Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany,
New York, of Dutch ancestry. His grocer father was an authoritarian, and in
Many Parts, Fort's unpublished autobiography, he describes his father's
physical abuse. Fort's biographer, Damon Knight, suggested that Fort's distrust
of authority had its roots in his treatment as a child. Fort did develop his
strong sense of independence in his early years.
As a young adult,
Fort wanted to be a naturalist, collecting sea shells, minerals, and birds.
Although he was described as curious and intelligent, Fort was not a good
student. He was considered quite knowledgeable about the world, but this only
came from his extensive reading.
At age 18, Fort
left New York on a world tour to "put some capital in the bank of
experience". He travelled through the western United States, Scotland, and
England, until falling ill in Southern Africa. Returning home, he was nursed by
Anna Filing, a girl he had known from his childhood. They were married on
October 26, 1896. Anna was four years older than Fort and was non-literary, a
lover of films and of parakeets. She moved with her husband to London for two
years where they would go to the cinema when Fort wasn't busy with his
research. His success as a short story writer was intermittent between periods
of terrible poverty and depression.
Examples of the odd
phenomena in Fort's books include many of what are variously referred to as
occult, supernatural, and paranormal. Reported events include teleportation (a
term Fort is generally credited with coining); falls of frogs, fishes,
inorganic materials of an amazing range; spontaneous fires; ball lightning (a
term explicitly used by Fort); poltergeist events; unaccountable noises and
explosions; levitation; unidentified flying objects; unexplained
disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside
their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of out-of-place
artefacts (OOPArts), strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is
perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and
disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction and was an early proponent
of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, specifically suggesting that strange lights
or objects sighted in the skies might be alien spacecraft. Fort also wrote
about the interconnectedness of nature and synchronicity.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength
d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Investigation d10, Knowledge (Occult) d8, Knowledge
(Fortean phenomena) d8, Notice d10, Persuasion d8
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 2; Sanity:
6; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Curious, Bad eyes
Edges: Alertness, Investigator
Gear: Notebook, copious
amounts of notes.
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