Elliot Shorter at HexaCon 1980 in Lancaster, PA. Photo by and copyright Andrew I. Porter.

A notice posted on his Facebook page announces the death of fan Elliot Kay Shorter on 1 October 2013, from complications from cancer. Born 2 April 1939, he was the 1970 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner, representing North America as the Fan Guest of Honor at that year’s WorldCon, Heicon, in Heidelberg, West Germany.

Shorter also helped run Suncon, and was a part of the 7 in ’77 WorldCon bid. He ran Merlin’s Clost, a used and rare sf bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, starting the business in 1979.

Steven H Silver notes: “Shorter tended to stand out in fannish circles as a 6’4″ tall ex-marine and African-American.”

Andrew I. Porter adds “Elliot was Sergeant-at-Arms for NYCon 3, the 1967 World SF Convention; he’d been a military policeman while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. He was immortalized in art by Jack Gaughan in his NYCon3 Comics, as the towering black figure who seldom spoke, standing in the background, as here. That’s him, walking down the ramp holding another NYCon committee member, Rich Brown (I’m the big guy in the back, with glasses). The others on the ramp, from the bottom, are (I think; it’s been a long time) Ted White, Dave Van Arnam, Mike McInerney, Robin White, John Boardman, Andrew Porter.”

[Added after publication, Porter offers this addendum:] According to his candidacy statement on the 1970 Trans Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) ballot, “Elliot Shorter certainly isn’t… he stands taller. Always visible at a convention or fan gatherings due to his height and girth, with or without a guitar slung on his back. But the important thing about Elliot is that he is fun! Fun to talk with, sing with, get drunk with, turn a mimeo crank with. Elliot has been a great addition to fandom since he first started attending cons (most worldcons and east coast regionals since 1962, a number of Midwescons and Westercon 22). He has been Sergeant at Arms at Lunacons and at NYCon III, auctioneer at Lunacons, panelist at Boskones, art show judge at Westercon 22 and St. Louiscon. He has been chosen Parliamentarian for the 1971 Worldcon — Noreascon. Elliot… was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Eve. Sess. of City College of CUNY for 5 years. He is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Tolkien Society of America, Hyborean Legion, ESFA, Lunarians, Fanoclasts and NESFA. He has also participated in the publishing of Engram, the Heicon Flyer, Locus and Niekas.

Shorter, nominated by Ginger Buchanan, Jack Gaughan, Bruce Pelz, John-Henri Holmberg and Waldemar Kumming, won TAFF that year, beating out LOCUS publisher Charles Brown and artist and SF writer William Rotsler. As TAFF delegate for 1970, he went to the Worldcon in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was also that convention’s Fan Guest of Honor.

Elliot was Sergeant-at-Arms for NYCon 3, the 1967 World SF Convention; he’d been a military policeman while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. He was also on the bidding committee, “7 in 77,” which was organized to run a Worldcon in Orlando, Florida. Although Orlando won, because the hotel declared bankruptcy and refused to honor its contract, the convention was moved to Miami Beach.

Related articles previously published on SFScope:
Elliot Shorter Hospitalized Again (19 March 2009)
Elliot Shorter Hospitalized (6 May 2008)