WDLF: A history
Steven Gould
It was in Austin and I think it was a Hyatt and I think it was Sercon 6, a literary SF con (the fannish term sercon is a combination of “Serious” and “Constructive.” From the 1959 Fancyclopedia II compiled by Dick Eney:
SERIOUS CONSTRUCTIVE There’s a bit of serious constructiveness in every good little fan, but it’s a label of questionable honor because of the nature of the beast. A do gooder or self-appointed censor, sometimes; he often believes that he has a Mission in Fandom, and labors for some Lofty Purpose or Worthy Line of Endeavor. He may be the fannish equivalent of the Rotarian or Chamber of Commerce booster; he likes to think fandom or science fiction will be the better for his work. And sometimes he is the organizer or builder who accomplishes an enduring work despite the scoffing of Voldesfen. Walt Willis represents his type of fans as Serious Constructive Insurgents, apparently indicating thereby adoption of the constructive features of the Insurgent Movement. ).
Sercon the convention was literary—the written word. Not movies, not TV.
Anyway, we were doing the round of parties the first night and we kept noticing the wicker duck baskets in all the bathrooms, holding a collection of soaps and shampoos and hand lotions and other ungents. It may have been me, it may have been Warren Norwood, it may have been Doug Potter, it may have been Becky Matthews, who recognized the tyranny, the inequality, the suffering of these poor creatures, but whoever did that, I’m pretty sure it was Warren who came up with the name.
The Wicker Duck Liberation Front was born.
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