Readers of this blog may recall a post from May 2020 where we shared a unique artifact from the very early history of fandom — an elaborate hand-illustrated fanzine titled Tellus News.

Although dated “Sol 23, 1947,” this remarkable Martian newspaper of the future was penned in January 1932 by one “Howard Lowe.” At the time of our 2020 post, we admitted that we knew nothing further about Lowe or his work.

We’ve learned a lot since then.

Stephen Howard Lowe (later, Low) was born on April 19 1917 in Portland Oregon. In 1930, he was 13 years old and living in New York City. During that year, he began a correspondence with Forrest J Ackerman, then 14. The first known example of the teenagers’ exchange dates to January 18 1931, where Lowe says, “I feel as if I’ve known you for a long time but really its been only about six or seven months.”

Of note in Lowe’s June 18 letter to Ackerman: “You really flattered me when you told me you sent my FRANKENSTEIN letter to Carl Laemmle!” Laemmle was the owner of Universal Pictures and the Producer of the 1931 production of Frankenstein. Why did Ackerman think Laemmle would care about a letter from a thirteen-year-old? Stay tuned…

Later in 1931 (though undated), Lowe reveals his emerging talent as an artist, the family influence on his ability, and his membership in one of Ackerman’s earliest attempts to organize fans: the Junior Science Correspondence Club (JSCC).

Other members of the JSCC remain obscure (but stay tuned). Lowe and Ackerman may have been the most active participants. During this period, Ackerman was also forming the Boys’ Scientifiction Club (BSC). While the BSC is somewhat better documented, the relationship between the two clubs is unclear. Membership almost certainly overlapped.

Lowe gushes over Ackerman, whose similar age the slightly older boy may never have disclosed. Tiny drawings complement and illustrate the text of the letter. Lowe reveals that he’s the nephew of “the cartoonist of DUMB DORA, GUS AND GUSSIE and BUGHOUSE FABLES.”

Lowe took the JSCC quite seriously — as shown in his profusely illustrated “radio script” from August 8 1931.

By the Autumn of 1931, Lowe was beginning to contribute to his uncle’s professional work. In his letter of August 29, he notes: “Yesterday I went to my uncles and did the blackening for one of the strips of DUMB DORA for him.” Later he adds, “All I do is receive letters, answer them, watch the flickers (movies), eat, sleep, and work out original comic strips with original gags. Colored, too!”

Lowe shares some of his history in a letter from September 20 1931. School openings in New York were delayed that year due to an epidemic of Infantile Paralysis. He asks after “Dale,” from whom he gets no letters. Perhaps early fan Dale Tarr was another member of the JSCC? The work continues.

Perhaps Lowe also rendered the monster in the earlier letter Ackerman sent to Laemmle? We’ll likely never know.

In early 1932, Lowe began to mention Tellus News.

At the end of January, Lowe sent Ackerman “the second issue of Tellus News” — the same issue we’ve shown here. He also claims to quit the practice of illustrating his letters: “From now on all of my letters will be typewritten and you won’t receive any of my ‘red or blue letters.'” (But stay tuned.)

The abandonment of illustrated letters would last only a week.

A mystery emerged in Lowe’s next letters. It seems that Tellus News hadn’t reached Ackerman in the mail.

But (phew), the unique fanzine was found! Ackerman returned it to Lowe, apparently with effusive praise. Tellus News number three was duly promised.

In the last batch of material we have from Lowe, we learn that he sent Tellus News number two back to Ackerman, and that number three was complete. As far as we know, it’s never been seen. We also have the identity of at least one other member of the JSCC: “Linus,” who can only be Linus Hogenmiller, allegedly Ackerman’s first correspondent.

Lowe’s March letter also included two full-page illustrations rendered for Ackerman. Seems young Howard had something for Clara Bow.

After this, the trail goes cold. Sadly, these letters were exchanged before Ackerman began his practice of keeping drafts of his outgoing correspondence. The search for any surviving papers from Lowe’s estate may yield the next chapter in the story of Howie and Forrest.

But thanks to some exceptional research by Alex Jay, we know that Lowe’s early activity as a fan presaged a career as a professional artist. He went on to study art at Cooper Union in New York, graduating in 1938.

Low served in the Army from 1943 to 1946, reaching the rank of Corporal and acting as “an artist-correspondent in the Pacific.” (Nassau Daily Review-Star, April 16 1946). His art appeared in Fortune, Theater Arts, and other magazines. He designed textile patterns, one of which (“Cosmic Bouquet”) is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Low died on November 9 1990. Please visit Alex Jay’s blog post, “Howard Low, Artist and Illustrator,” May 20 2022 for much more detail on Low’s family history and samples of his work throughout his career.

Thanks for the material in this post go to the curators of the Forrest J Ackerman Papers at Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC); Alex Jay, author of the Chinese American Eyes blog; and Sam McDonald of the FFE team.