Jim Hayter was first exposed to F&SF literature when the family moved to NJ in the mid 60s and the kid across the street lent him a bunch of books to read. This led to a lifelong preference for S&SF books and a way too large library. The next step was discovering S&SF artwork at a gallery in Boston in the early 80s. This also led to a lifelong habit of collecting S&SF art; currently at about 370 pieces. Then came volunteering at MarCon starting around 2000. This led to staffing the art show, helping to run the art show, being MarCon treasurer for 10 years (MarCon 40-50 with 43 off). During my years at MarCon I met Trace Hagemann, heard about filk (a lot), started attending filk programming at MarCon, and eventually started attending OVFF. I still staff a couple of art shows at conventions each year.

After his years as MarCon treasurer, Jim vowed to NEVER take on the treasurer role again. That lasted until Kathy Hamilton asked him to consider being OVFF’s treasurer in 2017. That was an interesting time as OVFF had to regain its 501(c)7 status; thatwas achieved in 2019. Jim finally managed to offload the treasury duties by OVFF in 2022. He now attends OVFF when he can but is hindered by it usually being the same weekend as IX (a major F&SF illustration convention). Luckily, in 2026 OVFF and IX are on separate weekends.