I said earlier that I was going to the Windy City Pulp show this year. I had a great time there, met a lot of people who know a lot about pulp, bought more than I thought I would, enjoyed the art and the panels, and will return next year.
I arrived in Lombard on Thursday evening and was thinking about getting some rest so that I could get up quickly for the next morning. However, after a quick meal, I went to the convention suite instead. I’m glad I did, because I met a lot of friendly people there – among them Ed Hulse (who runs Murania Press) and Walker Martin (this blog’s top commenter and one of the people with a complete set of Adventure). Walker also has a trip report written up on Mystery File.
We kept talking till 1, and then I went back to my room. The next morning, I got up early and was so keyed up that I had to go for a walk till the time came for the convention door to open. Then I had breakfast and counted the minutes till it was time. Went through, and the first thing I saw was Adventure House‘ table on the right, with higher quality pulps on the table and reading copies on the floor below. I was in hog heaven rooting through the reading copies, and took back a bagful. This was the table I kept coming back to whenever I ran out of things to do.
Then I went around the other tables in a kind of daze (so little time to read, too much to buy) – I was like a kid in Candyland. And as kids do, I gorged myself – went around all the tables, looking for a little Adventure (but also being tempted by Blue Book and Short Stories) , enjoying the art. I came across Doug Ellis, who had the first issue of Adventure. I was sorely tempted and kept coming back to look at it throughout the show.
I also met Tom Roberts, the man behind Black Dog Books, at the show and we had fun watching a ice hockey game. I bought a couple of new books from him, a collection of Matthew Quin stories by William Murray Graydon and the second set of Singapore Sammy stories by George F. Worts. I read a few of the Graydon stories and liked them, have yet to get to the Worts – it’s going to take quite some time to read through all the stuff I got. Another person I met was Dr. George Vanderburgh, who runs the Battered Dispatch Box press, from whom I had got some books earlier.
I enjoyed the art show (would have liked to buy some prints to take home. HINT, HINT.)
I met a lot of other people there – too many to call out by name. If you met me and would like to get in touch, drop me an email at pulpflakes _AT_ gmail _DOT_ com (Replace the _AT_ with an @ and the _DOT_ with a dot to get the email address).
Well, that’s all for now, back to work. Next post: Photos from the event. Will get around to posting an update on circumstances around Arthur S. Hoffman‘s departure from the editorship of Adventure in 1927, next week.
It was a real surprise meeting Sai at Windy City because I didn't realize he was attending. He looked like he was having fun and how could you not enjoy yourself in a room full of pulps? Sai, think about Pulpfest, August 7-10, another great pulp convention!