ADDENDUM:  I’ve added better scans of the first exchange of letters with Ivan Sanderson, and of the Shavertron interview.

John kept the notes for his keynote address.  Here they are, sometimes discolored by an antique rubber band.

The New York Fortean Society was one of John’s more quixotic projects.  Having already written a booklet on “How to Start a Club,” he naturally followed his own instructions.  He published a newsletter (10 issues), printed membership cards, and mailed out flyers for meetings.  It lasted until 1994, but his health and money problems made it hard for him to keep it going; there were sometimes months between meetings and mailings.  He seemed to have fun with it, though; I think he enjoyed the company.

Meetings were usually held on Saturday afternoons at the TRS Suite on E. 30th St.  Afterwards, everyone went to a deli around the corner, Miss Kay’s, for food and talk.  John also organized field trips (to the Nicholas Roerich Museum, for example), picnics, lunches, and holiday parties.  The parties, to his perverse satisfaction, were usually somewhat of a fiasco.

Here, from the first newsletter, is a list of the “Executive Committee” and charter members.

Patrick Huyghe’s name is smeared by the poor printing; my excuses, Pat.  Here, by the way, is what the membership cards looked like.  Classy!

Many Fortean researchers were only too happy to speak to John’s group, and to unwind afterwards at Miss Kay’s.  If anyone’s curious, I’ve listed all of the meetings here.

9/18/87: Mark Chorvinsky on his magazine Strange; Timothy Green Beckley on cattle mutilations; John Keel on flying cylinders.

10/14/87:  Ron Rosenblatt on Nicholas Roerich; a trip to the Roerich Museum.

1/23/88:  John Keel, Peter Rojcewicz, and Timothy Green Beckley on Men In Black.

2/17/88:  An informal gathering at Umberto’s, on Mulberry St., to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

3/26/88:  Patrick Huyghe on Australian UFOs; Ben Robinson on magic; Tom Benson on organizing a UFO convention.  John Keel also showed his film, “Egypt — 1954.”

5/21/88:  Michael Grosso on UFOs and psychic experiences.

8/6/88:  A gathering at the Hayden Planetarium.

9/17/88:  The first anniversary.  John Keel on extraterrestrials; Phyllis Benjamin receives first Falling Frog Award.

11/19/88:  William Henry Belk on psychic surgery.

12/17/88:  “Saturnalia orgy and Druid celebration” at Ukrainian East Village Restaurant.

1/28/89:  Antonio Huneeus on “UFOs Over South America.”

2/6/89:  Informal gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year, at Hop Shing restaurant, Chatham Square.

3/18/89:  Dennis Stillings on “Phantom Helicopters.”

5/20/89:  Whitley Strieber on alien abductions.

6/17/89:  Lunch at Miss Kay’s.

7/15/89:  Lunch at Miss Kay’s.

8/19/89:  Lunch at Miss Kay’s.

9/23/89:  Ben Robinson on his trip to Nepal.

1/20/90:  Peter Gersten on UFOs.

2/24/90:  Paul Geyer on “A Trip Into Space.”

4/21/90:  George Hansen on “Ghosts.”

6/21/90:  Zechariah Sitchin on “Was the Earth First Seeded by Beings from Another Planet Within our Solar System?”

7/7/90:  “First Annual Fortean Picnic and Ant-Stomping Contest” in Central Park.

9/15/90:  Philip J. Imbrogno on “UFOs Over New York.”

2/2/91:  Antonio Huneeus on “Red Skies” (Russian UFOs).

3/16/91:  Dennis Stillings on “The End of the World.”

5/11/91:  Patrick Huyghe on “Ice From the Sky.”

9/21/91:  Rosemary Ellen Guiley on “Vampires Among Us.”

12/21/91:  “Second Annual Christmas/Saturnalia/Solstice Party” at Delphi Restaurant.  Entertainment by Doug Skinner and Ben Robinson; Antonio Huneeus awarded Sewer Crocodile Award (Keel couldn’t find a frog).

1/18/92:  Doug Skinner on “The Shaver Mystery.”

3/21/92:  Kevin Sanders on “The Kennedy Mystery.”

4/18/92:  George Wingfield on “Crop Circles.”  Due to a plug on radio station WBAI, too many people showed up to fit into the space.

6/26/92:  Ben Robinson, Jim Moore, and Doug Skinner were giving slide shows a Dixon Place; NYFS members were encouraged to attend.

9/19/92:  Fifth Anniversary Party; Jim Moore on Philippe Petit’s World Trade Center tightrope walk.

11/21/92:  John Michell on earth mysteries.

12/19/92:  “Third annual Xmas insult”; Ingo Swann on prophecy.

2/27/93:  Philip Imbrogno on UFOs in New York; Antonio Huneeus on UFOs.

5/1/93:  Michael Grosso on “Playing With Your Wild Talents.”

10/16/93:  John Keel on Houdini and Dunninger.

2/19/94:  Alexander Imich on “Mysterious Materializations.”

Shortly after this, he took his own advice, and founded the New York Fortean Society.  It wasn’t exactly the cash cow that he planned, but it was fun while it lasted…

Readers of this site are probably familiar with the “Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins”; if not, the Wikipedia article is one place to start.  These undated polaroids show Ivan T. Sanderson posing with a model of one of the creatures.  I’ve never seen these photos in print; perhaps they’re unpublished, perhaps John used them for a magazine article.

That’s Gene Duplantier’s rendition of Roger Scarberry’s original sketch.

And here’s the introductory note.  Apparently John circulated this photocopied file to other researchers.  I’ve enhanced the faded original for legibility.

Today is John Keel’s birthday; he was born on March 25, 1930.  So, here he is, not long after the arrival.  A note with the photo says, “Just six months old.  Four teeth all showing.”  He looks uncharacteristically optimistic, doesn’t he?