Tag Archives: birthday

Manly Wade Wellman Turns 113

Fantasy author Manly Wade Wellman was born on this date (May 21) in 1903. Wellman isn’t as well known today as he used to be, and should be, but he has a devoted group of fans. (I include myself in that number.) I’ve looked at some of it here, here, and here.

Wellman is best known for stories that incorporate the lore and legends of the Appalachian states. Of these, the John the Balladeer stories are the best known. They concern a wandering minstrel in the mountains.

Wellman was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his nonfiction work Rebel Boast. He also beat out William Faulkner in 1946 for the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Award. Faulkner didn’t take it well.

Night Shade Books publshed a five volume set of Wellman’s short fiction. The volumes are long out of print and highly sought after today. Haffner Press publsihed a complete collection of the John Thunstone occult detective stories in 2012. They quickly went out of print. Wellman’s works are somewhat available. Prices can vary widely.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to read some of his work.

Frank Belknap Long at 115

Robert Bloch Hits 99

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Robert Bloch was born on April 5, 1917, in Chicago. He passed away on September 23, 1994 in Los Angeles.

Although he will be remembered as the author of Psycho, and justifiably so, he was a writer of great range and depth. While I’ve found his novels to be somewhat hit and miss, I’ve almost always enjoyed his short fiction.

Bloch was a member of the Lovecraft Circle and published in Weird Tales, but he quickly moved on to other types of fiction than Mythos pastiche. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Bloch’s Mythos tales, but they were his early work.) He appeared as Robert Blake in Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark.”

Bloch was adept at mystery, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Bloch managed to infuse humor into some of the grimmest situations. His story “That Hell-Bound Train” won the Hugo Award in 1959. A favorite theme was Jack the Ripper, beginning with the classic “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”.

Bloch worked in Hollywood, and many of his stories reflect his experiences there. He wrote two sequels to Psycho which had nothing to do with the movie sequels. I’ve only read the first sequel, but it’s set almost entirely in Hollywood. I wondered how many of the scenes in it were based on actual events.

Anyway, Bloch isn’t as well remembered these days as he should be. Subterranean Press (among others) have published collections of his work in the years since his death, but those are starting to go out of print.

I’m going to read one or two of his stories this evening and toast his memory and literary legacy.

With the lights on and the doors locked, of course.

C. L. Moore Turns 105

Howard Hits 110

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Yep, everyone’s favorite author from Cross Plains was born 110 years ago today. I’ve got too many irons in the fire to write a long tribute today. I’m in the middle of reading “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula”, which is the topic of discussion at Howard Andrew Jones’ blog today. Check it out, because there’s always some good discussion there.

Even though he died nearly 80 years ago, he still casts one of the longest shadows over the field of fantasy and imaginative literature. The only two authors who still have as much influence are (arguably) H. P. Lovecrat and J. R. R. Tolkien. So read something by Howard, a story, a letter, a poem. Marvel at the way he could write a scene or a bit of verse. Spend some time in a land undreamed of. And raise a Cimmerian size glass in Howard’s memory.

Happy Birthday, J. R. R. Tolkien

Catherine Lucille Moore: Fantasy and Science Fiction Pioneer

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Not to mention one of the most important writers of the past century.

Catherine Lucille Moore, better known as C. L. Moore, was born on this day in 1911. She sold her first story, “Shambleau”, in 1933. (review here)

In certain circles among science fiction and fantasy authors and fans, one can find a popular belief that women authors have been suppressed and had their voices silenced by The Patriarchy. And That Has to Change. While it is true that until recently more authors have been men than women, one has to wonder what parallel universe some of these people have fallen out of. Either that or if what they’ve been smoking is home grown or Columbian imported. Many of them act like they’ve never heard of Ursula K. Le Guin, Leigh Brackett, Kate Wilhelm, or Andre Norton, among others. Continue reading →

Robert E. Howard, Still Influential at 109

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Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Howard. For someone who wrote for the pulps, which were considered by many to be barely above subliterate trash during their heyday, he’s got a remarkable legacy.

His books are still being reprinted, with new ones coming out on a regular basis. Howard has been the subject of multiple biographies. A foundation has been formed in his name that gives a scholarship to a graduating senior each year. His work has been adapted to film. (Okay, not necessarily adapted well or faithfully, but it at least has been adapted.) He wrote some of the seminal works in the field of sword and sorcery, works that have been widely imitated for decades. And his collected letters reveal a young man whose mind and imagination were too big for the narrow confines of his small Texas town.

How many best-sellers from his era can you name beyond the obvious ones of Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Parker, and Hemingway? How many works of “serious literature” that bravely explore “the human condition” and promote social justice from as little as ten years ago, never mind two or three decades back, are still in print or even remembered?

Howard wrote with a passion, but then there weren’t many things Howard didn’t approach passionately, at least things he chose rather than had thrust on him, such as nonwriting jobs. His ideas and passions came through in his writing. That’s part of what makes so much of his work, whether fiction or poetry or correspondence, both fun and deep. Too many of today’s crusaders for [insert cause du jour here] need to take some time and study Howard’s works and see how it’s done. Howard communicates things like his views on barbarism, civilization, honor, loyalty, etc., clearly and unambiguously without ever interfering with his narrative or throwing the reader out of his story. Would that we had more like him writing today.

So take a moment today and remember him. Raise a glass in his honor. Spend some time in one of his worlds. With snow overnight and more expected for the rest of the day, I’ll read some more in Swords of the North myself. It’s a fitting day to immerse myself in that Northern thing.

Howard Andrew Jones has posted a solid tribute here.

Today is Tolkien’s Birthday…

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…and I can’t think of many better ways to begin 2015 than by acknowledging it. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born this day in 1892. It’s been over four decades since he left us (September 2,1973), and he is arguably still the most influential fantasy writer in the world.

James Maliszewski speculated earlier this week what the world would be like if Tolkien hadn’t written The Lord of the Rings. I’ll not repeat his points; you should read his post for yourself if you haven’t yet. I’ll simply say that it’s a world in which I’m not sure I would want to live.

That Tolkien is still influential can be seen by the latest movie based on his work (loosely I’m told; I haven’t been able to gather the family all together to see it yet) being one of the top box office draws of the Christmas season.

One of the reasons, and this is only one of multiple reasons, his work has proven to be so enduring is that he doesn’t shy away from taking a moral stance. I think this is what resonates with so many of his fans, particularly those who don’t read fantasy on a regular basis. Tolkien openly acknowledged the existence of evil. His villains weren’t misunderstood; they weren’t victims of The System; they weren’t good people forced to choose between a selection of bad options.

They were flat out evil.

In addition, Tolkien recognized the capacity for both good and evil that resides in all people, every man, every woman, every human being. And furthermore, he knew just how thin and fragile the line dividing good and evil could be. His characters are real people who make real mistakes (Boromir, anyone?) and real sacrifices. (Don’t try to tell me Frodo didn’t suffer for the rest of his life after destroying the One Ring. Read the end of the book.)

I would love to browse those books.

Tolkien took a moral stand that you don’t see in a lot of his imitators. You could write a doctoral thesis on that subject alone, and I’m sure more than one graduate student has. There are other reasons why he still sells today, but I believe this is one of the main ones. Frankly, if the World Fantasy Award is a bust of a person, I think Tolkien would be better choice that Lovecraft simply because his influence is greater among the general population than Lovecraft’s. (Tolkien was a straight, white, Christian male, so I can’t see that happening in today’s climate.)

Anyway, raise a glass to Tolkien’s memory today. And if you get a chance, read some of his work.

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