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.

He was the second editor of Weird Tales. He took over in 1924 and was editor until he stepped down for health reasons in 1940.

Wright published stories which have become classics by writers whose names are legendary. He also passed on major works by Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth), Howard (“The Frost Giant’s Daughter”), and Clark Ashton Smith (The Seven Geases”). Even great editors can have bad days.

On the other hand, he also published C. L. Moore’s first story, “Shambleau”. Supposedly after reading it, he closed the Weird Tales offices in honor of “C. L. Moore Day”. so impressed was he by the story.

In addition to Lovecraft, Howard, Smith, and Moore, his stable of authors included, but wasn’t limited to, Seabury Quinn, Henry Kuttner, E. Hoffman Price, Henry S. Whitehead, Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, and Nictzin Dyalhis, Otis Adlebert Kline, and a very young Robert Bloch, just to  name a few.

Wright also published the first works by artists Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay, and Hannes Bok. When it came to cover art, Wright knew what sells. His selections often included scantily clad women in some type of danger, often with BDSM overtones. If you doubt me, just look at some of Brundage’s covers. Writers began putting such scenes in their submissions whether the story actucally called for  them or not. Cover stories got a bonus, and a naked girl in a story had a better chance of getting the cover than not.

Farnsworth Wright also loved poetry and encouraged writers to submit poems to Weird Tales. Someone needs to put together a collection of poetry from Weird Tales. He was also a musci critic and an authority on Shakespeare.

He also edite a companion magazine for a few years (1930-1934). Oriental Stories/Magic Carpet Magazine. (the name changed during the course of publication.)

Wright had suffered from Parkinson’s for years, and it finally took its toll on him. He stepped down as editor in 1940 and died later that year.

Many fans feel that by then, Weird Tales had peaked. Lovecraft and Howard were dead, and Whitehead had died a number of years earlier. Smith was no longer writing. Witih war on the horizon, tiems and tastes were changing. These were reflected by new writers that began to be published in Weird Tales. Writers with names like Bradbury, Derleth, and Wellman, although Wellman began appearing in the magazine before Wright passed away.

So I’ll raise my glass to Farnsworth Wright tonight. My reading life would be much poorer without him.