Joy V. Smith, Lakeland FL

Another magnificently full Challenger! And with a beautiful and fun cover. I usually enjoy theme zines and anthologies, but this one has a sports theme. I confess that the most sports I watch are during the Olympics, but I enjoyed it (Dear Editor, I knew I would!). I especially liked Mike Resnick's piece on the forgotten basketball player, Bevo; Rose-Marie's article on Quidditch (thank you!); the cricket background; the illos with the Footy piece; and the other background articles. I learned a lot, including about tennis, which I've never paid much attention to, and I'm sorry that Jerry Seegers never got to see a World Series. (A bird in the hand...)

Speaking of birds, I enjoyed The Story of Edgar Allen Crow. (I like critter tales.) Back to sports, one of the best values of cable is replaying old TV shows -- and classic baseball games. Who'd have thought it! And I see that Scotland is a really scenic site for playing golf. I loved Gary R. Robe's piece on hosting minor league players. Opportunities like that can be a lot of fun.

I enjoyed Richard Dengrove's article on Nicholas Cusa; that was very interesting. ('Course I've learned a lot over the years from Richard. Yes, from other zine writers too. There's a quote about that I read recently...) Thanks to Mike Resnick for the WorldCon report. I've never been to a WorldCon and probably never will go, but I love reading about them.

Excellent article by Warren Buff on fandom. Btw, there were two TV series episodes recently that took place at SF conventions. I missed the one on CSI, and I forget the other one, but I wish writers would get over the stereotypes and cliches!

More background and critter tales in The Chorus Lines. Thanks to Curt Phillips for sharing his story of Muffy and Smudge. (Been there, cried, and once said Damn in front of the vet when my last dog was put to sleep.)

Well, I was about to sign off, but I have to thank Nicki Lynch for telling us about her tour to Italy. (I will try to avoid going there in summer!) Oh, what an apropos back cover! And a good feeling of speed.

Thanks for The Zine Dump also. I'm happy to see so many good zines out there, and Janeen's News was full of interesting items I'd like to know more about. Btw, the first I heard about Star Trek fragrances was here and probably in Challenger too. (I know there were at least two mentions.)