Category Archives: birthday

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.

What to Read for Clark Ashton Smith’s Birthday?

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So I was hoping this year would start out on a better foot.  Didn’t happen.  I’ll post about the events of the last two weeks later.  That will probably go live tomorrow.

Today, I just want to acknowledge one of the all time greats of weird fantasy, Clark Ashton Smith.  Smith was born in 1893 in Long Valley, California.  He would go on to become one of the so-called Big Three of Weird Tales, the other two being H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.

I’ve read a number of Smith’s stories over the years, but I’m not nearly as familiar with his work as I am that of Howard and Lovecraft.  So I’m going to seek counsel from those who are wiser than I.

What story by Smith do you suggest I read?  Please answer in the comments below.

Tolkien and a Few Others

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Today, January 3, is the birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien (b. 1892).  A month or so ago, a minor writer of short stories pulled the ol’ drum-up-publicity-for-my-book-launch-by-attcking-someone-greater-than-me trick.

It worked, just not the way the guy that thought.  At least with me.  I’ve started rereading The Lord of the Rings.  Other than The Hobbit, I’ve never read deeply in Tolkien’s other works.  I’ve decided to change that and have gotten several volumes in The History of Middle-Earth.  I don’t know if I’ll blog about them, but I’m going to dip into them over the course of 2019.

Also, there are two birthdays from yesterday I didn’t mention because I was slightly distracted by my wife’s surgery.

Those were Charles Beaumont (b. Jan. 2, 1929) and Robert Nathan (b. Jan. 2, 1894).  Beaumont I’ve written about before.  A protege of Ray Bradbury, he wrote some great short stories and a number of well-regarded Twilight Zone scripts. I’ll try to read something of his in the next day or so.

Robert Nathan is best remembered for his short novel Portrait of Jenny.  It’s a love story set in the Great Depression about an artist who keeps meeting a girl in the park.  He meets her every few weeks, but each time she’s a few years older.  It’s not an adventure story, but it’s one of my favorite novels.  It’s definitely worth tracking down.

Happy Birthday, Seabury Quinn

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Seabury Grandin Quinn was born on New Year’s Day in 1889.  He passed away on Christmas Eve in 1969.  Now where have I heard that name “Grandin” before?

Oh, yeah.  Jules de Grandin, the French occult detective.  He appeared in over 90 stories and one novel in Weird Tales beginning in 1925.  The last story was published in 1951.  They are currently being reprinted in hardcover by NightShade Books.  Four of a projected five volumes have been published as of this writing.

Quinn wrote other stories that didn’t feature de Grandin.  The first Quinn story I ever read was “The Phantom Farmhouse”.

Given how prolific he was, I’m surprised he isn’t better remembered today.  Hopefully someone will publish a collection of his non-de Grandin work in an affordable edition.

Keith Taylor’s Birthday

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Deuce Richardson tipped me off that today, December 26, is Keith Taylor’s birthday (b. 1946).  So thanks, Deuce.

I know the name, but to my knowledge I’ve never read Mr. Taylor’s work.  Based on Deuce’s recommendation, I’ll be addressing that shortcoming.  I’ve got a copy of Bard II, but since I don’t have the first volume in that series, I’ve not read it. Taylor collaborated with Andrew J. Ouffut on two Cormac Mac Art novels in the early 1980’s.

A quick check of the ISFDB shows a number of short fiction titles, including one in Skelos #3, which I’ve not finished reading.  Taylor is from Australia, and has been nominated for multiple Ditmar Awards (the Australian equivalent of the Hugo), winning twice, once for the short story “Where Silence Rules” in 1982 and for the novel Bard III: The Wild Sea in 1987.

The series that looks intriguing is Kamos the Magician.  A collection of these stories is in print, although not in electronic format.  I’ll buy a copy once things settle and and report back.

 

Belated Birthday: Fritz Leiber, Jr.

