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Frederick Walter Patten (December 11, 1940 – November 12, 2018) was an American writer and historian known for his work in the
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
,
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
,
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
,
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
, and furry fandoms, where he gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media.


Background

Patten was born in Los Angeles on December 11, 1940, to Shirley Marie (Jones) Patten and Beverly Walter Patten. He had two younger sisters: Loel Anne Patten (born 1943) and Sherrill Clare Patten (born 1947). He learned to read at a young age, starting with comic strips in both the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' and ''Examiner'', and later was introduced to ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' around 1945. Much of his early reading also came from magazines and books, and he showed an interest in superhero
comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
as well. Science fiction became a key interest around age 9, and Patten began to collect books from
Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...
,
Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
, and other publishers, as well as major science fiction magazines including
Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...
, F&SF, and
Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...
. In the late 1950s, he became involved in science-fiction fandom. Patten entered the
University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...
in 1958, and its graduate School of Library Science in 1962. He became active in
fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...
after discovering the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society in 1960. By the time he graduated with a master's degree in
Library Science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...
in 1963, Patten had been writing for
science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" ...
s and publishing his own stories for three years. His Master's thesis was on the books of
Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...
.


Work in anime, fantasy, and science fiction fandoms

In 1972, Patten partnered with Richard Kyle to create Graphic Story Bookshop in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
. In an interview posted on the now defunct website of '' Pulp'', Patten said he had discovered manga at Westercon, one of the largest science fiction conventions on the West Coast, in 1970. At the time, he had been aware of television shows like ''
Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...
'', but had no idea then that they were Japanese. Through his bookshop, Patten wrote to Japanese publishers, asking to import their manga, achieving some success and in the process becoming a pioneer in the anime and manga fandom. He was one of the founders of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, the first American anime fan club, in 1977. During this time, Patten worked in numerous library positions, notably that of technical catalogue librarian at
Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules air ...
's Company Technical Document Center (CTDC), in El Segundo, Calif., from 1969 to 1990. After leaving that position, he served from 1991 to 2002 as the first employee of Streamline Pictures, one of America's pioneering anime specialty production companies, founded by Carl Macek and Jerry Beck in 1988. He has been a presenter at major conventions and guest lecturer at universities in the U.S. and Australia. Patten wrote numerous monthly columns and individual articles for '' Animation World Magazine'', '' Newtype U.S.A.'', the ''
Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...
'', and other magazines, including serving as the Official Editor for the Rowrbrazzle Amateur Press Association, until March 2005, when he suffered a stroke. No longer able to keep his collection, which had grown over more than 40 years, Patten donated everything – almost 900 boxes (~220,000 items) of comic books, records, tapes, anime, manga, programs from science-fiction conventions dating back to the 1930s, convention T-shirts, paperbacks, and an array of sci-fi fanzines back to the 1930s – to the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection at the
University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...
, which houses the world's largest collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror.


Death

Patten died on November 12, 2018, at the age of 77.


Bibliography

; As author * ''Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews'' (2004) * ''Funny Animals and More: From Anime to Zoomorphics'' * ''Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015'' (McFarland, 2017) ; As editor * ''Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction'' * ''Already Among Us; An Anthropomorphic Anthology'' * ''The Ursa Major Awards Anthology; A Tenth Anniversary Celebration'' * ''What Happens Next; An Anthology of Sequels'' * ''Five Fortunes'' * ''Anthropomorphic Aliens; An Interstellar Anthology'' * ''The Furry Future: 19 Possible Prognostications'' * ''An Anthropomorphic Century: Stories from 1909 to 2008'' * "Cats and More Cats: Feline Fantasy Fiction" * "Gods with Fur: And Feathers, Scales, ..." * "Dogs of War" * "Symbol of a Nation" * "Dogs of War II: Aftermath" * "What the Fox?!" * "Exploring New Places" ; As contributor * ''Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI'', edited by Jerry Beck. * ''The Animated Movie Guide: The Ultimate Illustrated Reference to Cartoon, Stop-Motion, and Computer-Generated Feature Films'', edited by Jerry Beck.


Comic books

Stories by Fred Patten have appeared in comics including ''Mangazine'', ''The Ever-Changing Palace'', '' Albedo Anthropomorphics'', and ''
Furrlough ''Furrlough'' is a furry fandom, furry comic book originally published by Antarctic Press and continued by Radio Comix. It is edited by Elin Winkler and is nicknamed (dubbed) "Your Funny Animal Anthology". First published in 1991, ''Furrlough'' o ...
'' (which included the series "Theriopangrams", in 36 issues between 1997 and 2003). Patten adapted into English volumes 2–7 of ''The Skull Man'' by Kazuhiko Shimamoto; created by Shotaro Ishinomori.


Filmography


Anime staff

:'' Tekkaman: The Space Knight'', (1984, TV) – Writer/adapter :'' Robot Carnival'' (1991) – Publicity :''
Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 volumes ...
'' (1991) – Publicity :''Vampire Hunter D'' (1992) – Marketing and Promotion :'' The Castle of Cagliostro'' (1992) – Translation :''Nadia'' (1992–1993, TV) – Story Editor :''Neo-Tokyo 2099'' (1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist :'' Silent Mobius'' (1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist :'' Golgo 13: The Professional''(1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist :''Wicked City'' (1993) – Unit Publicist :''Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf'' (1993–1994, TV) – Story Editor :'' Crying Freeman'' (1993–1995, featurette) – Publicity :'' Doomed Megalopolis'' (1993–1994, featurettes) – Story Editor :''Dirty Pair: Project Eden'' (1994) – Story Editor :''Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy'' (1994) – Story Editor :''8 Man After'' (1994, featurettes) – Script Editor :''Lily-C.A.T.'' (1994) – Publicity :'' 8 Man'' (1995, live-action) – Script Editor :''Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo'' (1995) – Story Editor :''Crimson Wolf'' (1995) – Story Editor :''Babel II'' (1995, featurette) – Story Editor :'' Casshan, Robot Hunter'' (1995, featurettes) – Story Editor :''Barefoot Gen'' (feature, 1995) – Story Editor :'' Megazone 23, Part 1'' (1995) – Story Editor


Accolades

* Evans-Freehafer Award, 1965 – presented annually by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc., for service to the Society. * Sampo Award, 1971 – presented annually at the West Coast Science Fantasy Conference ( Westercon) for "unsung" services to s-f fandom *
Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...
, 1980 – presented annually at
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
in various categories; "For Outstanding Achievement in Fandom Services/Projects". * Ursa Major Awards, 2003 ("The Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Awards") – presented annually at an anthropomorphic convention in various categories; to Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction, edited by Fred Patten (Sofawolf Press, July 2003); for "Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work of 2003". * Life Achievement Award, 64th World Science Fiction Convention (LA Con IV; 2006) – awarded in recognition of a lifetime of service to the fandom. * Forry Award, 2009 – presented annually at the Los Angeles Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention (LosCon) "for lifetime achievement in the field of science fiction". * Furry Hall of Fame, 2012 – inducted annually at the MiDFur convention in
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
, for a lifetime of service to the Furry fandom.


References


External links


Fred Patten News Page
* * *
Fred Patten's book reviews
at ''
Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Content Specifically ...
''
Fred Patten's stories and reviews
at ''Flayrah''
Fred Patten's stories and reviews
at ''Dogpatch Press''
Fred Patten's "Funny Animals and More" column at Cartoon Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patten, Fred Historians of animation Furry fandom people 1940 births 2018 deaths American male writers Anime and manga critics Inkpot Award winners Writers from Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles alumni