The Cepheid Variable Science Fiction Club came into being in the
period 1967 – 1969, the result of science fiction fans gradually coming
together and organizing. Following a trip to the World Science Fiction
Convention in 1967, Annette Bristol and Danielle Dabbs started the first known
science fiction club, with Annette the President, Dabbs the secretary, and John
Moffitt as vice-president. The club was pictured in the 1968
In 1969, Cepheid was a part of
In 1970, Gary Mattingly reorganized Cepheid Variable and became the
second President of the club. Cepheid held a convention in the spring, referred
to as a
In April, 1972, the first named convention, AggieCon III was staged by Cepheid Variable. AggieCon is the most visible aspect of the Cepheid Variable Club, and has been continuously produced from 1969 to 2005 at this writing. It has been a very successful convention, and holds the distinction of being the longest continuously operating convention completely run by a student group. Cepheid Variable and AggieCon have many alumni in science fiction. Among them are Steve Gould, author; Noel Wolfman, currently a production supervisor for Dreamworks; Jayme Lynn Blaschke, author and editor; Martha Wells, author; and Brad Foster, Hugo winning artist.
Over the years, AggieCon has hosted many important names in the science fiction and fantasy field as Guests of Honor. Among them are: Harlan Ellison, Anne McCaffery, Fred Pohl, Damon Knight, Kate Wilhelm, Theodore Sturgeon, Bob Tucker, Chad Oliver, Poul Anderson, Jack Williamson, Kelly Freas, Joe Haldeman, C. J. Cherryh, Roger Zelazny, Harry Harrison, L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine de Camp, John Varley, George R. R. Martin, Ben Bova, Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson, Walter Koenig, Fred Saberhagen, Lynn Abbey, David Drake, Michael Moorcock, Julius Schwartz, Greg Bear, Charles De Lint, Lois McMaster Bujold, Margaret Weis, Dave Wolverton, Jim Baen, Nancy A. Collins, Joe Lansdale, Bruce Sterling, Robert Asprin, Terry Pratchett, Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Todd McCaffrey, and Elizabeth Moon.
AggieCon has also included numerous Texas authors as guests, many who have gone on to establish international reputations. AggieCon has been an important venue for Texas authors to promote their works, and regional guests have included authors such as Neal Barrett, Jr., Rachel Caine, Lillian Stewart Carl, Bill Crider, Carol Nelson Douglas, Steve Gould, Rory Harper, Katherine E. Kimbriel, Tom Knowles, Joe Lansdale, Justin Leiber, Ardath Mayhar, Laura Mixon, Warren Norwood, Chad Oliver, George W. Proctor, Tom Reamy, Nina Romberg, Lewis Shiner, Bruce Sterling, Lisa Tuttle, Steven Utley, Howard Waldrop, Martha Wells, along with many others.
This list of science fiction personalities is impressive, and has afforded the students of Texas AM University the opportunity to hear them speak, visit with them, and become acquainted with their writings. Few events on this campus have exposed students to as many literary figures than has AggieCon.
Early in the existence of AggieCon, program booklets became standard
fare. The first program book in the collection comes from AggieCon 7, 1976. The
contents of the program books vary, but typically they include brief
biographies and photos of guests, descriptions of movies, lists of committee
members, schedules of events, and illustrations by guests or committee members.
Bill Page did a brief history of AggieCon in the AggieCon XX Program Book. He
noted that AggieCons II and III were small, with no Guest of Honor, and that
AggieCon evolved over the years, to become a well-regarded event featuring books and authors, soon adding artists, and then later to feature media programming and stars more prominently, and then back toward a more print-oriented convention.
Cepheid Variable and AggieCon served as the focal point for many
activities. Science fiction and fantasy has always been the core around which
the club and conventions were built. Additional interests reflected in club and
convention activities included: motion picture screenings, gaming, comics
fandom, anime and manga, music (including performances by
While there is no official connection between AggieCon and the University Library, the two organizations have complemented each other for years. The Cushing Library Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection has been a tour site for many years, introducing authors and fans to the existence of the collection, and affording them the opportunity to see items they have never had the opportunity of view. Those contacts have fostered later research visits to the collection, and have resulted in donations to the collection.
The convention struggled for years as an independent effort. In the fall of 1972, Cepheid Variable became a sub-committee of the Contemporary Arts Committee of the MSC. A year or two later, it became an MSC Committee.
The successful acceptance of the group as an MSC Committee provide
funding, guaranteed access to MSC space for the convention and programming,
fiscal handling support, and advice and guidance from the Memorial Student
Center administration and staff. The latter was regarded with a jaundiced eye
by Cepheids, but, it should be noted, they diligently listened and heeded the
advice of the MSC administrators – occasionally. In 2004,
The collection consist of the program books, documents, correspondence, and miscellaneous items collected by the Cepheid Variable Science Fiction Club from its inception in 1969 through 2005. The collection was assembled from deposits of the club, gifts from Bill Page, and other occasional donors.
This collection is organized into 3 boxes. The collection is arranged generally as used by the Cepheid Variable Science Fiction Club at Texas AM University. Other material is interfiled into folders as is appropriate, especially the program booklets.
No restrictions.
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog of Cushing Memorial Library. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.
Received from Cepheid Variable Science Fiction Club.
Processed by Hal Hall in