- Author: Eric Needham Author Record # 48641
- Legal Name: Needham, Eric S.
- Birthdate: 1921
- Deathdate: 1 December 1983
- Language: English
- Webpages: Fancyclopedia 3, htspweb.co.uk
- Used These Alternate Names: Patience Feeble, Eric S. Needham, Alfred Lord Senapod
- Note: Eric Needham joined the Manchester group of science fiction fans in 1937. He contributed poems, often with a mechanistic theme, in the fanzines of the day: Novae Terrae, Satellite, Futurian War Digest, etc. During World War II, he served in the RAF. He was a naturally shy person but when he returned to the Manchester area after his demob, he had learnt to cover up that shyness with occasional episodes of outrageous behaviour. He was self-educated, having acquired most of his extensive but specialized knowledge from erratic reading during his RAF career. He had a phenomenal grasp of things mechanical and electronic, and a genius for building equipment of all sorts from junk parts. An exponent of "enlightened empiricism" he was a gifted, surrealistic poet, who could pounce on an unconsidered remark and build a make-believe but logically water-tight world from it. His literary talents were widely appreciated by readers of the 1950s fanzine Now & Then, which he created with fellow Manchester SF fan Harry Turner. His chosen mode of transport in the 1950s was a Douglas motorbike, which allowed him to travel from his flat in Longsight, Manchester, to Romiley for editorial conferences with Harry Turner, and as far afield as Torquay to visit the Torquay Happy Fans & Lampshade Makers. He drifted out of SF fandom in the 1950s but he was encouraged to start writing again in the late 1970s for magazines like Terry Jeeves' Erg and Ethel Lindsay's Scottishe. His early death at the end of 1983 cut short this second flowering of his talent but he secured a place of honour an SF Fandom Hall of Fame by creating his much imitated verses praising the "Widower's Wonderful" range of products.
Other views: | Awards Alphabetical Chronological |
Magazine Editor Series
- Now & Then
- Now & Then, Number 1, August 1954 (1954) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then, Number 2, November 1954 (1954) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then No. 4 (1955) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then, Number 3, 1955 (1955) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then No. 5, September 1955 (1955) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then No. 6, November 1955 (1955) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then 7, June 1956 (1956) with Harry Turner
- Now & Then, No. 8, January 1957 (1957) with Harry Turner
- The Grin
- The Grin, Number 1, 1955 (1955) with Harry Turner
- Jottings from Needham's Notebook (1954)
- A Lensworm (1955)
- Crime Most Confusing (1955)
- Hallowe'en Night (1955)
- In the Dusk of Each Summer Evening (1955)
- It Is a Hard Life Being a Bachelor (1955)
- The Case of the Copper-Plated Kitten (1955)
- The Ergonomic Attributes of the Space Warp (1955)
- The Old Javelin Seller (1955)
- The Ham Sandwich of Romiley (1956)
- Widower's High-Velocity Hair-Restorer (1956)
- Variation on an Ancient Theme (1939) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Variation on an Ancient Theme No 2 (1939) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Nocturne (1954)
- Widower's Patent Adhesive (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Beans (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Cocoa (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Lobster (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Margarine (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Marmalade (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Peas (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Rhubarb (1954)
- Widower's Wonderful Sausages (1954)
- Widowers ... Are Unable to Offer Any Assistance (1954)
- Fan Love (1955)
- Remember The Alamo (1955)
- Remember The Alamo (new style #1) (1955)
- Remember The Alamo (new style #2) (1955)
- Widower's Belt & Brassiere (1955)
- Widower's Calico Drawers (1955)
- Widower's Cod Liver Oil (1955)
- Widower's Coffee Essence (1955)
- Widower's Copal Varnish (1955)
- Widower's Electric Kettle (1955)
- Widower's Electrical Blanket (1955)
- Widower's Euthanatizer (1955)
- Widower's Fire Extinguisher (1955)
- Widower's H-Section Girders (1955)
- Widower's Hallowe'en Lantern (1955)
- Widower's Hammer And Sickle (1955)
- Widower's Incinerator (1955)
- Widower's Meat Pies (1955)
- Widower's Modesty Vest (1955)
- Widower's Mustard Plasters (1955)
- Widower's Narcotics (1955)
- Widower's Nylon Underwear (1955)
- Widower's Piano Accordions (1955)
- Widower's Pine Antiseptic (1955)
- Widower's Pneumatic Falsies (1955)
- Widower's Porcelain Dentures (1955)
- Widower's Rubber Solution (1955)
- Widower's Sellofane Tape (1955)
- Widower's Soap (1955)
- Widower's Wart Remover (1955)
- Widower's Whalebone Stays (1955)
- Widower's Winterweight Knickers (1955)
- Widower's Wonderful Bloomers (1955)
- Widower's Wonderful Corsets (1955)
- Widower's Wonderful Flypaper (1955)
- Widower's Wonderful Sugar (1955)
- Widowers' Blister Ointment (1955)
- A Thermostat In The Rain (1956) [only as by Alfred Lord Senapod]
- Philosophical Pomes (1956)
- The Breeze and Me (1956) [only as by Patience Feeble]
- Widower's Gliding Castors (1956)
- Widower's Hair Restorer (1956)
- Widower's Wonderful Thimbles (1956)
- Ergonomic Muse: Unrequited Love (1957)
- Widower's Breakfast Foods (1957)
- Widower's Grain Elevator (1957)
- Widower's Laundry Boilers (1957)
- Widower's Water Wings (1957)
- Letter (The Satellite, v2 #7) (1939) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Letter (The Satellite, v3 #2) (1940) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Letter (The Satellite, v3 #5) (1940) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Letter (Voice of the Imagi-Nation, January 1942) (1942) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- In Search of a Sage (1942) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Absit Invidia (1954) [only as by Eric S. Needham]
- Thoughts That Pass in the Night (1954)
- "Do We Have To Review OMPA?" (1955) with Harry Turner
- "That Reminds Me" (1955)
- How it all began (1955) with Harry Turner
- It Was Another Wet Sunday (1955)
- Our Dumb Friends' Corner (1955)
- Our First Annual General Meeting (1955) with Harry Turner
- Tales of the Romiley Pilgrims, 1327 (1955)
- The Fragrant Minute (1955)
- Widower's Wart Remover (1955)
- Enlightened Empiricism (1956)
- Enlightened Empiricism Part 2 (1956)
- Limpet-Snatching Made Easy (1956)
- Advantages of an Ergonomic Fandom (1957)
- Applied Ergonomics (1957)
- Applied Ergonomics (1957)
- Ergonomic Criticism (1957)
- Ergonomic Crossword (1957)
- Ergonomic SF Writing (1957)
- Ergonomic Warfare (1957)
- Marital Ergonomics (1957)
- The Autobiography of an Ergonomist (1957)
- The Poet (from Tales of the Romiley Pilgrims, 1327) (1957)
- What Is Ergonomics? (1957)
- Whither Ergonomics? (1957)
- Widower's Thermo-Statue (1956)