Niekas

Niekas (from

For the initial five issues, Meskys – at the time a professor and a member of The Tolkien Society at the now-defunct Belknap College in Center Harbor, New Hampshire – edited Niekas by himself, after which he was joined by Felice Rolfe and Anne Chatland. The latter left after issue #8.^[5] By the late 1980s he was editing the fanzine by himself. It originated as an apazine before being expanding to a full-fledged fanzine. Meskys continued publication when his employment moved to Mankato State University (now Minnesota State University, Mankato) in Mankato, Minnesota.

Meskys later wrote, "I started a separate mailing-comments zine for the APA, and changed its name to Niekas and started the numbering over again with the June 1962 issue.... Since there was no Tolkien fanzine being published I decided to devote Niekas to Tolkien and try to run at least one Tolkien related piece in each issue."^[6] The fanzine played a prominent role in the early development of Tolkien fandom in the United States.^[7] Issue #7 included a letter from C. S. Lewis to Meskys that mentions The Lord of the Rings.

In coming years, contributors included

A "Glossary of Middle Earth" by Al Halevy was an ongoing feature,[5] as was material by Robert Foster, who later published The Complete Guide to Middle-earth,

In 1968, Niekas ceased publication after issue #20, but was revived in 1977 for issue #21.^[5] By 1995, Meskys – who had become blind – was the fanzine's editor-in-chief, with Mike Bastrow listed as editor and designer.^[5] The final issue of Niekas, #48, described itself as published by Meskys and edited by Joe R. Christopher.

References