Today is September 13. It is the birthday of Arthur J. Burks (1898-1974). Burks was a prolific contributor to the pulps, starting with Weird Tales in nineteen twenty-five. He soon branched out into science fiction and mysteries, but he continjued to appear in Weird Tales until that magazine folded in the early fifties. He stopped writing fiction, at least science fiction and fantasy, in the late fifties.

Centipede Press published a large volume of his work as part of their Masters of the Weird Tale series. The thing is the size of a small tombstone. Reading it is physically challenging because of its size.

I read the fist story in it, a novelette about a man in the mountains. I enjoyed it, but I haven’t tried to read any of the other stories in the book. Not because I don’t want to. By the time I usually am able to sit down and read, I don’t want a workout in hold ing the book.

Has anyone read anhy of Burks’ work?