John Glasby was a popular Director of the BAA Variable Star Section from 1965–’71; an exciting period during which George Alcock discovered three novae. Glasby’s legacy is still felt today, because he steered the Section towards more observations of cataclysmic variables as well as starting a binocular variable star programme. He also wrote three books on the subject of variable star observing, filling a major gap in the literature, along with hundreds of works of pulp fiction. Unfortunately, so much controversy surrounded major errors in his BAA reports that any positive contribution he did make has long since been forgotten. This paper is an attempt to unravel the complex enigma of John Glasby’s directorship and the set of unfortunate circumstances that damaged his astronomical reputation.