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Fritz Leiber, Jr., was born on Christmas Eve in 1910.  I was spending the day with family and didn’t get a post up.  Although considering it was Christmas Eve, I’m not sure how many people would have seen it.  And since I’m writing this while Christmas dinner is being prepared, this is going to be a short post.

But I digress.  Leiber was one of the greatest writers of fantasy, horror, and science fiction of the 20th Century.  He’s best known among fans of Sword and Sorcery as the creator of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.  It’s a landmark series in the genre.

But if that’s all you know about Leiber, then you’ve missed out.  Leiber was a leading figure in the trend to bring horror into contemporary settings.  He was also an accomplished science fiction writer.  Other than a few short stories and a some Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, it’s been a while since I read any of his work.  So later today, I’m going to work in a few of his short stories.  There are a number of his works available in electronic format, so if you would like to do the same and don’t have any of his print books handy, you can still download some (after paying for them, of course.)

We Need a Joseph Payne Brennan Retrospective

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Today, December 20, marks the centenary of the birth of Joseph Payne Brennan.  Brennan only wrote  one novel, which was published by a small press.  Most of his output was in the form of short fiction and poetry.   Several volumes of both have been published, and are readily available on the secondary market.  They ain’t gonna be cheap.

For example, The Shapes of Midnight, a paperback published by Berkley in 1980 shows eighteen copies available under a search on ABE.  They cheapest is $27.63.  The prices rise from there to a high of $176.04.  That is not a typo.  Someone is asking one hundred seventy-six dollars and four cents for a paperback.  I don’t remember how much I paid for my copy, but it wasn’t anywhere near $27, let alone $176.

Brennan was a good writer.  He was one of the last writers to write for the original incarnation of Weird Tales.  I’ve liked everything I’ve read by him, which, granted, isn’t much.  But that’s mainly because his work hasn’t been collected in a readily accessible form.  Most of his books were published in limited print runs by small presses.  It would probably be easier and cheaper to track down his stories in their original publications than to buy some of his books.

I would hope that Wildside or Centipede Press would do a large retrospective.  While Centipede would do Brennan Justice by putting his work inside some very nice hard covers, the book would probably be out of nearly everyone’s reach due to the price.  Not that I wouldn’t try to scrape the cash together.  On the other hand, a couple of Megapacks of his work from Wildside would be great.  There aren’t any electronic versions of Brennan’s work.  Maybe one of these publishers will put something together soon.  I would love to read some of Brennan’s poetry.

Three Quick Birthday Notices

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Today is December 18, and I want to point out three birthdays of significance.  Because today is going to be one of those days, at least schedule-wise, this will be short.

Alfred Bester (b. 1913) is better known as a science fiction writer, but he did publish some stories in Unknown, so I’ll use that as an excuse to include him here rather than at Futures Past and Present.  Besides, I have another post for FPaP this evening if I can get to it.  Bester is remembered primarily for the novels The Stars My Destination (which I haven’t read yet) and The Demolished Man (which is awesome).  Bester also wrote some really good short fiction, especially “Fondly Fahrenheit“.

Of the three authors whose birthdays I’m mentioning today, Sterling E. Lanier (b. 1927) is probably the most unfamiliar to modern writers.  There’s been some interest in his apocalyptic sf novel Hiero’s Journey online lately.  I’ve not read that one or its sequel.  I have read some of the Brigadier Ffellowes stories, which are tall tale club style stories.  They are currently available in electronic form, although the price ($9.99) is a bit high in my opinion.

And finally we come to the writer born today who has cast the longest shadow across the genre, Michael Moorcock (b. 1939).  I’m not sure what I can say about Moorcock that others haven’t said, and said better.  He’s still with us, and I’m glad to have had the privilege to have met him a few times.  I’ve not read a great deal of his work, but that’s partly because he’s so prolific.

I’m not sure which of these writers I’ll read something by today.  Like I said, it’s going to be busy.  But I’ll try to work one of them in and report back.