The Spring: Where Colin Firth Fandom Began

In 1996, Paul Walhus founded The Spring — Austin, Texas's first web-based virtual community, modeled on Stewart Brand's WELL. Over 1,000 members. 85+ conferences. Among them: Drool!, a conference for "discussing your favorite movie stars."

By 1996, Pride and Prejudice had aired on the BBC and A&E. A user named Nan started a thread called "Colin Firth." It would run for 607 responses. Then Part II, at 1,196. Then eight more parts, each capping at the BBS's technical limit of 1,999. By 2001, there were more than twenty thousand individual posts on Colin Firth alone — the largest focused body of Firth fan writing anywhere on the early web.

The material is raw, primary-source fandom: reactions to P&P in real time, detailed film discussions, fan fiction, spoiler threads, keepsakes and collectibles. Written by the people who were there.