Bob Rickard
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bob" J M Rickard is the founder and editor of the UK magazine Fortean Times: The Journal of Strange Phenomena
Fortean Times
Fortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing and then I Feel Good Publishing , it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of December 2010, its circulation was approximately 18,000...

, which debuted in 1973 under its original title The News. The magazines express purpose is to continue the documentary work of Charles Fort
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...

 on the strange, anomalous and unexplained. In addition to his editorial role, Rickard has written several books and hundreds of articles on a wide range of Fortean
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...

 topics. In 1981, he was a founding member of ASSAP and is also the founder of the Charles Fort Institute.

Biography

Robert J M Rickard was born in "an R&R station for shell-shocked [WW2
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

] British Army soldiers" in Deolali
Deolali
Deolali is a small hill station and a census town in Nashik district, Maharashtra. It has several army establishments including the School of Artillery of Indian Army and nearby Airforce station...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in 1945. (Rickard notes that "Deolali" is the origin of the term "doolally", "which probably accounts for many of his eccentricities"!)

Discovering the books of Charles Fort
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...

, in large part through the science-fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction ("editor John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...

 would encourage his writers - such as Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...

, Charles Harness, Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...

, etc - to expand on Fort's themes") and Galaxy
Galaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...

, in which "naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...

 wrote such inspiring essays on what we now call cryptozoology
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...

." Thus attracted, when he attended an SF convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...

 in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

 in the early 1970s and obtained "all four of the Ace paperback editions," he writes that he "miss[ed] the rest of the Con" to read them. Rickard describes Fort as:
"an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 philosopher and iconoclast
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...

 who spent 24 years of his life in the bowels of the British Museum Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

 as it was at that time, in London, and the New York public library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

 in New York, and he collected something like 40 or 50,000 scraps of paper with data on them as he called it, and these were stories that seemed to embarrass the science of the day."


In 1973, after encouragement from "Paul Willis (of INFO), Paul Screeton (of Ley Hunter) and Steve Moore
Steve Moore (comics)
Steve Moore is a British comics writer.Moore is credited with showing acclaimed writer Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts...

 (I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...

 specialist)," he founded The News (later renamed Fortean Times
Fortean Times
Fortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing and then I Feel Good Publishing , it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of December 2010, its circulation was approximately 18,000...

) to continue the work of Fort in documenting the strange and unexplained.

In 1981, he helped found ASSAP, and in 1998, the Charles Fort Institute, before relinquishing his 28-year role as editor of FT in 2002 for semi-retirement, in order to "devote more time to enriching the 'apparatus' of forteana by working on projects like the CFI, the legendary Encyclopedia Forteana, and his own digital picture library (signs-and-wonders.com)".

Pre-1973

Rickard writes that he was first made aware of the works of Charles Fort
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...

, skeptic and researcher into anomalous phenomena through second-hand references, most notably through his (Rickard's) reading of various science-fiction stories:
"John Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...

, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction (as Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...

was then titled), for example," writes Rickard "encouraged many authors to expand Ford's data and comments into imaginative stories."

In the mid-1960s, Rickard studied Product Design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...

 at Birmingham Art College
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...

 where he met several like-minded science-fiction fans. Rickard credits fellow-student Peter Weston
Peter Weston
Peter Weston is a British science fiction fan. Now retired, he lives in Birmingham, UK.Weston's made many contributions in fan writing, fanzine editing, convention-running and in local science fiction clubs. His 1960s pseudonym "Malcolm Edwards" caused some confusion several years later, when a...

's fan-produced Speculation 'zine for helping him to "[learn] the art of putting together a fanzine," some years before he created his own.

In 1969, Rickard read an advert in the underground magazine Oz
Oz (magazine)
Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London...

for the "International Fortean Organisation" (INFO), an American group "founded in 1966... by Paul and Ronald Willis," who had acquired material from the original Fortean Society
Fortean Society
The Fortean Society was started in the United States in 1931 during a meeting held in the New York flat of Charles Hoy Fort in order to promote the ideas of American writer Charles Fort. The Fortean Society was primarily based in New York City. Its first president was Theodore Dreiser, an old...

