds dynamic, dominant, daring, and exciting."
* a British fan in issue #19 (March 1981) says: "Over on this side of the pond, ‘slash’ is slang for taking a leak. I'll stick with SH. I like to see them in such close proximity."
* in #38 (December 1982), a letter writer refers to slash fiction twice, once in quotes and once not.
==Purple Pages==
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At some point during S and H's publication, the editorsPossibly Kendra and Diana, identities have not been confirmed nor dates identified. began to include separate RPS stories. They were printed separately from the regular white-paged letterzine and enclosed in the envelopes of those fans where were interested. See Purple Pages for more information.
==Editing and Censorship==
Letters sometimes got so heated that one of the substitute editors suggested in issue #17 a form of "modified censorship," putting some topics on temporary hiatus, might be a solution. Readers in subsequent issues tended to agree things had gotten out of hand, but did not want any sort of censorship. Instead, various editors and readers asked for everyone to be more careful and tone down the rhetoric and personal attacks, a suggestion that was, more often than not, disregarded.
One of the former editors writes in S and H #20 (April 1981):From issue #29:
==From the Editors==
==Fans Remember==
==The End==
Editorial duties returned to Kendra and Diana for issues #33/34. While they planned to continue publishing (and had even announced the deadlines for submission for issue #39), issue #38 was the last. Kendra explained a year later in the follow-on letterzine Between Friends issue #3: 
== References ==
Category:Starsky & Hutch Zines
Category:Newsletters & Letterzines
Category:1970s Zines
Category:1980s Zines