Today kicks off August. There are some significant birthdays on August 1, I’ll look at two writers, and editor, and an artist. I’m talking about M. R. James, Raymond Palmer, Edd Cartier, and David Gemmell. Continue reading
Farnsworth Wright (1888-1940) was born on this date, July 29.
He was the editor of Weird Tales during what is regarded as the best years of the magazine. He was the greatest fantasy editor of the first half of the Twentieth Century, if not the whole century. The only other editor who even came close was John W. Campbell, Jr., who was the editor of Unknown/Unknown Worlds. And as a general rule, Campbell didn’t publish the same type of fantasy as Wright.
One can argue that Dorothy McIlwraith, who tooks Farnsworth Wright’s place at the helm of Weird Tales was a more significant editor than Campbell. But that’s an argument for another post. Continue reading
I’m going to keep this short (and hopefully error-free) because it’s late and have some other things to do. But I can’t let July 24 pass without mentioning four people, three writers and an artist, who deserve to be remembered. Continue reading
Today is July 23. There are five birthdays I want to make note of. I’ll cover the authors and editors in chronological order and save the artist for last.They are Raymond Chandler, Alden H. Norton, C. M. Kornbluth, Gardner Dozois, and Virgil Finlay. Continue reading
Scudamore Jarvis (1879-1953) was born today, July 20.
And no, I’m not making this up. If I were going to do something like that, I would pick a more conventional name, such as, say, Carolynn Catherine O’Shea or something along those lines. With a name like that, I couldn’t pass up writing a post about him.
Claude Scudamore Jarvis was a member of the British colonial governor in the Middle East. He wrote a number of works of naturual history, history, and farming. As far as I know, “The Tomtom Clue” was his only work of fiction. This story was cowritten with Cecil Morgan. I haven’t been able to find out anything about him. Continue reading
Two more birthdays, both for writers who are fading into obscurity. But shouldn’t be. James E. Gunn and Donald Westlake. Continue reading
I’ve got three people I’m going to mention for birthdays on July 11. Hugh B. Cave, Cordwainer Smith, and Roy G. Krenkel. Continue reading
Today is July 10 as I’m writing this. It’s late, though, so most of you probably won’t see it for a day or two. But there are half a dozen birthdays I want to highlight. I’m going to start with the person who was probably the most significant in terms of the coverage of this blog. That’s Carl Jacobi. Continue reading
Today, Julyl 7, is the birthday of Robert Heinlein (1907-1988). Heinlein when I was growing up was considered one of the top science fiction writers working. As in the top two or three writers, if not holding the number one spot.
In the years since his death, his star has faded a good deal. Some of this is natural after an author dies, especially if there isn’t a perdon or organization that works to keep that author’s works in print.
You can still find his work in bookstores, although there are only a few titles on the shelf. Stragner in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mitsress, Time Enough for Love, and I Will Fear No Evil. That list is based on memory. I don’t live near a bookstore anymore, so it’s been more than a month since I looked. Continue reading
July 3 brings us more than one birthday to celebrate, so we’ll start with July 2, because I didn’t make it to the computer yesterday. Then we’ll move on to the ones from today. Continue reading