Today is October 15. It is the birthday of James H. Schmitz (1911-1981), E. C. Tubb (1919-2010), Mario Puzo (1920-1999), and Evan Hunter (1926-2005). Here’s a brief bit about each.

James H. Schmitz wrote other kinds of science fiction, but mostly he wrote space opera. The bulk of his stories were set in The Hub, what human space is called. The main character was Telzy Amberdon, and the second most used character was Trigger Argee. There were other recurring characters, and they tended to show up in each other’s stories. That’s the Frak Kelly Freas cover of The Lion Game, minus the wording.

The Hub stories are a lot of fun. About twenty-five years ago, Baen (finally!) collected nearly all of Schmitz’s fiction. Isaid finally, becaue I had been trying to find copies of some of the earlier collections for years. Copies should be available online for reasonable prices. If you haven’t read Schnmitz, check him out.

E. C. Tubb wrote other things, but he will always be remembered as t he creator of Dumarest of Terra. The premise is fairly stragiht forward. Dumarest is searching for the planet of his birth, a place called Earth, which is now a legend. The series ran for thirty-one volumes. In each book, Dumarest gets a little more information.

Of course, there is an organization opposing him. I read the first one years ago, liked it, and have collected all but one or two. I want to fill in the gaps and then start the series, reading straight through.

Mario Puzo wrote about the intersection of Italian life and the Mafia. He burst onto the scene with The Godfather. Although he wasn’t prolific, he left his mark on literary crime novels.

Evan Hunter is better known as Ed McBain. Neither of those was his real name. That would be Salvatore Albert Lombino. It was under the Hunter byline that he wrote The Blackboard Jungle, based on his experience teaching in a New York vocatioinal high school. That book was the basis of a highly controversial film in 1954. Hunter also wrote a little science fiction under that name. He is best known, however, under the Ed McBain name as the author of the 87th Precint police procedurals. They have a central cast, but the protagonist rotates from one book to another. While there are changes in the characters’ lives, the plot are mostly stand-alone and can be read in any order.