Starspinkle was Ron Ellik's "biweekly news and chitter-chatter fanzine". The title was a nonsensical word made up by Ellik to prove that a catchy title was not necessary for a fanzine to become a so-called Focal Point Fanzine like Fanac had been in the late 1950s. (Though is it not obvious why Ellik thought "Starspinkle" was not a catchy name….) Starspinkle succeeded in becoming that kind of fanzine, a frequent, concise, and yet reasonably comprehensive newszine that fans eagerly awaited its appearance in their mailboxes. It was nominated for the 1964 Best Fanzine Hugo.
It started publication in December 1962 and ran for fifty issues, the last being in November 1964. Starspinkle was published by Bruce Pelz, who later became unofficial co-editor, and Don Fitch also helped produce some of the early issues. Each issue was a two-page, one-sheet series of short news stories about fans and fandom. It did two special one-page issues from the 1963 Westercon became one of the first instances of a convention daily newszine, and it also did two special one-page "Harlan Ellison Issues" in 1964, that promoted two Ellison-scripted episodes of The Outer Limits.
Ellik said, "Starspinkle is not a cautious fanzine and if somebody wants to accuse me of imitating Fanac I'm not leaving any cautious-type loopholes in my editorial policy so I can wriggle out of it; I'm spending the energy on laughter. This is a zippity-pow newszine I think you want to read."