 (started in 1932, but in limbo since the 1959 death of its founder Tiffany Thayer
Tiffany Thayer
Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer was an American actor, author and founder of the Fortean Society.-Biography:Born in Freeport, Illinois, Thayer quit school at age 15 and worked as an actor, reporter, and used-book clerk in Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland. Aged 16, he toured as the teenaged hero in the...

). Corresponding with the Willis Brothers (Paul was a particularly avid letter-writer) and sending them British newspaper clipping, Rickard was instrumental in encouraging the Willises to publish their own Fortean journal - and the "INFO Journal: Science and the Unknown" began intermittent publication in Spring, 1967. Rickard writes that he was slightly disappointed not to see (m)any of his clippings used in the journal, later discovering that the production was fraught behind-the-scenes as Ronald Willis had been seriously ill, Paul thus finding it difficult to "keep up with things." Accordingly, the Willises helped inspire Rickard to create his own periodical, and, bearing a date of November 1973, the first issue of Rickard's self-produced and self-published The News was available directly from him. Ron Willis sadly succumbed to a brain tumour in March 1975.

The News (1973-1976)

The magazine which was to become The Fortean Times thus began life as Rickard's self-published bi-monthly mail-order miscellany The News. The title is said to be "a contraction taken from Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (novelist)
Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh...

's The News from Nowhere", (although Rickard may be conflating/confusing Butler's Erewhon
Erewhon
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed in which part of the world Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country...

and William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

' "News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris...

"
)
. The News saw mostly regular bi-monthly publication for 15 issues between November 1973 and April 1976.
Rickard met kindred spirit Steve Moore
Steve Moore (comics)
Steve Moore is a British comics writer.Moore is credited with showing acclaimed writer Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts...

 at a comics convention when the latter was a sub-editor at IPC
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...

, and found the two had much in common - including a love of Chinese mysticism. Moore and "Paul Screeton (then editor of The Ley Hunter), both urged on the first few uncertain issues" of Rickard's publication, with Moore in particular frequently joining Rickard to help "stuff envelopes and hand-write a few hundred addresses" to disseminate the early issues. These early issues featured some articles by different individuals, but were "largely the work of Bob Rickard, who typed them himself with some help from Steve Moore."

Amongst the key early Fortean Times advocates and supporters, Rickard cites Ion Will, a "constant [source] of valuable clippings, books, postcards and entertaining letters"; Janet and Colin Bord, authors of Mysterious Britain (among other titles and articles - an article by Colin in Gandalf's Garden
Gandalf's Garden
Gandalf's Garden was a mystical community which flourished at the end of the 1960s as part of the London hippie/underground movement, running a shop and a magazine of the same name. It emphasised the mystical interests of the period, and advocated meditation in preference to drugs...

is particularly cited by Rickard as being overtly Fortean) and cartoonist Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s...

, introduced to Rickard when in late 1974 (after seven issues) he "wanted to improve the graphics", which Emerson certainly did (Indeed, Emerson's still-on-going monthly "Phenomenomix" strip in FT had its prototype in #11's three-page "Fortean Funnies").

Fortean Times (1976-present)

After fifteen issues of The News, #16 (1976) saw the magazine renamed Fortean Times, which "new title emerged from correspondence between Bob Rickard and Paul Willis" - the two having talked of creating a Fortean version of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 newspaper, "full of weird and wonderful news and read by millions worldwide". Fortean Times issues #16-18 (as The News #1-15 before them) were solely edited, published (and in large part written & typed) by Rickard himself, but with #19, Steve Moore was credited as assistant editor for issues #19-21. Moore then became co-contributing editor (with Phil Ledger, Stan Nichols and Paul J Willis) on issues #22-26, before being promoted above them to associate editor with #27. He was joined by contributing editor David Fideler, and subsequently (also as co-associate editor) by Paul Sieveking
Paul Sieveking
Paul R.A. De Giberne Sieveking is a British journalist and former magazine editor.Until 2002, Sieveking was co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times with its founder Bob Rickard. He joined the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained" in 1978...

