Fred Patten
Encyclopedia
Frederick Walter Patten is known for his work as a historian in the science fiction
, anime
, manga
, and furry fandom
s, where he has gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media.
on December 11, 1940 to Shirley Marie (Jones) Patten and Beverly Walter Patten. He has 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 the Los Angeles Times
and Examiner, and later was introduced to Walt Disney's Comics and Stories around 1945. Much of his early reading also came from magazines and books, and he showed an interest in superhero comic books as well.
Science fiction
became a key interest around age 9, and Patten began to collect books from Ace Books
, Ballantine Books
, and other publishers around that time, as well as major science fiction
magazines including Astounding, F&SF, and Galaxy Science Fiction
. In the late 1950s, he became involved in the science-fiction fandom. He entered the University of California at Los Angeles in 1958, and its graduate School of Library Science in 1962. He became active in fandom
after discovering the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society
in 1960. By the time he graduated with a Master's degree in Library Science in 1963, he had been writing for sci-fi fanzines and publishing his own stories for three years. His Master's thesis was on the books of Andre Norton
.
. In an interview posted on the (now defunct) website of Pulp Magazine, Patten said he had discovered manga at Westercon
, one of the largest science fiction conventions on the West Coast, in 1970. At the time, he had been aware of television shows like Astro Boy
, but had no idea then that they were Japanese. Through his bookshop, he 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 at Hughes Aircraft Company's Company Technical Document Center (CTDC), in El Segundo
, Calif., from 1969 to 1990. After leaving that position, he served from 1991 to 2002 as the first employee of Streamline Pictures
, one of America's pioneering anime specialty production companies, founded by Carl Macek
and Jerry Beck
in 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 for Animation World Magazine, Newtype U.S.A., the Comics Buyer's Guide, and other magazines, including serving as the Official Editor for the Rowrbrazzle
Amateur 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,
he donated everything — almost 900 boxes (~220,000 itemshttp://www.kayshapero.net/FredPatten/Apa-L/Apa-L%202155.html) 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 the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection
at the University of California, Riverside
, which houses the world's largest collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_News_Local_D_gift26.e06db3e.html.
Patten adapted into English volumes 2–7 of The Skull Man by Kazuhiko Shimamoto; created by Shotaro Ishinomori.
Also a number of appearances in interviews on anime DVDs.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, and furry fandom
Furry fandom
Furry fandom is a fandom for fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walk on two legs, and wear clothes...
s, where he has gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media.
Background
Patten was born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on December 11, 1940 to Shirley Marie (Jones) Patten and Beverly Walter Patten. He has 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 the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and Examiner, and later was introduced to Walt Disney's Comics and Stories around 1945. Much of his early reading also came from magazines and books, and he showed an interest in superhero comic books as well.
Science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
became a key interest around age 9, and Patten began to collect books from Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, and other publishers around that time, as well as major science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
magazines including Astounding, F&SF, and Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
. In the late 1950s, he became involved in the science-fiction fandom. He entered the University of California at Los Angeles in 1958, and its graduate School of Library Science in 1962. He became active in fandom
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
after discovering the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society
Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society
The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc., or LASFS is a science fiction society with its headquarters in Van Nuys, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Van Nuys is located in the San Fernado Valley, north of Los Angeles...
in 1960. By the time he graduated with a Master's degree in Library Science in 1963, he had been writing for sci-fi fanzines and publishing his own stories for three years. His Master's thesis was on the books of Andre Norton
Andre Norton
Andre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...
.
Work in anime and F/SF fandoms
In 1972, Patten partnered with Richard Kyle to create Graphic Story Bookshop in Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. In an interview posted on the (now defunct) website of Pulp Magazine, Patten said he had discovered manga at Westercon
Westercon
Westercon is a regional science fiction and fantasy convention founded in September 1948 by Walter J. "Doc" Dougherty of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society...
, one of the largest science fiction conventions on the West Coast, in 1970. At the time, he had been aware of television shows like Astro Boy
Astro Boy (1960s)
is a Japanese manga series first published in 1952 and television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story follows the adventures of a robot named Astro Boy and a selection of other characters along the way....
