The First Side - The True Side

The First Side - The True Side was Donald A. Wollheim's first-person account of events that took place at the first-ever Worldcon in 1939. Wollheim and five other members of the Futurians were barred from entry into the convention hall by three committee members including Sam Moskowitz. (See The Great Exclusion Act.) In a November-December issue of Science Fiction Collector, Wollheim rebutted a number of claims made by Moskowitz in his essay There ARE Other Sides. According to Joseph Gilbert, the article was printed in August, but other sources say that Moskowitz waited "three months and more" to address the matter, and an exchange in Le Zombie says that New Fandom advertised the article on November 5th.Joseph Gilbert in Voice of the Imagi-Nation issue 5 page 18 (April 1940): "No wonder Sam was so mad in that piece in the Collector (39 Aug). One of the bluntest, most stinging articles I have ever read."Unknown officer of the LASFL in Le Zombie, issue 16 page page 3 (October 28 1939): "We sympathize with him in his bereavement but beg to inquire why he has waited three months and more before attempting to justify his actions at the convention."Bob Tucker in Le Zombie (Public Headache Dept, December 1939): "For, SaM states in the Nov. 5th issue of Fantasy News... 'The Science Fiction Collector, containing Moskowitz's sensational article "There ARE Other Sides" was read. All fans contacted completely absolved NF of any blame in the matter.'"
The November-December issue, which also contained Morojo's rebuttal Morojo vs Moskowitz, began with a disclaimer:
== Excerpts ==
Wollheim says that in Moskowitz's eyes, anyone using the term "undemocratic" should be considered a Communist.
Wollheim then says that Moskowitz accused him of offering Olon Wiggins the FAPA presidency in exchange for banning Moskowitz from Wiggins' zine The Science Fiction Fan. According to Wollheim, The Science Fiction Fan had previously published an article by Moskowitz containing "false slanders" against him. Wollheim had written an angry letter to Wiggins at that time, resigning from the SFF staff. Wiggins wrote back to say that he'd kicked Moskowitz out of his own accord and "begged" Wollheim to reconsider his resignation. "The question of the FAPA Presidency did not come up until later and I offered it to Wiggins only because of his distance from the scene of conflict."
Wollheim next said that Moskowitz had misrepresented a pamphlet titled "Rejected" which was apparently circulated by the Futurians at the very end of Worldcon 1939. He claimed that one "choice bit of vicious writing" in the pamphlet was actually a reprinted quote from Moskowitz himself "that he may have mistaken for mine."
Wollheim's version is corroborated by Jack Speer's account of events in his Fancyclopedia 1 & 2, although Speer was working from interviews and wasn't present himself.Exclusion Act entry on Fancyclopedia; text quoted from Jack Speer's 1944 and 1959 printed Fancyclopedias 1 and 2. David Kyle, however, would later identify himself as a Futurian.
Wollheim further accused Will Sykora of trying to "control the Convention or else destroy it". He said that his own Convention Committee had decided in the autumn of 1938 to avoid any statements on Sykora's plans because they didn't want Worldcon ("which was after all, my brain-child)" to fail. "...After it had become evident that Sykora would accept no compromise, no arbitration, no half-measures, after he had abandoned his own Newark Committee, after he had destroyed the GNYSFL which had assumed Convention control work, after he had announced New Fandom, my group and committee withdrew from the field."
These details of Wollheim's version are disputed by Jack Speer's account, which says that New Fandom had been considering banning them ahead of time, but no firm decision had been reached.Exclusion Act entry on Fancyclopedia; text quoted from Jack Speer's 1944 and 1959 printed Fancyclopedias 1 and 2.
Wollheim says that Michel handed Kyle's yellow pamphlet over to a friend out of "purely innocent" motivations as he found it "alarming". He says that contrary to Moskowitz's claims, his group did not attempt to force their way in, that they never came into contact with the police, and that they had later asked an officer assigned to the street whether the police were called, to which the officer responded that he hadn't heard anything about it. Since Moskowitz claimed he had turned their booklets over to the police, Michel and Wollheim asked both police headquarters and the local precinct whether that was true, and they had found no record of it. Wollheim adds that he wrote to ask Moskowitz for the officer's badge number and precinct, and received no response.
On the following day, Moskowitz reported in his version of events, a telegram was intercepted that read, "Please Announce Futurian Meeting Tomorrow    Regards to the Tyrannous Trio. - The Exiles." Wollheim asks who was responsible for forging David Kyle's name on the receipt and then proceeding to withhold the message from Kyle.
== References ==
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