The Birth of AFANDespite the failure of the APA, its founders began to plan yet another assault on the
conservative power structure of the AFA, to take place at its Chicago convention in
- The plans were put into more concrete form at an Aquarian Revelation Confer-
ence (ARC) in Michigan some months before the AFA gathering. At this time,
money was raised to fund the effort, and it was decided to hold a meeting in a rented
room at the AFA conference hotel on the night of August 31, 1982. Flyers announc-
ing the meeting were circulated at the conference itself, and on the night of the meet-
ing, nearly 300 people showed up ready to discuss the issues the meeting’s organizers
wanted to force the AFA to address.
At 11:52 P.M. CDT, a name for the the foundling organization was approved—
The AFA Network, or AFAN. At the same time, its purpose was determined to be “to
create a network among members [of the AFA], and to improve the communications
between membership and the board of directors of the AFA.” Various committees
were formed that covered all aspects of the organization’s functioning, but with the
notable inclusion of activities such as networking and professionalism.
At a second meeting that night, a committee was appointed to negotiate with
the AFA executive secretary on various points of interest. The meeting was held, and
as a result, someone from AFAN was given a place on the official nominating com-
mittee for the next board election, thus giving the group input into AFA’s political
process. However, the two AFAN-linked nominees put in place by this process lost,
and at this point it became clear to the reformers that they would probably have to
work outside and apart from the AFA.
Unlike the APA, AFAN had a list of several hundred people who shared its
goals—those who had attended that first meeting—and with contributions to fund a
newsletter, and some active networking, AFAN was soon reaching nearly 500 sup-
porters, with the original negotiating committee acting as a kind of informal leader-
ship. At this point, a series of events helped draw the new organization together, give
it more direction and focus, and finally, complete independence. The first of these was
the serious illness of an astrologer named Johnny Lister, who was diagnosed with
leukemia not long after the Chicago AFA convention. AFAN led an effort to collect
funds to allow him to undergo costly treatments at the Gerson Therapy Center, and
the resulting Johnny Lister Fund is still in existence, providing emergency support for
astrologers facing illnesses and other crises.
More important for the long term, however, were two events in early 1983
involving astrolgers and the law. The first was the targeting of the Mercury Limited
Bookstore in West Allis, Wisconsin, by religious fundamentalists, and an ensuing
effort by the local city council to pass an antiastrology ordinance. AFAN organized a
letter-writing campaign and worked with local astrologers to fight the proposed law. In
the end, the proposed ordinance was defeated six to one.
Next, in April 1983, a San Jose astrologer named Shirley Sunderbruch was
arrested in her home by police in the course of a chart reading for an undercover offi-
cer. Her astrological books and other materials were confiscated, and she was charged
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [59]
Association for Astrological Networking