Farnsworth Wright, legendary editor of Weird Tales, was born on this date, July 29, in the long-ago year of 1888. He died in 1940.
We last discussed Mr. Wright a few weeks ago in my post on who was the greatest editor of the 20th Century. I think it’s a toss-up between Wright and Don Wolheim.
What isn’t up for debate is that Wright published some of the greatest writers of the fantastic in his magazines during his tenure as editor: H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, C. L. Moore, Henry S. Whitehead, Henry Kuttner, Manley Wade Wellman, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn.
Just to name a few.
Granted some, like Kuttner and Bloch, went on to fame for later, more mature work. But Wright recognized something about their writing and published it.
So if today or tonight you happen to read something published in Weird Tales while Wright was the editor, raise your glass to his memory and his legacy.
I always appreciate a nod to an editor…
😉
They are the backbone of publishing.
Where would we pulpsters be without him?
True.
E. Hoffman Price considered him underhanded. REH and HPL couldn’t stand “Pharnabazus” in the last years of their lives. He came up with hare-brained ideas like having WT publish reprints of Shakespeare. IMO, he was more lucky than any sort of editorial savant.
Read through actual issues of WT from his reign. Look at the ones with little to no REH/HPL/CAS and then go read all the letters where those three lament getting rejected again and again. I’m sure that Wright’s lack of payment during a very stressful period did nothing to help REH’s state of mind.
About the only thing that can be said is that editors for such a magazine weren’t easy to find, but pulps like STRANGE TALES did find them.
E. Hoffman Price on Wright:
http://thepulparchvist.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-rats-spread.html
Thanks for the link, Deuce. I was aware Wright could be something of a crook when it came to paying writers on time. I didn’t know some of the stuff in the link, though.