Claude J. Pelletier

Claude J. Pelletier is the editor and publisher of magazine Protoculture Addicts, and has also worked as a game designer primarily on role-playing games.

Early life and education[edit]

Claude J. Pelletier was born on 23 May, 1962, in Laval, Quebec.^[1][2] Pelletier studied human sciences and completed his studies at the Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne in 1981.^[1] He continued studying history at the Université de Montréal where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1984 and a master's degree in 1987.^[3][4][1] He began work on a doctorate but did not complete this.^[1]

Career[edit]

Claude J. Pelletier founded the Montreal-based company Ianus Publications with Yves Meynard, initially to publish historical papers.^{[5]: 271 [4][6]} Pelletier later used Ianus to produce the science-fiction fanzine Samizdat (1986),^{[5]: 271 [7]} which he founded with Philippe Gauthier and Yves Meynard, and Pelletier continued to produce Samizdat until 1994.^[1] The 1987 edition of L'Année de la Science-Fiction et du Fantastique Québécois complimented Pelletier's writing in Samizdat saying that the writings of others could be dropped from the publication in favor of his.^[3]

Pelletier first saw the Robotech television series in 1987, which inspired him to publish a Robotech fanzine called Protoculture Addicts (1987).^{[5]: 271 [8][9][6][10]} The first test release of Protoculture Addicts, Issue #0, was published by Pelletier in the fall of 1987.^[11] By issue #10, Ianus no longer used their Robotech license and Protoculture Addicts now covered all anime generally, and with this expansion Pelletier brought in graphic designer Pierre Ouellette as a new partner.^[5]: 271 He has worked at various positions on Protoculture Addicts since 1991, including editor-in-chief, administrative director and production director.^[1] Pelletier had considered closing down Protoculture Addicts in 2004, but connected with the Anime News Network in 2005 and renamed it Anime News Network's Protoculture Addicts.^[10]

Pelletier translated anime books from Italian, and wrote a guidebook for anime fans.^[10] Pelletier and Yves Meynard edited the 1989 anthology Sous des soleils étrangers, which featured eight short stories and one poem from Francophone Canadian science-fiction writers.^{[4][12] [13]}

Ianus began publishing role-playing games, and in December 1995 the company split into two companies: a new company called Protoculture continued to publish Protoculture Addicts and kept Pelletier and Martin Ouellette of the former Ianus staff, while Dream Pod 9 was now a fully independent company and retained the majority of the dozen employees left from Ianus and also retained the role-playing game titles.^[5]: 272

Awards and honors[edit]

Pelletier has appeared on panels at multiple conventions because of his association with Protoculture Addicts, and he has won awards in the anime industry.^[14][15][16]

Personal life[edit]

Pelletier met his wife Miyako Matsuda at the 1991 Anime Expo in Los Angeles; she was raised on a farm in Japan, and later worked as a freelance translator and as a contributing editor.^[10]

References[edit]