Irish Fan John Berry Dies

Irish fan John Berry (not to be confused with American editor and designer John D. Berry) died November 25, 2011 of cancer.

Berry was a major figure in Irish fandom in the ’50s and early ’60s, joining organized fandom in 1954 after meeting Walt Willis. He was famed for his humorous and hyperbolic articles, and was so prolific and omnipresent in the fanzines that he was believed by some fans to be a hoax, since it seemed unlikely that one man could generate so much material.

Berry produced numerous fanzines, including Retribution, Veritas, Fables of Irish Fandom, Wholly Berry, Out of Reitsch, and many others. He was Guest of Honor at Detention, the 1959 Worldcon in Detroit. Berry’s prodigious output slowed down around 1962, and left fandom entirely in 1964, though he returned in the ’80s with occasional articles.