There are two birthdays we need to recognize today, October 1.

The first is the artist J. Allen St. John (1872-1957).  The second is editor Donald A. Wollheim (1914-1990).

J. Allen St. John was noted for illustrating the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and providing covers for Weird Tales.  He also wrote and illustrated the novel The Face in the Pool (1905).  St. John was a huge influence on two other great artists of the fantastic, Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta.

St. John was said to be Burroughs’ favorite artist.  It’s easy to see why.  His paintings influenced the public’s perception of such characters as Tarzan and John Carter for decades to come.

Some of his best art was for Weird Tales.  The cover to the right illustrates Jack Williamson’s Golden Blood.  It was one of two covers St. John did for that serial and one of his most famous paintings.  (You can read my review of that novel here.) Other covers for the Unique Magazine included Otis Adelbert Kline.  Here’s an example below.

St. John’s work tends to have long, flowing red robes.  Not very practical in a fight, but they look good.

The other birthday we observe today is that of fan, Futurian, writer, editor, and publisher Donald A. Wollheim.  I’ve written about Wolheim before.  Rather than repeat that, I’ll point you to that post, in which I present a case for Wollheim being one of the most important editors of the 20th Century.

He was certainly influential.  A number of his writers went on to become well known, such as C. J. Cherryh.   When I was in junior high and high school the yellow spines of DAW books were on all the shelves in all the bookstores.  I wish I had bought more of them at the time.

I’ve started collecting them when I come across them.  Wollheim published a number of titles that have never been reprinted, especially in the early days.  Some of the ones I’ve picked up look quite pulpy, i.e., they look like they’re going to be a lot of fun.  I’ll try to work a few of them into the queue.  Wollheim also published the Dray Prescott and Dumarest of Terra series; what little I’ve read of them, I’ve enjoyed.  On the flip side, though, he also published John Norman’s Gor books after Ballantine published the first eight or so.

I’ll close with this J. Allen St. John painting of Tarzan.