The Year is 1993....

“The first time I read about slash was quite awhile before that, in an old New Yorker article about Roberta Rogow. It briefly mentioned slash and the possibilities for B7 (the reigning passion of my life then as now) immediately leapt to mind. But I was so…innocent…ignorant…that the idea of fanzines for B7 didn’t. I had no idea there were so many other people hooked on this obscure (so I thought) series. Then, in rapid succession, I read Bacon-Smith’s article in the New York Times (by then several years old), and one of Penley’s essays, and e-mail entered my life (a white knight in armor fashioned of e-shaped links. Never mind). I signed onto Strek-L. Somebody mentioned K/S…and B/A. When I regained consciousness, I posted a request for addresses (I’d already written to Datazine because of Penley’s bibliography but received no answer). Several people answered. I mailed out my weight in SASEs. The first shipments of contraband arrived in December: Fire and Ice, Before and After, a few Resistances. I almost called into work the next day. …..

So, I owe it all to e-mail, academics, and people who were willing to share information with me although we’d never met. I would never have found fandom, let alone slash, without them. Of course…I’d have a lot more money now if it wasn’t for them… “

Source: Fanlore’s  Thank You to Acafans and Academic Fan Studies!