An Interview with Hugo Award Winning Fanzine Publisher Camille Cazedessus Jr.

Left: Erb-dom Issue No. 86, published April, 1976, featuring Cover by Frank Frazetta / Right: Camille Cazedessus Jr. at the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con, from Bill Hillman of Erbzine and Mike Towry of ComicConMemories

Since 1960, the Hugo award winning fanzine publisher Camille "Caz" Cazedessus Jr. chronicled and discussed the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs and the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century, in his fanzines, ERB-dom and Pulpdom. I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with Mr. Cazedessus, to discuss his career, his influences, and his interests.

Mr. Cazedessus talks about his fanzine journey, from starting out with a borrowed mimeograph machine, through to Isaac Asimov presenting him¹ with his Hugo Award for Best Fanzine², ERB-dom, right up to the modern internet era. 

I share this 2013 interview with Mr. Cazedessus as The Vancouver Art Gallery has an exhibit right now, titled Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines. Copy Machine Manifestos is a travelling exhibition originally organized by the Brooklyn Museum, now in Vancouver, focusing upon the last five decades of fanzines.

Hua Hsu’s February, 2024 New Yorker magazine article American Counterculture, Glimpsed Through Zines summarises the exhibit and is a good read that captures the excitement and ethos of fanzines.

When I think of fanzines, my mind immediately jumps to thoughts of self published fanzines from the fourties, fifties, and sixties, focusing upon horror, comic, and science fiction or fantasy. This is where Mr. Cazedessus comes in. His fanzine work spans decades not covered by the current art gallery exhibitions and provides a jumping off point to learn more about early fanzine culture. Mr. Cazedessus also essentially tells us how to make them, ourselves³.

To complement the exhibition, the Vancouver Art Gallery created a reading room featuring a selection of zines and small publications produced by local artists and makers. It is exciting stuff and provides an entry point to fanzine and self-publishing culture.

ERB-dom and Puldom covers, 1960s to 2000s

If you are interested to learn more about all things Edgar Rice Burroughs, Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s ERBzine is an excellent resource.

To explore the pulp universe, I also recommend one visit Michael R. Brown’s excellent ThePulp.Net.

One last thing: Most, if not all, of the books that Mr. Cazedessus and I talk about may be found for free right here, at Project Gutenberg, or at the Prelinger Archives. Enjoy!

1. I reached out to The World Science Fiction Society, which administers the Hugo Award, and unfortunately, no photographs of the 1966 Hugo Awards Ceremony featuring Mr. Cazedessus were preserved by WSFS.

2. Then known as an amateur magazine.

3. The secret? Just do it! This is essentially the same step followed by publisher Denis Kitchen when creating the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund.