I’ve just learned that Ed Gorman has passed away.  Ed had been battling cancer for quite some time.  His Sam McCain series of detective novels presented a view of the 1950s small town America that were an homage to the pulp detective novels of the period.  There are a couple I haven’t gotten to yet.  He also wrote horror novels under the name of Daniel Ransom and westerns under his own name.

As much as I enjoy his novels, it was at shorter lengths that I really got the most from his work.  It’s been long enough now that my memory is fuzzy, but I think the first book of his I read was the paperback collection The Dark Fantastic. Containing some of his dark fantasy and horror tales, Ed included an introduction in which he listed some of his influences when he was growing up.  Among the list of writers I also admired was Henry Kuttner, who has remained my favorite.  I knew when I read that Kuttner had influenced Gorman that I was going to like Gorman.  I was right and have been reading him ever since.  The Dark Fantastic is long out of print, but you can still pick up copies fairly cheaply online.  Check it, or any of Ed’s other books, out.

I never had the pleasure of meeting him, although he commented on one of my posts and said it was well written.  I was on cloud nine for days after that.  Ed will be missed.  I’m going to read some of his work later today.  Bill Crider has published this tribute.