gafia n. 2

Just a minor siege of GAFIA, from which, eventually, I will once again develop an enthusiasm for stf. At least I hope so.

Scientific medicine has taken a new step forward with the development and revelation of a complete understanding of that dread disease peculiar to fandom, Gafia.

The teenagers who took up science fiction and science fiction fandom in their earliest stages have now reached middle age, and although gafia has winnowed the ranks, enough of them are still active that fandom is going to notice their loss in increasing numbers as the years pass.

So it seems especially ironic that at the same time I’ve found my fannish enthusiasm dwindling to a 10-year low. So low, in fact, that I seriously contemplated gafia[.] Although I’ve decided I’m not quite depressed enough for that drastic step, I have decided to fold Karass.

[T]he sacred waters of Not Writing Count Zero Any More flow over me like the grace of the living God. This is to mere gafia as Peruvian flake is to lookalike diet pills.

What a wonderful surprise to receive HABAKKUK and realize that after all these years you have shaken off the dreaded hanging shrouds of gafia and produced such a beautifully written and illustrated fanzine, as if the years of non-activity have been a sort of pregnancy, metaphorically speaking, of course, and this wonderful thing has burst out to surprise and amaze the fannish world.

Nevenah Smith has left New York for a life of (mostly) gafia among the magnolias and alligators of New Orleans, where she can be found second-lining at Tipitina’s, eating crawfish, and amassing an enormous collection of Mardi Gras beads.

Only a months [sic] or so ago Merv Binns committed the ultimate act of gafia. His health had been on the decline for several years and I was pleased to be able to catch up with him for one final time [...]