Tag Archives: birthday

Kuttner at Longer Lengths

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Henry Kuttner was on born on this date, April 7, in 1915.  Anyone who has spent any time around this blog knows that Kuttner is one of my favorite authors.  It’s been one of those weeks where I haven’t had much time to read, so I don’t have a review of anything he wrote ready to go.  (I did manage to make it to the Jack Williamson lectureship again, so there will be a report on that within a few days.)

Much of Kuttner’s work in the middle to late 1940s was at what was considered novel length at the time, but most of these stories would be considered novellas today.  Thrilling Wonder and Startling Stories were the two most common magazines for Kuttner’s longer works.  And most of them have never been reprinted.  There are some exceptions.  I’ve read most of Kuttner’s short stories that I can get my hands on.  The longer works are next on my agenda. Continue reading →

Novalyne’s Birthday

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Novalyne Price Ellis was born on this day (March 9) in 1908.  She passed away in 1999 on March 30.  Novalyne was the author of One Who Walked Alone, a memoir of her relationship with Robert E. Howard during the last two years of his life.  It was based on her diary.

Novalyne Price moved to Cross Plains to teach English in 1934,  She soon met Robert E. Howard, and a tempestuous relationship started.  They had broken up by the summer of 1936, and Novalyne had left Cross Plains to attend graduate school in Louisiana.  She was there when she got the news of Robert’s death.

She wrote One Who Walked Alone as a rebuttal to L. Sprague de Camp’s biography of Howard, Dark Valley Destiny.  If you’ve not read her book, you should.  It’s one of the main sources of information we have about Bob.

The book was filmed in the mid-1990s and starred Vincent D’Onofrio as Robert and Renee Zellweger as Novalyne.

William F. Nolan at 91

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William F. Nolan

William F. Nolan was born this day (March 6) in 1928.  Best known as the coauthor of Logan’s Run, Nolan is, AFAIK, the last living member of what became known as the California School or California Group.  Other members included but were not limited to Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Charles E. Fritch, Richard Matheson, and Nolan’s collaborator on Logan’s Run, George Clayton Johnson.

I enjoyed Logan’s Run when I was a kid, and I’ve got the two sequels Nolan wrote somewhere around the house.  I’ve not read Johnson’s sequel.

But what i enjoy most about Nolan’s work are his short stories.  They tend to have a bite to them.  It’s been a while since I read any.  I’m going to try to work one in some time today if I can.  Just as soon as I finish the Henry S. Whitehead story I started yesterday.

Henry S. Whitehead

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Today (March 5) marks the birth of Henry S. Whitehead.  He was born in 1882 and passed away in November of 1932.  Whitehead was a contributor of Weird Tales and a correspondent of H.P. Lovecraft.  The year before Whitehead died, Lovecraft visited him at his Florida home and quite liked him.  Had he not died so young, Whitehead would have been a major author of the weird and fantastic.  I consider him to be so, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

Whitehead served for a time as the Archdeacon for the Episcopal Church in the Virgin Islands.  This posting would become a major influence on his fiction, as most of it dealt with voodoo and other fantastic aspects of Caribbean life.

Whitehead wrote no novels, but his short fiction is worth seeking out.  I reviewed “Seven Turns in a Hangman’s Rope” a few years ago.  Fortunately, his work is available in electronic format.  If I get a chance, I’ll try to read something else by him.

Richard Matheson’s Birthday

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There are a number of familiar (at least to me) authors who are having a birthday today.  The one I want to focus on is Richard Matheson (b. February 20, 1926).  I’ve written birthday posts on Matheson before, and I really haven’t had time to come up with something new to say this year.

So here’s the approach I’m going to take.  Early in his career Matheson was a prolific author of short stories.  Some of his better known tales were adapted for the original Twilight Zone.  Those episodes, and others which Matheson scripted, are among the best the show aired.

Matheson’s stories were a favorite of mine growing up,  I intend to read some this evening.  What stories should I read?  Let me know if you have a personal favorite.

Frank Frazetta’s Birthday

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Today, February 9, marks the 91st anniversary of Frank Frazetta’s birth.  Frazetta was born in 1928 and needs no introduction here.  Rather than write a detailed tribute, I’m going to post some of his covers and let the artist’s work speak for itself.  I’d post the reproductions of the paintings themselves, but I don’t know if fair use would cover that.  I don’t want to violate copyright.  In the comments, let us know what some of your favorite Frazetta works are. Continue reading →

Blogging Northwest Smith: Yvala

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Catherine Lucille Moore was born on January 24, 1911, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I’ve written multiple birthday tributes to her.  As I said for Robert E. Howard’s birthday two days, ago, I’m eulogized out.  So today in honor of her birthday, I’ll be revising a series I let go dormant, that of the Northwest Smith stories.  There will be spoilers below the fold. Continue reading →

Musings on Robert E. Howard

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Robert E. Howard was born on January 22, 1906.  I’ve been reading through the Conan stories for the series at Black Gate. (The latest post is here.)

I realize a lot of people have favorite Howard characters other than Conan.  Conan was the first Howard I read.  Call it imprinting, but Conan is still my mental template for what a sword and sorcery character is like.  I see more and more things each time I reread one of those stories.

I’m also not into the pastiches very much.  I’m open to reading some, especially some of the ones that will be published this year in the new comics, but to my mind they will never be canonical.  No offense intended to anyone writing them.  I feel the same way about the James Bond books. Continue reading →

Merritt and Fritch

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Two birthdays I want to draw attention to today (January 20).

Abraham Merritt

The first is A. Merritt (b. 1884).  His name should be familiar to most anyone who swings by this blog.  Merritt was one of the most influential fantasy authors of the first half of the 20th Century.  At one point there was even a fantasy magazine named after him.  Merritt was first assistant editor and then editor at The American Weekly.  Writing was only a side job for him.

I’m going to read some of his work this year.  I”ll probably start by rereading The Dwellers in the Mirage. Merritt wrote very little short fiction, but I’m going to read some of that as well.

William F. Nolan (l.) and Charles E. Fritch (r.) at Expo 67

The other author only wrote short stories in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields.  A member of the  so-called California School, Charles E. Fritch (b. 1927) wrote short stories on a fairly consistent basis until the early 1970s, after which his output slowed to a trickle until his death in 2012.  Several of his later works appeared in Whispers.  In the early to mid 1960s he was editor of the magazine Gamma.  He was also editor of Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine from1979 until 1985.

I may have read one or two of his stories when I was a teenager, but if so, I don’t recall them.  I do know his name pops up in the tables of contents of horror and dark fantasy anthologies from the seventies and eighties.  His work is also showing up in some of these anthologies that sell on Amazon for a buck or two.  I have a few of those and will read the stories in the ones I have.

If anyone has read any of his work, please let me know.

Poe’s Legacy

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Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day, January 19, in 1809.  He died in 1849.

My father-in-law was buried this morning, a cold and windy morning, so today is a good day to read Poe.  But which Poe?

I got to thinking about this a few nights ago on an extended drive with my son.  I asked what they were reading in English this six weeks, and he said they had a variety of short stories to choose from, including “Harrison Beregeron”, “The Veldt”, some other Bradbury stories, and some by Poe.  My son had read “The Cask of Amontillado”, so we got to talk about that one.

But how many other Poe stories are still widely-read today?  “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Raven”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are all probably still widely read.  But what about “The Purloined Letter”,” Hop-Frog”, “The Gold Bug”, or “The Premature Burial”?  “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”?  “A Descent into the Maelstrom”?

I don’t know.  Stories wax and wane in popularity.  What are your favorite Poe stories?  I’m going to try to read something I’ve not read before.