PALMERISM

from Fancyclopedia 2

Nobody would have thought that the publisher of the first fanzine -- a pillar of stfnic virtue, Converted to the True Way by buying the Gernsback Amazing off the newsstand in 1926 -- would have turned mortally ill Amazing into the harlot of Scientifiction with his editorial emphasis on sexed-up thud-and-blunder and tolerance for sloppy writing, but Raymond A Palmer did just that, and snapped his fingers at the fans who screamed bloody murder. In 1938 Ziff-Davis took over decrepit Amazing, in hopes of converting it as Wonder had been converted to Thrilling Wonder. RAP, called to do the dirty work, justified his BEMs, sexy wenches, and puerile humor on the ground that they sold -- "brought Amazing up to the peak of sales ", he said. It was not a circulation-grabbing gimmick, but developed into the fixed policy of Amazing and sister mag Fantastic Adventures for the next ten years; this moron-pandering is the essence of Palmerism, but the word was formed more in resentment of RAP's giving space and friendly mention or even warm welcome to crackpottery like the Young Rosicrucians, the Shaver Mystery, and various mystical and occult forms of Cosmic Wisdom. The Shaver hoax was the last straw; Paul bacovers, ERB serials, Willy Ley articles, and some good stories like Weinbaum's The New Adam had been redeeming features, but that Palmer demanded Shaverism be accepted as truth was too much. Ackerman, who had been sniping at RAP for years, declared feud and others reacted as described under " Shaver".

After leaving Amazing Palmer went overboard for occultism along the Shaver/Fort line in his own group of prozines, Fate, Other Worlds, and Imagination; all reached pretty revolting depths of puerility and credulism.