, but had no idea then that they were Japanese. Through his bookshop, he 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 at Hughes Aircraft Company's Company Technical Document Center (CTDC), in El Segundo
El Segundo, California
El Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on the Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is one of the Beach Cities of Los Angeles County and part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments...
, Calif., from 1969 to 1990. After leaving that position, he served from 1991 to 2002 as the first employee of Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English dubbed Japanese animation. -Founding:Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first North American companies that was created primarily for the intention of...
, one of America's pioneering anime specialty production companies, founded by Carl Macek
Carl Macek
Carl F. Macek was an American writer and controversial anime pioneer and producer of the 1980s and 1990s.-Robotech and Harmony Gold USA:...
and Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. He is also an animation producer, an industry consultant to Warner Bros., and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney....
in 1988. He has been a presenter at major conventions and guest lecturer at universities in the U.S. and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Patten wrote numerous monthly columns and individual articles for Animation World Magazine, Newtype U.S.A., the Comics Buyer's Guide, and other magazines, including serving as the Official Editor for the Rowrbrazzle
Rowrbrazzle
Rowrbrazzle is an Amateur Press Association magazine devoted to funny animal cartoon illustration.-History:Rowrbrazzle was founded in 1983 by Marc Schirmeister, who published the first issue in February 1984, and was editor for the first fourteen quarterly mailings. Fred Patten was then editor from...
Amateur Press Association
Amateur press association
An amateur press association is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group.-Organisation:...
, until March 2005, when he suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. No longer able to keep his collection, which had grown over more than 40 years,
he donated everything — almost 900 boxes (~220,000 itemshttp://www.kayshapero.net/FredPatten/Apa-L/Apa-L%202155.html) 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 the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection
Eaton collection
The Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, formerly known as the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Utopian Literature, is the largest cataloged and publicly-accessible collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and utopian and dystopian literature in...
at the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
, which houses the world's largest collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_News_Local_D_gift26.e06db3e.html.
Publications
This is a partial list of Fred Patten's many writing and editing credits, which have also included dozens of magazine articles for science-fiction, anime, manga and furry publications since the late 1960s.Books
- Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews by Fred Patten. A collection of 63 articles on Japanese animation, comic books, and their fandom in America, published in various magazines between 1979 and 2004.
- Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction, edited by Fred Patten. An anthology of 26 s-f & fantasy short stories by Brian W. Antoine, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Gene Breshears, Kim Liu, Watts Martin, Michael H. Payne, & others.
- Furry!: The World's Best Anthropomorphic Fiction, edited by Fred Patten. A retitled mass-market edition of Best in Show.
- Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI, edited by Jerry Beck. Foreword by Jeffrey Katzenberg. A history of international animation in all forms, by decades from 1900-1910 to 2000-2004. Fred Patten wrote the entries on Chinese and Japanese animation.
- The Animated Movie Guide: The Ultimate Illustrated Reference to Cartoon, Stop-Motion, and Computer-Generated Feature Films, edited by Jerry Beck. An alphabetical listing with critical reviews of all animated feature films released theatrically in the U.S. from 1926 through 2004. Fred Patten wrote the entries for Japanese and Korean animated films.
Comic Books
Stories by Fred Patten have appeared in comics including Mangazine, The Ever-Changing Palace, Albedo: Anthropomorphics, and Furrlough (which included the series "Theriopangrams," in 36 issues between 1997 and 2003).Patten adapted into English volumes 2–7 of The Skull Man by Kazuhiko Shimamoto; created by Shotaro Ishinomori.
Animation Film Credits
- 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 (1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist
- Silent Möbius (1993, featurette) – Unit Publicist
- The Professional: Golgo 13 (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
Also a number of appearances in interviews on anime DVDs.
Awards
- Evans-Freehafer Award, 1965 – presented annually by the Los 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 at the San Diego Comic-Con in 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 Convention64th World Science Fiction ConventionThe 64th World Science Fiction Convention , styled L.A.con IV, was held in Anaheim, California, United States, from 23 to 27 August 2006. The Venue for the 64th Worldcon was the Anaheim Convention Center and the nearby Hilton and Marriott hotels. The organizing committee was chaired by Christian B...
(LA Con IV; 2006) – awarded in recognition of a lifetime of service to the fandom. http://www.kayshapero.net/FredPatten/new.html - 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".