Eric Frank Russell and Bea Mahaffey. Photo by Norman Shorrock.
Bea Mahaffey was born on August 24, 1926. She passes away in 1987. Ms. Mahaffey was active in early fandom and was an assistant editor for Ray Palmer after he left Amazing Stories to from Clark Publications.
I realize it may come as a shock to some people that there were female editors in the early 50s. They seem to think women didn’t become involved in science fiction and fantasy and smash The Patriarchy until [insert arbitrary recent date here]. I spoke to that issue in this post. Not that it did a lot of good. Some people just don’t listen. Not regular readers of this blog, of course. They’re on top of things.
Mahaffey worked with Palmer on Other Worlds, where she is credited as being the person who actually purchased Eric Frank Russell’s classic story “Dear Devil”. If she had done nothing else in the field, she should be remembered for this. Mahaffey is also credited as being co-editor with Palmer on Science Stories, Universe Science Fiction, and Mystic Magazine. Financial considerations forced Palmer to end her employment in 1956.
Bea Mahaffey was quite popular with the male fans of the day. Legend has it that both male and female attendance at fan gatherings increased when she was there. The men attended to keep an eye on Bea, and their wives attended to keep an eye on them. That may or may not be true, but I’m inclined to think it is to at least some extent. Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg got in trouble a few years ago when they wrote favorably about Bea Mahaffey’s looks in the SFWA Bulletin. Personally, I think beauty and achievement should be recognized.
In conclusion, Bea Mahaffey had a impact on the field of the fantastic.
Interesting. I had never heard of her.
From what I understand, she was an excellent editor. She doesn’t appear to have work professionally in the field after Palmer let her go. She deserves to be remembered.
I should assume that Bea should also be credited for the first to buy the Hokas (Anderson & Dickson)?
Of course, before Bea there was Mary Gnaedinger at Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Dorothy McIlwraith who succeeded Farnsworth Wright at Weird Tales. And Kay Tarrant was Campbell’s assistant editor during the golden (and silver) ages of Astounding.
True. There were some influential editors in the 40s who have been unjustly forgotten.