Fred Patten

Frederick Walter Patten(December 11, 1940 – November 12, 2018) was an American writer and historian known for his work in thescience fiction,fantasy,anime,manga,andfurry fandoms,where he gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media.

Fred Patten
Born	Frederick Walter Patten (1940-12-11)December 11, 1940 Los Angeles, California
Died	November 12, 2018(2018-11-12)(aged 77) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Writer, historian
Subject	Science fiction,fantasy,manga,anime,furry fandom

Background

Patten was born in Los Angeles on December 11, 1940, to Shirley Marie (Jones) Patten and Beverly Walter Patten. He had two younger sisters: Loel Anne Patten (born 1943) and Sherrill Clare Patten (born 1947). He learned to read at a young age, starting with comic strips in both theLos Angeles TimesandExaminer,and later was introduced toWalt Disney's Comics and Storiesaround 1945. Much of his early reading also came from magazines and books, and he showed an interest in superherocomic booksas well.

Science fiction became a key interest around age 9, and Patten began to collect books fromAce Books,Ballantine Books,and other publishers, as well as major science fiction magazines includingAstounding,F&SF,andGalaxy Science Fiction.In the late 1950s, he became involved in science-fiction fandom.

Patten entered theUniversity of California at Los Angelesin 1958, and its graduate School of Library Science in 1962. He became active infandomafter discovering theLos Angeles Science Fantasy Societyin 1960. By the time he graduated with a master's degree inLibrary Sciencein 1963, Patten had been writing forscience fiction fanzinesand publishing his own stories for three years. His Master's thesis was on the books ofAndre Norton.

Work in anime, fantasy, and science fiction fandoms

In 1972, Patten partnered with Richard Kyle to create Graphic Story Bookshop inLong Beach, California.In an interview posted on the now defunct website ofPulp,Patten said he had discovered manga atWestercon,one of the largest science fiction conventions on the West Coast, in 1970. At the time, he had been aware of television shows likeAstro Boy,but had no idea then that they were Japanese.

Through his bookshop, Patten wrote to Japanese publishers, asking to import their manga, achieving some success and in the process becoming a pioneer in the anime and manga fandom. He was one of the founders of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, the first American anime fan club, in 1977.

During this time, Patten worked in numerous library positions, notably that of technical catalogue librarian atHughes Aircraft Company's Company Technical Document Center (CTDC), inEl Segundo,Calif., from 1969 to 1990. After leaving that position, he served from 1991 to 2002 as the first employee ofStreamline Pictures,one of America's pioneering anime specialty production companies, founded byCarl MacekandJerry Beckin 1988. He has been a presenter at major conventions and guest lecturer at universities in the U.S. and Australia.

Patten wrote numerous monthly columns and individual articles forAnimation World Magazine,Newtype U.S.A.,theComics Buyer's Guide,and other magazines, including serving as the Official Editor for theRowrbrazzleAmateur Press Association,until March 2005, when he suffered a stroke.

No longer able to keep his collection, which had grown over more than 40 years, Patten donated everything – almost 900 boxes (~220,000 items) of comic books, records, tapes, anime, manga, programs from science-fiction conventions dating back to the 1930s, convention T-shirts, paperbacks, and an array of sci-fi fanzines back to the 1930s – to theJ. Lloyd Eaton Collectionat theUniversity of California, Riverside,which houses the world's largest collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Death

Patten died on November 12, 2018, at the age of 77.

Bibliography

As author

• Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews(2004)ISBN9781880656921
• Funny Animals and More: From Anime to Zoomorphics
• Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015(McFarland, 2017)ISBN9781476663814

As editor

• Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction
• Already Among Us; An Anthropomorphic Anthology
• The Ursa Major Awards Anthology; A Tenth Anniversary Celebration
• What Happens Next; An Anthology of Sequels
• Five Fortunes
• Anthropomorphic Aliens; An Interstellar Anthology
• The Furry Future: 19 Possible Prognostications
• An Anthropomorphic Century: Stories from 1909 to 2008
• "Cats and More Cats: Feline Fantasy Fiction"
• "Gods with Fur: And Feathers, Scales,..."
• "Dogs of War"
• "Symbol of a Nation"
• "Dogs of War II: Aftermath"
• "What the Fox?!"
• "Exploring New Places"

As contributor

• Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI,edited by Jerry Beck.
• The Animated Movie Guide: The Ultimate Illustrated Reference to Cartoon, Stop-Motion, and Computer-Generated Feature Films,edited by Jerry Beck.

Comic books

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

Patten adapted into English volumes 2–7 ofThe Skull ManbyKazuhiko Shimamoto;created byShotaro Ishinomori.

Filmography

Anime staff

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 2099(1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist

Silent Mobius(1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist

Golgo 13: The Professional(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, featurettes) – 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

Accolades

• Evans-Freehafer Award, 1965 – presented annually by theLos 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 atSan Diego Comic-Conin 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".
• Life Achievement Award,64th World Science Fiction Convention(LA Con IV; 2006) – awarded in recognition of a lifetime of service to the fandom.
• Forry Award, 2009 – presented annually at the Los Angeles Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention (LosCon) "for lifetime achievement in the field of science fiction".
• Furry Hall of Fame, 2012 – inducted annually at the MiDFur convention inMelbourne, Australia,for a lifetime of service to the Furry fandom.

External links

• Fred Patten News Page
• Frederick PattenatIMDb
• Fred Pattenat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Jason Thompson."Fred Patten and Graphic Story World".Pulp.Archived fromthe originalon October 20, 2004.RetrievedJuly 23,2011.
• Fred Patten's book reviewsatAnimation World Network
• Fred Patten's stories and reviewsatFlayrah
• Fred Patten's stories and reviewsatDogpatch Press
• Fred Patten's "Funny Animals and More" column at Cartoon Research