Starting in August 1990, Homer, the slut was a photocopied fanzine that dominated
my life for most of the next five years. An insight into how it was back then may
well be available in David Kinney’s book, The Dylanologists, that is coming out in
May 2014. It is odd to see the resolutely lo-
I am generally glad that they are all presented, unchanged, though the mention of John Bauldie in the last “special issue” editorial is an exception to that because, he was, as you will all be aware, to die in a helicopter crash in October, 1996, by which time this was all long behind us.
Soon after Homer, the slut ceased, John got in touch with me about our shared interest in the fortunes of that behemoth of a football club, the one the Real Madrids and Barcelonas of the world look up to, Cowdenbeath FC.
This led to a number of friendly exchanges during which we discovered that our families, on the maternal side, grew up in the same tiny village nearby the Chicago of Fife (as Cowdenbeath, astonishingly, was once known due to the intense concentration of coal mining pits).
When I say “tiny” I mean that all residents were perforce neighbours, it was strange to imagine the odds against the same street (pluralising the word would be pushing things) held the roots of two people who went on to edit Dylan fanzines at the same time.
The subscriber specials were not on general sale and available, as the name suggests, only to subscribers. I don’t think anyone will mind them being available to all now.
Seeing them here now is like viewing snapshots of time, reaction to Dylan from fan and mainstream media alike as things happened,. For me this was a time capsule of a period in my own life where every thought and breath, indeed every single atom that passed though me, was connected to His Bobness.
Issue nine was the one I eventually managed to let Bob know he could take away with him as he was called away when reading it, in Camden, 1993.
Hope you like them and a million thanks to Andrew Steed for scanning them all!
Subscriber Special Issues:
Homer, the slut