The April 1965 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is a landmark in the history of science fiction because it was the first issue of that publication to have been edited by Edward L. Ferman, who is widely recognized as one of the outstanding editors in the field.
This issue marked the first time that a cartoon by Gahan Wilson was published. The issue is further distinguished by Poul Anderson’s “Arsenal Port,” the second in his trilogy of space privateers; an early story from Robert Rohrer, “Keep Them Happy”; Gerald Jonas’s poem “Imaginary Numbers in a Real Garden”; Basil Davenport’s thoughtful review of a number of contemporary books including Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Short Friday and William Golding’s The Spire; TP Caravan’s wry relation of a “Blind Date”; Roderic C. Hodgins’s “The History of Doctor Frost”; Jane Beauclerk’s evocative “Lord Moon”; Isaac Asimov’s discussion of “The Certainty of Uncertainty” and his poignant “Eyes Do More Than See”; and Len Guttridge’s whimsical “Aunt Millicent at the Races.”
As in the previous facsimile in this series, the editors add specially invited memoirs from Poul Anderson, Theodore Thomas, Isaac Asimov, Robert Rohrer, Roderic C. Hodgins, Jane Beauclerk, Len Guttridge, and Bert Tanner together with their own observations and commentary to create a volume of unusual merit.
