OVERVIEW
Graham B. Stone's interest in science fiction as a teenager saw him become involved with the Futurian Society of Sydney (F.S.S.), and soon led to him beginning a lifetime of documenting and preserving works and information relating to Australian science fiction. This passion has led to him being considered among the foremost authorities and collectors of the genre in Australia. Over the course of his lifetime he has written fiction, contributed to numerous amateur zines and journals, as well as commercial magazines, overseen the running of several fan societies (including the F.S.S. and Australian Science Fiction Society), and played a significant role in establishing Australia's first national SF convention. In 1968 he published the first comprehensive bibliography of Australian science fiction, and in the mid-1980s began an extensive researching project which led to the discovery of hundreds of long-forgotten stories. In 1990 he began to assemble Notes on Australian Science Fiction into a book tracing its development from European utopian novels to the scientific thrillers of the late 1940s. Stone also operates a small press that republishes rare but historically significant Australian science fiction.
DETAILED BIOGRAPHY
1926-1954: Graham Stone became associated with the Futurian Society of Sydney during its first year of activity. When the Futurians imploded in 1943 Stone became a member of the Bondi Progress Association (B.P.A.) and soon afterwards unsuccessfully attempted to organise a sub-group within the B.P.A. devoted to science fiction. Shortly afterwards he was called up for war duty and stationed in the Australian tropics with the R.A.F. After returning to Sydney in 1947 he became involved with a small group of people, including some former members of the Futurians (Vol Molesworth and Eric Russell), who were interested in reviving the society. Within a month the group had published the first issue of its new zine, The Sydney Futurian and within a year the membership had more than doubled. In 1948 Stone was voted into the position of Secretary as well as being responsible for editing the Society's official zine.
When the F.S.S. once again imploded in late 1950, Stone announced in the newly established Woomera magazine (q.v.), that he had formed a new national organisation to keep Australian fans in contact with each other. Called the Australian Science Fiction Society (ASFS), it's membership rose to over 100 within a year. Vol Molesworth writes that the ASFS worked perfectly because Stone, an unashamed "dictator," declared himself Secretary and went ahead without meetings or elections. 'For the first time in years,' writes Molesworth, 'Australian fans were united in a community organisation, and they were regularly supplied with information' ('A History,' p. 23). Stone's objective, to bring people together,' helped provide the impetus for another revival of the Futurian Society of Sydney, which in turn led to the First Sydney Science Fiction Convention (March 1952). Stone, the Convention Secretary, played a significant part in the success of this venture by arranging for an extensive exhibit of early magazines and zines, not only from Australia but also from around the world, including the USA, Britain, Spain, France, Sweden, Germany and Holland.
1955-1979: Internal disruptions and feuds that began to surface within the F.S.S. in 1954 saw the membership once again implode, allowing other capital cities, and particularly Melbourne, to take over the initiative of progressing science fiction fandom from 1955 onwards. Vol Molesworth notes, however, that during the period 1956-1959, the F.S.S. was kept alive largely by the efforts Graham Stone (p. 57). 1955 also saw Stone begin his career as a bibliographic compiler when he self-published An Index to Australian Science Fiction Magazines: Part One.
Between 1960 and 1963 Stone essentially operated the Society as a one-man show, handling all the activities associated with the club's library with occasional help from Alan South and Kevin Dillon. During this period he published Notes and Comments: Journal of the Futurian Society of Sydney. Stone's involvement ceased in 1963, however, when he was offered a job in Canberra. A further blow to the F.S.S. occurred in 1964 with the untimely death of Vol Molesworth.
In 1968 Stone expanded on his earlier research when he published the Australian Science Fiction Index, 1925-1967 the first comprehensive bibliography of Australian science fiction. In the mid-1970s he returned once more to Sydney, and Bob Smith and Ron L. Clarke, played an instrumental part in reviving the Futurian Society.
1980-2010: During the mid-1980s Stone began combing through Australia's newspapers and periodicals looking for any science fiction stories which had been published but which there was no record. The result of this project led to hundreds of forgotten stories being discovered. In 1990 he began to assemble his findings into a book that attempts to trace the science fiction genre's development from European utopian novels to the scientific thrillers of the late 1940s. The result, Notes on Australian Science Fiction was self-published in 2001. In the meantime Stone's contribution to science fiction was acknowledged by his peers when he became the recipient of the 1999 A. Bertram Chandler Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction.
Some three years after releasing Notes on Australian Science Fiction, Stone self-published his Australian Science Fiction Bibliography (2004), a volume which lists books, authors, titles, letters, reviews and periodicals with content relating to Australian writers of science, speculative, fantasy and horror fiction. In addition to publishing his own works, Stone's small press also republished rare but historically significant Australian science fiction.
