The Jay Kay Klein Papers

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An amazing resource of science fiction culture photos has become available at the University of California at Riverside, in the Eaton Collection, of Jay Kay Klein's huge collection, assembled over many decades and many conventions. One of our favorites is his assortment of photos from the first science fiction convention I attended in 1968, Baycon, in Oakland, at the Claremont Hotel. Captions explain! All photos by Jay Kay Klein.

Full Collection: https://calisphere.org/collections/26943/

Fans in the garden, BayCon - Jay Kay Klein - 1968
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Three stalwart young fans attend Baycon in 1968, having bussed up from San Diego to stay at the Shattuck Hotel. An amazingly difficult year hardly dampened the enthusiasm at this terrific convention, with a chance to run into many of our favorite editors, writers and artists and get introduced to the latest trends in publishing. Photo guide: David Clark, Scott Shaw, and Greg Bear on the porch of the Claremont Hotel, visiting with a crowd around Ray Bradbury.

Ray Bradbury with fans, BayCon - Jay Kay Klein - 1968
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A young Phil Tippett showing off plaster casts of his sculptures to an appreciative Ray Bradbury on the same porch! Greg is off to the right carrying a folder full of art and a Samsonite briefcase, and wearing, amazingly enough, a turtleneck with cufflinks...

Ray Bradbury with wife in lobby, BayCon - Jay Kay Klein - 1968
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Phil Tippett, Ruth Kyle (First Fan Dave Kyle's wife), Ray Bradbury, and David Clark in the Claremont lobby.

A couple of years later, David, Scott and Greg will be part of the first committee for what will become San Diego Comic-Con, which Ray will attend regularly. Phil Tippett is on his way to becoming an Oscar winner and one of the foremost special effects designers and animators of our time.