Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone
In the Fantastic Fiction column, a distinguished cadre of fan writers will take you back to the 1961-1962 era of the first Seattle Worldcon and Century 21 Exposition, also known as the Seattle World’s Fair, events that cemented Seattle’s position as a global center for futurism and technological innovation. We hope immersion in the speculative fiction dreams and influences of the era will inspire you to make something—a story, costume, poem, argument, essay, panel idea, heart wish, or short film—to bring to our Worldcon.
With Seattle Worldcon 2025 coming up, let’s take a look back at a couple of films that attendees at Seattle’s first Worldcon, way back in 1961, might have seen at their local theaters and drive-ins. Grab some popcorn and settle back for a pair of surprisingly good low budget movies from the king of B films, Roger Corman.
Seattle’s first Worldcon was held on the cusp of humanity’s self-destruction. We dodged the nuclear bullet in 1962, but the atomic genie is restless in the bottle. And with war on Russia’s doorstep edging the cork ever further toward the lip, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, hailed as the best SF novel of 1961, remains today as compelling and relevant as ever…
As we ready our jets and look forward to blasting off for the Emerald City’s second Worldcon ever, it’s a great time to blast back to the past, to the time of Seattle’s first Worldcon: 1961. Because on April 12 of that year, one man slipped the surly bonds of Earth, and humanity was forever changed…