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Shelby Steger (1906-1984)
Office Worker, AuthorBorn May 29, 1906, Alameda County, CaliforniaDied September 23, 1984, Alameda County, CaliforniaShelby Grove was born on May 29, 1906, in Alameda County, California. Her father,...
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Richard Presley Tooker (1902-1988)
Aka Richard Tooker, Dick Tooker, Dick Presley Tooker, Henry E. LemkeAuthor, Reporter, Editor, Publisher, U.S. Marine, Cowboy, Musician, Farmer, Deputy County Clerk, etc.Born July 3, 1902, Farina,...
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Stewart Van der Veer (1893-1966)
John Stewart Van der VeerSinger, Author, Newspaper Reporter & Feature Writer, Soldier & Ambulance Driver, Advertising ManBorn June 27, 1893, Frankfort, KentuckyDied December 27, 1966, at home,...
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Weird Tales in Alabama
As you look into the lives of the men and women who contributed to Weird Tales, you start to see connections and patterns. I'm almost certain there was a connection between Weird Tales and writers in...
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The Twa Corbies by Anonymous
"The Twa Corbies" ("The Two Crows") is an old and anonymous poem, anonymous in the truest sense of the word, meaning that its author was not trying to hide his or her identity. Instead, the author's...
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Julia Boynton Green (1861-1957)
Poet, Writer, Artist, Public SpeakerBorn May 25, 1861, South Byron, New YorkDied July 10, 1957, Los Angeles, CaliforniaJulia P. Boynton was born on May 25, 1861, in South Byron, New York, to James T....
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Monroe D. McGibeny (1911-1975)
Monroe Dryden "Mack" McGibenyAka Monroe D. McGibneyNé Rowe Dryden DraperDraftsman, Architect, Kitchen & Bath Designer, PoetBorn March 3, 1911, Thomasville, GeorgiaDied February 3, 1975, presumably...
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S. Gordon Gurwit (1887-1955)
Newspaper Reporter, Cartoonist, Author, Poet, Playwright, Screenwriter, Painter, PianistBorn December 14, 1887, New York, New YorkDied March 11, 1955, Miami, FloridaSamuel Gordon Gurwit was born on...
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Gertrude Hemken (1912-1992)
Aka "Trudy,""Miss Hemken"Letter Writer, Cook, Secretary/Stenographer, ColumnistBorn September 10, 1912, Chicago, IllinoisDied July 21, 1992, Kankakee, IllinoisIf you have ever read Robert Weinberg's...
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Donald V. Allgeier (1915-1955)-Part One
Teacher, College Professor, Soldier, WriterBorn October 31, 1915, Mountain Grove, MissouriDied February 19, 1955, Milwaukee, WisconsinDonald Vinson Allgeier was born on October 31, 1915, in Mountain...
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Donald V. Allgeier (1915-1955)-Part Two
Donald V. Allgeier was a real fan of popular culture. You can tell that by the nearly three dozen letters he wrote to fantasy and science fiction magazines between 1932 and 1952. But there was another...
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Coronavirus Cover
I wrote late last month and early this month about British New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and '70s. John Brunner (1934-1995) is supposed to have been a New Wave writer. But then again, maybe he...
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Willard N. Marsh (1922-1970)
Musician, Teacher, Author, PoetBorn March 5, 1922, Oakland, CaliforniaDied May 27, 1970, Guadalajara, MexicoWillard Noah Marsh was born on March 5, 1922, in Oakland, California. His parents were Louis...
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100 Years of Weird Tales
Welcome to the 100th anniversary year of Weird Tales.Weird Tales began in March 1923, and despite nearly perishing the following year, it went on for a total of 279 issues in its initial run, finally...
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What's in a Title?-Part One
Weird TalesWeird Tales was the brainchild of Jacob Clark Henneberger (1890-1969), a native Pennsylvanian who arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1919 after having served in the U.S. Navy during the...
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What's in a Title?-Part Two
WeirdWeird is an old word. In fact it's from an Old English word, wyrd. The origins of weird are in a presumed Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root, *wer-, meaning "to turn" or "to bend." We use weird as an...
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What's in a Title?-Part Three
TaleAccording to the Online Etymology Dictionary, tale is from the Old English talu, meaning "series, calculation," also "story, tale, statement, deposition, narrative, fable, accusation, action of...
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Weird Tales & Weird Fiction-Part One
The weird tale is a form, an old form to be sure. Weird fiction is a literary genre of more recent development, as all fiction is when compared to tales, ballads, legends, and so on. In the twentieth...
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Weird Tales & Weird Fiction-Part Two
Get a drink and a snack. This is a long one.* * *Nearly a decade ago, I began a series called "Rivals of Weird Tales." In the first two installments, I covered Golden Fleece Historical Adventure, which...
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Weird in Beowulf
Weird is a very old concept, possibly--or very probably--a pre-Christian concept. If we're going to talk about weird we must first understand it. I'm not sure that we can at this late date. Weird has...
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