Collection includes names files for more than 800 people, many of whom are writers, editors, or publishers. The files contain correspondence, clippings, obituaries, and writings, the bulk of which relate to American writers, though there are several files kept on writers and fans from across the world, including China, Japan, and Russia. Much of the correspndence is about publishing news, corrections, and deaths in the science-fiction, fantasy, and horror community. There are several well-known correspondents including: Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Jim Baen, Ian and Betty Ballantine, Algis Budrys, Octavia E. Butler, Arthur C. Clarke, L. Sprague de Camp, Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Dean Koontz, Andre Alice Norton, James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon), and Gene Wolfe.
Locus, the Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, was co-founded by Charles N. Brown (1937-2009), Ed Meskys (1936-), and Dave Vanderwerf (1944-) in New York in 1968. It first began as a science-fiction and fantasy one-sheet news fanzine that was created to help the Boston Science Fiction Group win its 1971 Worldcon bid. Vanderwerf left after issue #4, and Meskys after #11. Charles Brown remained as editor until his death in 2009. His first wife Marsha Elkin Brown (later Marsha Jones) was co-editor from 1968-69, and his second wife Dena Benatan Brown was co-editor from 1970-77. In 1972 Charles Brown and the magazine relocated to the Bay Area in California. After his death, the magazine became owned by The Locus Science Fiction Foundation (LSFF), which is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to the promotion and preservation of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Its central activity is the publication of Locus and its website Locus Online. LSFF is also responsible for the annual Locus Awards, first presented in 1971, to recognize excellence in science-fiction and fantasy literature. The magazine has won many Hugo awards.
Charles N. Brown (1937-2009) was a writer, editor, and science-fiction fan and collector. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Brown served in the US Navy from 1956-1959 and worked as an engineer until 1975. In 1968 he co-founded Locus magazine and remained editor until his death in 2009. Brown also edited the fiction anthologies Alien Worlds (1976), Far Travellers (1976), and The Locus Awards (2004).
