{"id":3889,"date":"2016-09-19T17:50:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T21:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=3889"},"modified":"2022-08-19T00:05:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T04:05:20","slug":"dave-kyle-1919-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=3889","title":{"rendered":"Dave Kyle (1919-2016)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"david-a-kyle-at-chicon-7\"<\/a>
David A. Kyle at Chicon 7. Photo by John L. Coker III.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dave Kyle has passed away. Some years ago, he was a guest at Con*Cept, staying with Anne Methe and\u00a0Jean-Pierre-Normand.<\/p>\n

Aged 97, his passing is hardly unexpected, and yet he was one of those people you always expect to be there.<\/p>\n

Posted in Locus online:<\/a><\/strong>
\nAuthor, illustrator, and fan David A. Kyle, 97, died September 18, 2016 of complications from an endoscopy. Kyle was a member of First Fandom, active in SF since 1933, and a founding member of the Futurians. He chaired NYCon II, the 14th Worldcon in 1956, and was fan guest of honor ConStellation, the 41st Worldcon, in 1983. Kyle published countless essays and letters in fanzines, and illustrated covers and interiors for many books. He received the Big Heart Award in 1973, and was inducted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1988.Kyle co-founded Gnome Press with Martin Greenberg in 1948, one of the premier small presses of the era, and designed many of the dustjackets for their publications. The press closed in 1962. He wrote the text for two extensively illustrated books on SF: BSFA Award winner A Pictorial History of Science Fiction (1976) and The Illustrated Book of Science Fiction Ideas and Dreams (1977). He was an occasional fiction writer, with first story \u201cGolden Nemesis\u201d appearing in Stirring Science Stories (1941); he also illustrated the piece. He wrote three books set in his friend E.E. \u201cDoc\u201d Smith\u2019s Lensman series: The Dragon Lensman (1980), Lensman from Rigel (1982), and Z-Lensman (1983).David Ackerman Kyle was born February 14, 1919 in Monticello NY. He married fellow fan Ruth Evelyn Landis in 1957 (they met at a convention), and they went to the Worldcon in England for their honeymoon on a specially chartered flight with friends and family. She predeceased him in 2011. Kyle is survived by a son, a daughter, and grandchildren.
\nPosted on File 770 September 18, 2016<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Posted by File 770:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

David A. Kyle,\u00a0who chaired the 1956 Worldcon (NyCon II) and was fan Guest of Honor at the 1983 Worldcon (ConStellation), died September 18 at 4:30 p.m. EDT \u201cof complication from an endoscopy\u201d reports his daughter Kerry<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just yesterday Kyle had been shown on Facebook enjoying New York fandom\u2019s \u201cEnd of Summer\u201d party.<\/p>\n

Kerry Kyle wrote:<\/p>\n

I know he was 97 and frail, but his spirit was strong, his heart was huge, and I\u2019m still in shock. I\u2019m still surprised. I expected him to last a few more years. I expected to be making him dinner tonight. And I\u2019m bereft. And at the moment I don\u2019t really want to type much.<\/em><\/p>\n

I know many in the Fannish community loved Dad as well and are equally as bereft reading this. I hope it \u2026makes you feel better to know that, as always, Dad chatted about science fiction with the EMT who brought him to the hospital and with the nurses who made him comfortable. He chatted about the love of his life\u2013science fiction\u2013genuinely interested in hearing what they read and watched. Always spreading the word and wishing to instill within them the flame he had within himself. And, yes, he made constant jokes and terrible puns that charmed everyone in the hospital\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dave\u2019s wife, Ruth, predeceased him in 2011. They met at a convention in 1955. The\u00a0next year she\u00a0served as Secretary of the\u00a0Worldcon\u00a0in New York, which Dave chaired,\u00a0and the year after that they married,\u00a0trufannishly honeymooning at the 1957 Worldcon in England, traveling there with 53 friends and in-laws on a specially chartered flight.<\/p>\n

Dave and Ruth had two children, Arthur and Kerry.<\/p>\n

Kyle was one of the most active\u00a0fans from sf fandom\u2019s earliest days. He attended the 1936 meeting<\/u><\/a> of New York and Philly fans which decided to dub itself the first science fiction convention<\/u><\/a> in advance of the Leeds event announced for 1937. He wrote the \u201cYellow Pamphlet\u201d that helped inspire the \u201cThe Great Exclusion Act of 1939\u201d<\/u><\/a> but, unlike his fellow Futurians, was not kicked out of the First Worldcon. In later years he\u00a0was made a Knight of The Order of Saint Fantony, won the Big Heart Award<\/u><\/a>, and in 1988 received\u00a0the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award.<\/p>\n

Kyle also had a notable professional sf career. Dave Kyle and Martin Greenberg\u00a0made history by co-founding Gnome Press in 1948. Together they\u00a0published dozens of volumes of\u00a0classic sf in hardcover for the first time. Gnome Press went under in 1962.<\/p>\n

Kyle\u2019s 1956 NyCon II<\/u><\/a> is particularly remembered for producing the year\u2019s Hugo Awards by affixing\u00a0Oldsmobile rockets\u00a0to a decorative wooden backing<\/u><\/a>. The\u00a0L-shaped base\u00a0displayed the rocket\u00a0standing upright while concealing its hollow underside.<\/p>\n

A list of Kyle\u2019s autobiographical fanhistory articles for Mimosa <\/em>can be found here<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Arthur<\/a><\/p>\n

Arthur C. Clarke receives Hugo Award from chairman Dave Kyle at the 1956 Worldcon, NyCon II.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

See also: Dave Kyle Remembered in Photos <\/a><\/h3>\n