Loscon 33

Fred Patten

 

Fred learned to read at a young age, starting with comic strips in both the Los Angeles Times 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 as well. Science fiction became a key interest around age 9, and Fred began collecting books, as well as science fiction magazines including Astounding, F&SF, and Galaxy Science Fiction. In the late 1950s, he became involved in science-fiction fandom. While working on his Master’s Degree in Library Science at UCLA (which he received in 1963), he discovered the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society and began writing for sci-fi fanzines and publishing his own stories. His Master's thesis was on the books of Andre Norton.

In 1972, Patten partnered with Richard Kyle to create Graphic Story Bookshop in Long Beach, California. At the 1970 Westercon, Fred discovered manga. At the time, he had been aware of television shows like Astroboy, but had no idea then that they were Japanese. Through his bookshop, he wrote to Japanese publishers, asking to import their manga, achieving some success and in the process becoming a pioneer in the anime/manga fandom. He is one of the founders of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, one of the early anime fan clubs, which still meet monthly at the LASFS.

 

Fred has also worked in numerous library positions, notably that of technical catalogue librarian at Hughes Aircraft Company'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. Publications This is a partial list of Fred Patten's long list of writing and editing credits, which have also included dozens of magazine articles for science-fiction, anime, manga and furry publications since the late 1960s.

 

 

Books

Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews by Fred Patten. Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction, edited by Fred Patten. Furry!: The World's Best Anthropomorphic Fiction, edited by Fred Patten. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI, edited by Jerry Beck. Foreword by Jeffrey Katzenberg. Fred Patten wrote the entries on Chinese and Japanese animation. The Animated Movie Guide: The Ultimate Illustrated Reference to Cartoon, Stop-Motion, andComputer-Generated Feature Films, edited by Jerry Beck. Fred Patten wrote the entries for Japanese and Korean animated films.

 

Comic Books

Stories by Fred Patten have appeared in comics including Mangazine, The Ever-Changing Palace, Albedo: Anthropomorphics, and Furrlough (which included the series "Theriopangrams," in 36 issues between 1997 and 2003).

Patten adapted into English vol. 2 through 7 of The Skull Man by Kazuhiko Shimamoto; created by Shotaro Ishinomori.

 

Animation Film Credits

Tekkaman, the Space Knight (1984, TV) - Writer/adapter

Robot Carnival (1991) - Publicity

Fist of the North Star (1991) - Publicity

Vampire Hunter D (1992) - Marketing and Promotion

The Castle of Cagliostro (1992) - Translation

Nadia (1992-1993, TV) - Story Editor

Neo-Tokyo (1993, featurette) - Unit Publicist

Silent Möbius (1993, featurette) - Unit Publicist

The Professional: Golgo 13 (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) - 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

 

Awards Received

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, 1980 - presented annually at the San Diego Comic-Con 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".

 

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