aport John had somewhat of a career crisis in the 1980s. UFOs were no longer a profitable subject; and the men’s adventure magazines he had written for throughout much of his career had folded. He turned to writing novels and plays, only to meet rejection from agents and producers. Partially to keep himself busy, and partially to generate a bit of money, he started putting out ad sheets and self-published booklets. Here’s one of them, an eight-page pamphlet called “How to Start a Club,” from 1984. I’m sorry about the holes; John kept his file copy in a binder.
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…
Good to see this.
Interesting to read that John Keel boasted well for SITU. They never seemed to have made much money, however, despite their short-lived success. Who ever heard of them making any headway from selling plaster casts and teeshirts? Didn’t really happen except with a few friends.
Considering what Keel had to do to live, writing such things, I’m happy for him that The Mothman Prophecies got him a small bit of money for awhile.
Thanks, Doug, for posting this.
Comment by Loren Coleman — May 6, 2012 @ 6:07 pm
I certainly never thought of SITU as a commercial enterprise, much less as a mail-order business. I doubt that Sanderson went into it thinking he’d clean up with those plaster casts.
John’s ad sheets were one of his odder projects. I suspect he didn’t make much money from them, but he did seem to be having fun.
The Mothman movie didn’t make much for him either, but it did stimulate book sales, and that helped him out in his final years.
Comment by Doug — May 6, 2012 @ 6:52 pm