Spectrum is Scarlet Fanzine - Jay Felton

[Elentari]

I have been re-reading old hardcopy fanzines and last night I opened Jay Felton's classic compilation 'Spectrum is Scarlet'. The stories are still a great read and I also found a letter from her in the back of the zine from when I had ordered my copy.

I remembered she had hoped to publish a second book (Spectrum is Blue) and it had me wondering if it ever happened, though she admitted it was unlikely to occur due to other commitments. (BTW There is still an advert for 'Spectrum is Scarlet' on SHQ if you don't remember the zine).

I looked Jay Felton up on the net today and found a bio on Fanlore: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Jay_Felton. The first thing I noticed was it was all written about her in the past tense. It details her impact on fanfic and the general fandom world. It also ends with this paragraph:

In June 2017 Jay was diagnosed with bowel cancer. She died on 16 October 2018, aged sixty, and her remains were interred in a beautiful area of woodland in the English countryside.

Vale Jay Felton.

[Marion]

That is sad, poor Jay. I have the magazine too, there's some good reading in it, including a very amusing Christmas story.

[Elentari]

I even read the poems (though admittedly they were not long). I liked the limericks too.

On and off for a couple of years Jay and I exchanged emails. She would ask me questions about Australia sometimes.

It makes you wonder though. There was a group I belonged to where conversations just stopped, and members found out that the moderator had died. He was more well known in a different fandom and under a different name so it wasn't until someone put two and two together that we realised what had happened.

BTW I'm not suggesting that every fandom website that has vanished means such bad news! For some I assume they've not bothered to maintain the sites, they've retired or found other interests...lots of reasons. I've started looking at old links I haven't checked in years and I'm surprised at how many no long exist.

But at 60-something years old myself.....Jay's death hit me for six.

[Carrie]

That's really sad, Elentari, but it's a nice thought that she's still being remembered by the people who read her stories. I suppose we all get a tiny bit of Captain Scarlet's immortality in that respect.

[Dal Curore]

Hi.

I knew Jay Felton well, and worked with her on "Spectrum is Scarlet", and what should have been its sequel.

I was heartbroken when she passed away, and was really touched to read the comments here.

In answer to Elentari's question: the second fanzine -- originally promoted as "Spectrum is Blue" -- became (at some point) "Spectrum is Scarlet 2".

It was scheduled for publication in 1999.

I did the cover, and designed a logo for it.

I still have a copy of the cover art - but it's a "clean" copy -- without the logo.

The zine was completed, but never published; I have no idea why.

Jay wanted to publish it.

As late as 2015, she was talking about it.

She said she wanted to honour the contributions of the writers and artists -- but hesitated because she felt that there wasn't sufficient interest, or any demand for fanzines at that point.

It occurred to me, at the time, that she could publish it online, but I never mentioned it -- much to my regret...

It would have been another tribute to her abilities as a writer and editor.

Jay was wonderful.

As an editor, she was incredibly enthusiastic, impressively erudite and literate.

I had written one story (and had two others in development) that should have been in "Spectrum is Scarlet" - but it became a novel, and outgrew the space available.

When I was developing that first effort, Jay never once attempted to dictate the direction of the narrative, but she gently (and always humorously) offered suggestions, insights and information that helped to make the story a thousand times better.

Although she made significant contributions to several other fandoms -- "Star Trek", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (she established and edited a much-valued letterzine called "The Network" for twelve years) and (especially) Anime -- she loved "Scarlet" more than anything, I think.

She immersed herself completely in that world.

Whenever she spoke of it, there was an excitement on a level I never saw when she discussed her other interests.

In case you're interested, I'll attach a scan of the cover art for "Spectrum is Scarlet 2".

Hoping this finds everyone in good health and good spirits in these challenging times,

With my best regards,

Dal.

[Elentari]

Thank you for your post and attaching the unfinished cover, which I like very much!

How disappointing Spectrum is Blue / Scarlet 2 didn't get published. Does it still exist somewhere? Yes fanzines were starting to go digitial but I like to read in hardcopy and would have ordered a copy like a shot.

It's lovely to hear from somone who knew her well.

It still makes me feel very sad that she has passed.

[Marion]

Yes, thank you for showing us the wonderful artwork. It is nice - if frustrating - to know there was every intention to publish a second volume. I would certainly have ordered a copy.

