1990 Mythopoeic Society

Hysterical satire (picture Gandalf et al in thongs!) Black and white illustrations by Paula Di Sante, Christine Lowentrout, Sylvia Hunnewell, Sarah Beach, Tim Callahan, Pat Wynne, Lynn Maudlin, Bonnie Callahan, Nancy-Lou Patterson. I was fortunate to get my copy signed by Lynn, Bonnie, Sarah, and Paula at MythCon 39. Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 inches (w x h); stapled on the fold.

Rarity: 7 100 were created. I know of three copies. (s)

The following "history" of the 1990 NOT Tolkien Calendar was graciously provided by Lynn Maudlin, the force behind its creation.

Okay, the inspiration: I thought it would be fun. I knew we couldn't do a big four-color glossy stock kind of production and I know a bunch of very fine artists and after querying and establishing a deadline, they all came onboard (yay!).

I called it "The NOT Tolkien Calendar" to make it clear that we were playing, in the hope that no one would take offense or be misled into expecting a *serious* Tolkien Calendar; I loved Pat Wynne's illo for the cover - using the international "No" symbol was important to me. I wrote in "NOT" by hand on every copy (I don't remember the total run - maybe 100). We did it under the auspices of the Mythopoeic Society because it simplified everything: we were all members of the Society and we knew there wouldn't be any *money* in this endeavor - so let the MythSoc sell them and reap the limited proceeds. At the time I was editing their fiction zine, "The Mythic Circle" as well as serving on the Council of Stewards (the Board of Directors, in legal parlance) so I was in production mode, as it were. At the time there were no "Calendar Creator" programs on the market, so putting together the non-artistic side was surprisingly tricky! We inserted some amusing dates and I think the calendar is even wrong, either February or March... someone pointed it out to me, long after the fact. *sigh*

Tim Callahan's illo, used for December (the "end" of the year, so it got the butt jokes) is truly classic - he was going for that Frank Frazetta fantasy look (which is hard to render in black & white, but Tim managed it), all muscular and rounded, lots of buttocks). I especially love Theoden's throne with the back-ends of horses making the front sides... and Eowyn's buttocks being reflected in a shield (shield maiden of Rohan indeed!)... ah, good fun.

As I recall, I did a very little bit of subject direction, just to make sure that we didn't get more than one illustration of the same subject matter, but this was mostly done in giving examples, e.g. that Bonnie (who has worked for Hanna Barbera and came by smurfness legitimately) was doing something with smurfs. It was highly satisfying to see all the illos come in (Paula's "Horns of Rohan" was hysterical and folks today probably miss it: that was Doc Severinson's "The Tonight Show" band from Johnny Carson, back in the day).

Tim and Bonnie Callahan were the only full-time professional artists, although many of us qualify as semi-professional (we don't support ourselves with our artwork, but we do get paid, from time to time). Patrick was doing many illustrations for Mythlore at the time, as well as Paula and Sarah (there are some wonderful illustrations in Mythlore, prior to it going entirely scholarly; Tim Kirk did many early illos but had left the Mythopoeic Society scene by the time I got involved in 1982, so I didn't know him to approach him).