Francis T. Laney said this of LASFS when he discovered the club’s exaggerated claims to 500+ members by the early 1940s was largely due to the fact that no one who'd ever paid dues as a LASFS member had ever been removed from the membership roster, even long after they failed to attend or pay dues. Charles Burbee reportedly asked Rick Sneary if death released fans from the Outlanders but Rick didn’t answer the question. Like many a Laney or Burbee catchphrase, "Death Will Not Release You" caught on with later generations of LASFS members, and on one notable reported occasion Ernie Wheatley, the dormouse of LASFS (so-called for a tendency to put his head down on his arms and fall asleep at after-meetings in local restaurants) woke up just as someone was using the phrase to add, "Even if you die!" – and then promptly put his head back down on his arms and went to sleep again.
Contributors: Dr. Gafia
