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From: srk@ihuxl.UUCP (S R Krause)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Hugo Gernsback
Message-ID: <1452@ihuxl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 3-Dec-84 19:16:41 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxl.1452
Posted: Mon Dec  3 19:16:41 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Dec-84 19:47:27 EST
References: <123@ahuta.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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One possible reason that the HUGO awards honor Hugo Gernsback is related
to the World Science Fiction Society.  The same authors that were published
in Amazing Stories, and the readers of such publications are typically the
people that went to the WorldCons.  The fact that people liked the idea
of special recognition for there favorite stories is not surprising.

It is debatable that the pulp magazines were detrimental to the field.
I started reading science fiction very early; much earlier than I would
have read anything more demanding.  I read the Tom Swift Jr series rather
than the Hardy Boys.  Although these books may not be great literature
I enjoyed them at the time.  The same goes for the Science fiction magazines.
They offered an avenue for both the reader and the writer to explore many
different realities.  I would feel deprived if I had to wait for a similar
story in the "high class" magazines.

This is not to say that all the stories are worth reading but my inclination
is choose from many rather than wait for a few good ones.  Who would decide
if they are good anyway?  My values are definitely not the same as the
New York critics.

I for one am glad to have the Hugo awards.  Beside the obvious incentive
for authors, the list of Hugo nominations is usually an excellant reading list.