Samuel Edward Konkin III
2004
Longtime Fan & Mac User Samuel Edward Konkin III was discovered in his apartment having collapsed in the shower, cause of death is presumed to be natural causes.
Westercons and Worldcons which have representatives in G.B, Europe or even Austalia,have nothing on VegaCon I. VegaCon I now has a representative in a whole other realm.Sam is the Publications Director of VegaCon I (Following the LSFS motto, death is NOTgoing to release him!).
Having recently returned to L.A. after a couple of years in Las Vegas, Sam was a an activemember of the Vegas SF Association (VSFA) and recent member of SNAFFU (TheSouthern Nevada Area Fantasy Fiction Union). As a longtime resident of LA, he has attendedthe LSFS scores of times over the past 30 years and longtime member of LosCon. Samattended every LosCon through the 70s and 80s.
To know Sam was not necessarily to love him, however, it CAN be said that to know him was most certainly to excite much passion. Sam has left many friends behind, but he wasnever one to leave you wondering where you stood with him. There are those, with whomhe clashed. Although he made a living as a typesetting and layout professional, he wasmost proud of his Fan publishing credentials. In this regard, he would certainly agree thateven bad publicity is good publicity.
Sam has been in Fandom since attending St LouisCon in 1969, cochaired by Las Vegas'own Joyce Worley. St LouisCon was Sam's first SF Con and he went on to become well known by scores of Fans across the country. Sam was a diehard anarchist Libertarian, he considered those who join the Libertarian Party to be "sellouts" to the cause. In 1969, the Libertarian Party was formed at a political convention in St. Louis, MO during the same weekend as St LouisCon. Sam traveled to St. Louis from NYC to attend this seminal event in Libertatian Politics and took advantage of the opportunity to attend the WorldCon (and he was hooked).
Sam went on to attend cons across the country and even made it to a WorldCon or two in Europe, he was originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In his 20s he went to NYC for Graduate School and also attended a school in Madison, WI. Sam was a founding member of the SF Club at NYU and participated in other NYC Fan Clubs.
Sam pubbed his ish 101 times weekly over a two year period in the 70s. New Libertarian Weekly attracted much attention due in part to its uniquely regular publication schedule and in part to its hard hitting policy of giving voice to all factions within the Libertarian movement. Its slogan, "Everyone appearing in this publication disagrees", celebrated this practice.
New Liberterian Weekly contained much news about such SF notables as Robert A.Heinlein and other material of interest to SF Fans. In fact entire issues were devoted to SF as a way to influence the culture in a Liberterian direction, in the tradition of Orwell, Bradbury and Huxley.
Sam has also pubbed his ish, Daily FreFanzine, designed to compete with the official daily organ of the given Con. Sam pubbed Daily FreFanzine each day of every con he attended since its inception at the El Paso Westercon.
Sam leaves behind a brother in Edmonton and his son, Samuel Konkin IV, in addition to those in his chosen Fan and Libertarian families.
Memorial Services are being planned for the L.A. area.
Woody Bernardi VegaCon I ConChair The Vegas SF Association (VSFA)