Pre-1973
Rickard writes that he was first made aware of the works of Charles Fort, skeptic and researcher into anomalous phenomena through second-hand references, most notably through his (Rickard's) reading of various science-fiction stories:
- "John Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction (as Analog 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 at Birmingham Art College where he met several like-minded science-fiction fans. Rickard credits fellow-student Peter Weston'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 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 (started in 1932, but in limbo since the 1959 death of its founder Tiffany Thayer). 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's
The News from Nowhere", (although Rickard may be conflating/confusing Butler's
Erewhon and
William Morris' "News from Nowhere").
The News saw mostly regular bi-monthly publication for 15 issues between November 1973 and April 1976.Rickard met kindred spirit Steve Moore at a comics convention when the latter was a sub-editor at IPC, 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 is particularly cited by Rickard as being overtly Fortean) and cartoonist Hunt Emerson, 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 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 (#28-) and Valerie Thomas (#31-32). In 1982, Rickard, Moore and Sieveking were joined editorially by author Mike Dash (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, who recalls that "the Forteans used to meet every Tuesday afternoon above the science-fiction bookshop Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed 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 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.
