Notes |
- His World War II-era draft card, dated 1 Jul 1941, places him in New Castle, Indiana.
His Fancyclopedia 3 entry is here.
From Pong 19/20, 10 Aug 1981, ed. Dan Steffan and Ted White:
Bob Tucker writes: "Claude Degler is alive and well (?) and living in or near Indianapolis.
"I was attending InConjunction there a couple of weeks ago, when a tall and very thin half-stranger stopped me in the hotel lobby and called me by name. He asked me if I recognized him. I recognized his voice immediately, and it was Claude. He had seen my name on the convention advertising and came down to meet me.
"We talked for perhaps ten minutes and then parted, not to see each other again. I carefully did not give him my address, nor did he mention his but his remarks led me to believe he was living and working nearby in some Indianapolis suburb. He sounded sane and rational, his brown eyes sparkled with an inner fire, and it was Claude all right. The Cosmic Circle was never mentioned.
"This news will plunge all fandom into war."
From Fancyclopedia 3:
Claude Degler died on April 20, 2000, one month short of his 80th birthday, and was likely homeless at the time of his death. He had been using the name John Paul Christman.
In 2023, FamilySearch made the US Social Security NUMIDENT files available, which led to the discovery of a record matching Degler in nearly all details, including his known alias of “John Paul Chris(t)man”:
Name: John Paul Christman
Name note: Name and form dates: Application: JOHN PAUL CHRISTMAN (Nov 1956), Application: JOHN PAUL HARVEY CHRISTMAN (18 Apr 1988), Death: JOHN CHRISTMAN (20 Apr 2000)
Alias: John Paul Harvey Christman
Second Alias: John Christman
Sex: Male
Previous Residence: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States
Previous Residence Postal Code: 46201-3203
Death Date: 20 Apr 2000
Birth Date: 19 May 1920
Birthplace: Waterbury, Connecticut, United States
Race: White
Father's Name: Howard L Christman
Mother's Name: Vergie V Allen
The differences from corroborated facts, other than Degler's new name, are marked in bold: he gave his birthplace as Waterbury, Connecticut and he gave his father's surname as Christman, to match his own.
The ZIP+4 of his last known mailing address, 46201-3203, corresponds to the east side of a half-block of Eastern Avenue in Indianapolis, which notably includes the Good News Ministries homeless men's shelter.
|