Hi David,

> On Jun 2, 2026, at 8:15 PM, David Johnson <xxxxxx@zarthani.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Tom.
>
>> A full scan of Ventura II, including covers and the color wrap-around band, has been posted at the FANAC site. Several Piper related items in there, including the drawing done by Piper.
>
> This is wonderful! So glad this is now available to folks. Appreciate you pointing us to it.

After the discussion a while back about the drawing I was going to scan it myself to share but this is much better. And the drawing is, as you can see from the scan, monotone.

> Kind of hilarious to have Phil Harrell "revealing" that Beam's first name was "Horace" in a eulogy followed immediately by an article on sci-fi writer pseudonyms!

You caught that! At the time I’m sure Beam’s real name was not widely known, so perhaps Harrell gets a pass on that one. But, yeah, from today’s perspective that segue is a howler.

>
> Too bad there aren't any details about the illustration by Beam but wonderful to see it here.

One guess is that it may have something to do with the 1963 worldcon in D.C. which Piper attended. Harrell lived in Virginia, so perhaps a connection via the con somehow? The drawing was supplied by another fan but maybe there is a connection. I *think* there were only two issues of Ventura and the first is from 1962, so three-year gap with the convention in between. From the wording in the appreciation pieces it would seem news ofPiper’s death in late 1964 came as real shock as the zine was being assembled and finalized.

Tom
—-
“Outside of a dog a book is Man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
  - Groucho Marx