David Ritter lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He blames his lifelong love for science fiction on E.E. “Doc” Smith, whose epic space opera catapulted his 12-year-old imagination into intergalactic space, never to fully return. As for The Lord of the Rings – he was that kid who spent as much time studying the appendices as reading the story.
David is Editor-in-Chief and principal author for First Fandom Experience, a collaborative publishing project that brings to life the history and impact of science fiction and fandom. Our works include three volumes of The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom and The Earliest Bradbury, all of which have been finalists for the Locus Award for Non-fiction. The Ultimate Cosmos: How a 1933 Serial Novel Reshaped Science Fiction was selected for the 2026 Locus Recommended Reading List.
David and the First Fandom Experience team designed and orchestrated the 1946 Project at Chicon 8. More recently, David and Daniel Ritter organized and led fan history panels at the 2023 NASFiC in Winnipeg, the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow and the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle. We're currently developing a fan history track for the 2026 Worldcon in Anaheim.
David writes and edits the First Fandom Experience blog, a unique source of insight on early fan history. The work draws on a comprehensive archive of fan material from 1930 – 1946, assembled from a wide range of sources over 20 years. The project is open to researchers, students and authors with interest in the history and impact of fandom.