Rant #2,366: Old Days

Yet another piece of my past has emerged from what I thought was oblivion, and it emerged in the most unlikeliest of places.

I was on eBay yesterday, and since I have recently unearthed pieces of my past related to my college newspaper writings and some other things that I had done in the past--which all led to me becoming a professional writer--just on the off chance that something might turn up that someone is looking to sell, I decided to punch in the letters "H-e-a-r-A-g-a-i-n" and see what would happen.

Before I tell you what happened, let me tell you about Hear Again.

Hear Again was a fanzine that I self published between 1984 and 1988. A fanzine was a self-published publication--often made on a copy machine--that highlighted the creator's interest in a certain subject. Fanzines became very popular in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, in the pre-Internet era, and pretty much faded out of view just about entirely when being online was the way to highlight your likes and dislikes.

You can look at the modern Facebook page devoted to a specific topic as this generation's "electronic fanzine."

Most of these fanzines revolved around comic books and records and music, and mine was more music oriented, although I did often venture out into other areas.

It was fun, and it was the first time that I actually called my own shots on anything that I did on a regular basis related to my writing.

I have to say that the publication was very successful for what it was. We had subscribers all over the world, and for a 27 year old guy stuck in a dead-end job that was going out of business (sound familiar?), it kept me going during those years that I did it.

And it caught the notice of a few people. It led me to getting my freelance job at "The Island Ear"--a higher class, better music and arts publication that I ended up being with for about a dozen years or so--and it did win the first and only Goldmine Award for Best Fanzine.

And it was all generated on a copy machine.

Now, back to the present time .... so I am on eBay yesterday, and I punch in "H-e-a-r-A-g-a-i-n," and what comes up?

Yes, someone is trying to sell four issues of Hear Again as a bid item, with bids beginning at $6.50. Here is the entry: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HEAR-AGAIN-Fanzine-Set-of-4-from-1985-Monkees-Raiders-Pacemakers-Turtles/283465237657?hash=item41ffd84499:g:16oAAOSwiahcno~X

It made me feel pretty good that someone actually believes that these things have any worth. By 2019 standards, they are crude, the information is decent but not great, and again, I was really at the beginning of my writing career, so the verbiage is there, but nothing like I write today.

But you can see how genuinely interested I was in what I was doing, and I guess that is worth the price of admission.

I had lots of fun putting out this publication, entirely on my own, although I did use other writers at times. It would take hours to set up each page, and print each page up just right on the copy machine that I used.

But it really kept me going, and it did open some doors, so I am highly indebted to it.

And yes, I know exactly where they are in my house. I saved them all ... I just pretty much put them in the far reaches of my mind, rarely thinking about them.

And to find it the way I did on eBay--what a kick that was!

Although there are no bids on this item just yet, maybe somebody will take a chance and bid on it some time in the near future, and see if the more than 30-year-old publication holds up in any way. I am sure it does, because not to overstate things, but the passion of what I was doing was in those pages.

When Hear Again stopped being fun, I closed it down. My daughter had just come into this world, and honestly, I had little time to be putting this thing together anymore.

But I can tell you that it was fun while it lasted ... a lot of fun.

And it was good to find it on eBay and remind myself where I was back then, where this publication got me to, and where I am today and maybe in the future.

Have a great weekend, and I "Hear Again" will be speaking to you again on Monday.