 (#28-) and Valerie Thomas (#31-32). In 1982, Rickard, Moore and Sieveking were joined editorially by author Mike Dash
Mike Dash
Mike Dash is a Welsh writer, historian and researcher. He is best known for his books and articles looking at unusual historical events, anomalous phenomena, and strange beliefs.-Biography:...

 (who particularly oversaw the publication of scholarly occasional papers)

Another early contributor was writer and researcher Nigel Watson, who wrote a regular column titled Enigma Variations for several editions, before contributing major articles on the subject of UFO-related murders and stories of sexual assault by aliens.

In 1978, mutual friend Ion Will introduced Rickard to Paul Sieveking
Paul Sieveking
Paul R.A. De Giberne Sieveking is a British journalist and former magazine editor.Until 2002, Sieveking was co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times with its founder Bob Rickard. He joined the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained" in 1978...

, who recalls that "the Forteans used to meet every Tuesday afternoon above the science-fiction bookshop Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)
Dark They Were And Golden Eyed in London was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s. Specialising in science fiction, occultism, and Atlantis, the central London shop also played a key role in bringing American underground comics to the UK...

 in Soho", a shop run by Derek Stokes, to open post and interact. (Indeed, this was the semi-official address of FT until that shop closed. With #35, Summer '81 the address was changed.) Sieveking joined the FT team with #28 as co-associate editor, and writes, highlighting the intrinsic early difficulties in printing FT that that issue "was printed by an Israeli entrepreneur in northern Greece and shipped to London," before #29 was printed fully typeset in A4 (thanks to Dick Gywnn) and even distributed on a limited basis through WH Smiths.

Sieveking took over full editorial duties from Rickard with #43, helming the subsequent four quarterly issues (to #46) to give Rickard a chance to "revitalize", which he did, returning with #46 to the position of co-editor. Moore, Dash and Ian Simmons (and others) variously edited the magazine for the next 18+ years, and although main editorship passed to David Sutton in 2002, Rickard still regularly contributes to FT, despite being "semi-retired from [the magazine]."

During the 30 years of its publication, Fortean Times has changed both format and publishers on a couple of occasions. Early issues (particularly of The News) were produced on a typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...

 in black & white (for ease of photocopying). Colour, professional printing (and wider distribution) followed and a 6.5 x 4.5 in size held sway for several years before the magazine settled into its "normal" A4 (magazine) size in the late 1980s. Changes of logo and a glossy covers followed.

Fortean Times collected editions

  • Yesterday's News Tomorrow: Fortean Times Issues 1-15, (editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1992, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-26-3
  • Diary of a Mad Planet: Fortean Times Issues 16-25, (editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1995, paperback, ISBN 1-870021-25-8
  • Seeing Out the Seventies: Fortean Times Issues 26-30, (editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1992, paperback, ISBN 1-870021-20-7
  • Gateways to Mystery: Fortean Times Issues 31-36, (editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1993, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-37-9
  • Heaven's Reprimands: Fortean Times Issues 37-41, (editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1994, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-52-2
  • If Pigs Could Fly: Fortean Times Issues 42-46, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1994, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-47-6
  • Fishy Yarns: Fortean Times Issues 47-51, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1994, hardback, ISBN 1-870870-48-4
  • Bonfire of the Oddities: Fortean Times Issues 52-56, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1995, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-61-1
  • Strange Attractors: Fortean Times Issues 57-62, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1996, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-73-5
  • Plumber from Lhasa: Fortean Times Issues 63-67, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1996, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-79-4
  • Memories of Hell: Fortean Times Issues 68-72, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1997, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-90-5
  • Mouthful of Mysteries: Fortean Times Issues 73-77, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1998, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-66-2
  • Snakes Alive!: Fortean Times Issues 93-97, (co-editor, original magazine) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1998, paperback, ISBN 1-902212-04-5

Fortean Studies

  • Fortean Studies: Volume 1, (producer) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1994, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-55-7
  • Fortean Studies: Volume 2, (producer) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1995, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-70-0
  • Fortean Studies: Volume 3, (producer) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1996, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-82-4
  • Fortean Studies: Volume 4, (producer) John Brown Publishing Ltd
    John Brown Publishing
    John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...

    , 1998, paperback, ISBN 1-870870-96-4

External links

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