Tag Archives: birthday

A Forgotten Pulpster: H. Warner Munn

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H. Warner Munn was born on this date, November 5, in 1903.  Munn passed away in 1981.  He is largely forgotten today, but he wrote for Weird Tales.  Near the end of his life, he returned to writing.

Munn is best known for writing a series known as the Merlin saga.  The first two installments, King of the World’s Edge and The Ship From Atlantis were first published   Merlin’s Ring was to have been published in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, but the imprint was canceled.  Ballantine still published the book along with its sequel, Merlin’s Godson.  The latter book combined King of the World’s Edge and The Ship From Atlantis.

Neither of these books (Merlin’s Ring and Merlin’s Godson) are currently available in electronic format in English.  My understanding is that there were other books planned in this series, but Munn died before he could write them.  King of the World’s Edge was favorably compared to the works of Robert E. Howard when it was serialized in Weird Tales.

Munn’s other series involved werewolves.  It was also started in Weird Tales.  When he returned to writing, Munn was convinced by Robert Weinberg to write more stories, which Weinberg published.  These are available in electronic format.

I have to confess I’ve not read much of Munn’s work.  I need to correct that.

Happy Birthday, Joe Lansdale

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Normally I only do these birthday posts for writers who are dead, but I’m making an exception today.  Joe Lansdale entered the world on October 28, 1951.

Since we’re both from Texas, our paths have crossed a number of times through the years.  Several years may go by when I don’t see Joe at a convention, then we’ll attend the same events more than once in a year.

One of the highlights of my encounters with Joe is when we are both at Armadillcon.  After the dealer’s room closes, you can usually find Joe in the lobby in the middle of a group talking about all kinds of things.  Joe isn’t the only one talking, of course, but he’s a major contributor to the conversation.  Me, I sit at the back of the group, keep my mouth shut (it does happen; don’t look so shocked), and listen.  I always learn something, whether it’s about a book I need to read, an anecdote about a writer, or some tidbit of pop culture history.  If you ever get a chance to hang out with him, take advantage of it.

Happy birthday, Joe, and thanks for all the great stories over the years, both verbal and written.

A Monster-God for Edmond Hamilton’s Birthday

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“The Monster-God of Mamurth”
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
Wildside Press
ebook $0.55

On this date, October 20, Edmond Hamilton was born in the year 1904.  While he isn’t the only writer of the fantastic with a birthday today, I think he’s the most important.

Hamilton is best known today as a writer of space opera (and husband of one of our favorite writers, Leigh Brackett), so it might seem that this tribute would be more appropriate over at Futures Past and Present.

What isn’t as well known is that, in addition to publishing muc of his early science fiction in Weird Tales, Hamilton also wrote some weird fantasy adventures stories.  In fact, his first published story, “The Monster-God of Mamurth” is just such a tale. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Tanith Lee

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One of the most acclaimed writers of fantasy was born on this date, September 19, in 1947.  I’m talking about Tanith Lee, of course.  While there are other acclaimed writers with birthdays today, none of them are as important and significant as Tanith Lee was to the field of fantasy, nor ever likely to be.  (Yes, that was a swipe at someone with a birthday today, in case you’re wondering.  No, I’m not going to tell you who.)  Tanith Lee died in 2015.

I’ve only read a little bit of her work, but what I’ve read, I’ve really enjoyed.  I’m not sure I’ll have time today to read any of her fiction; the day’s pretty full.  But if not today, then sometime in the next week.  I’ll have some time to kill on Saturday when I’ll need something to read.  Fortunately I recently purchased a couple of collections of her short fiction.   Among them are The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee (stories published in Weird Tales) and Venus Burning:  Realms (stories from Realms of Fantasy).

If you haven’t read her work, check her out.

A Plethora of Birthdays

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This will be a short post, as I am visiting family. They are between internet providers and won’t get the bew service until Tuesday. I’m typing this on my phone, which is a bit slow. I’ll add more photos and illustrations and maybe a liyttle more biographical detail when I return from my wanderings in the cyber wilderness. I’d also like to thank Deuce Richardson for the heads-up on the birthdays, as I have been distracted with travel today.

A number of my favorite writers were born today, September 1.

First, one of the greatest, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Born in 1875, Burroughs created some of the most iconic characters in modern literature, including Tarzan and John Carter. Continue reading →

Ray Bradbury at 98

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On this date in 1920, August 22, Ray Bradbury was born.  He was one of the greatest writers of the fantastic of the last 100 years.

I came to Bradbury early.  He was one of the first adult writers I read.  When I was in 5th grade, we had a guest in my reading class one day.  The man was there to read us a Bradbury story.  He described Bradbury as a science fiction writer but  then went on to tell us that what he was going to read wasn’t science fiction.  He read “The Screaming Woman” to us.  Continue reading →