[Dal Curore]

Dear Elentari and Marion:

Thank you for your replies; it was great to hear from you.

I am especially pleased you liked the artwork!

:-)

I don't want to go into details on a public forum, but ever since I heard that Jay had passed away, I have been trying to establish if "Spectrum is Scarlet 2" exists, somewhere.

It would mean a great deal to me to be able to publish it.

Thus far, however, my quest has come to nothing, and what I have learned does not fill me with hope.

But I intend to keep looking until I know, for certain, that it is no longer out there.

All my best,

Dal.

[hazel]

Dal, thank you for filling in so much detail, and for showing us that terrific drawing.. I didn't know Jay very well, but did meet her a few times. Spectrum Is Scarlet was and is an excellent collection of writing. It would be a crying shame if the second collection is lost forever.

[Carrie]

Dal, my condolences to you on the passing of your friend. There is something particularly raw in losing someone who shared your interests and passions.
Thank you for sharing your art; it's a dynamic piece of work, and for sharing your reminiscences of Jay with us as fellow Captain Scarlet devotees.

[Dal Curore]

Hello, Carrie.

Thank you for your comments; I really appreciate you taking the time to post. I can't stress that enough.

On the subject of "Spectrum is Scarlet 2": in the past week, I was sorting through material stored on my hard drive and found the E-mail Jay Felton wrote to me regarding it.

It was dated 2010 -- not 2015 as I remembered.

What I read confirmed that the reason the 'zine was never published was financial; Jay was uncertain whether or not the sales would be sufficient to recover the cost of having it printed.

She also said something tangential about the original "Spectrum is Scarlet" which SUGGESTS (she doesn't state it outright) that she never covered her costs there, either.

If you'll recall, she was still offering copies of the original 'zine many years after it was originally circulated...

Also in the past week (and I am not sure if this is of interest...), I retrieved the two stories I had written back in 1985 from the carton they have been residing in and was astonished to find an entire file full of correspondence from Jay regarding them and the various "Scarlet" projects she was working on.

The reason I mention this is because she refers several times to the SECOND issue of "Spectrum Strikes Back" -- the "Scarlet" newsletter she initiated with Linda Chappel and Carol Keogh.

She states that issue 2 was already one hundred pages long -- and that they were delaying publication because Sylvia Anderson had agreed to be interviewed and they were waiting to conduct that so they could include it in the newsletter.

I do recall Jay phoning me to tell me about the day she, Linda and Carol had spent at Pinewood with Sylvia, and that during their conversation, they had discussed setting up "The Sylvia Anderson Appreciation Society" -- a project which Sylvia had offered her full support to.

After their interview, she had taken them on a tour of the sets for "The Living Daylights" -- which is some indication of when that was...

Anyway: the point of all this is that "Spectrum Strikes Back" is another "lost" 'zine (I used to have the first issue -- which was superb).

As an aside, in her letters, Jay makes several references to a major essay I had written about the show that they'd included in the second issue -- and I have no record of this or even recall doing it!

Anyway (I think I've said that already): that's enough from me.

Sincerely: thanks again, Carrie; and, as ever, my best to you all.

Dal.

[Marion]

Hi Dal,
How sad to think there was so much lost and that she wasn't able to recoup her costs. The Scarlet Fandom is nowhere near as big as the Thunderbirds one, (as far as I know) but we are all just as dedicated. Perhaps, if you think about it, you could argue that we are more dedicated than Thunderbird fans, as we have less to sustain our interest?
I suppose we're lucky to have the Internet now and a spectacular website where we can share our enjoyment of the Fandom with other like-minded people. As I have said before - where would we be without Colonel Chris? I have made some very good friends through the website and am so grateful it is still here!

[Elentari]

When fanzines were popular before the internet, as I live in Australia the only ones I knew were the zines that were published here. If overseas zines had been known further afield maybe making a profit might have been possible. I guess we'll never know.

It makes me wonder what I have missed out on though!

Luckily for me Jay still had some copies of Spectrum is Scarlet when I contacted her. But then the internet took over and hard copies declined. There are still stories out there (not just of Captain Scarlet) that were only available in printed form that I wish I could find. They've never appeared on the internet. Sigh.

I sure hope Spectrum is Scarlet 2 and Jay's other works are found. I'd love them in hard copy but maybe they can be scanned to be available online and sold as pdfs as a tribute to Jay.