A profile of Bill Gulick that originally appeared in the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review dated July 20, 1958. I’ve added a few excerpts from another article in the Tacoma, Washington News-Tribune dated June 26, 1948. Gulick Brings Old West Alive By Jay Kalez IF BILL GULICK, Walla Walla’s prolific novelist and writer of Saturday Evening Post… Continue reading Bill Gulick: No horsing around, and other secrets of a writer
Category: Authors
One Man Show: Authors, pound that typewriter till it bleeds!
During my time attending pulp conventions, I heard about an author who, under one pseudonym or another, wrote the entire fiction contents of an all-fiction magazine. But it was never clear to me who it was we were talking about. Some authors were obvious candidates – H. Bedford-Jones, Max Brand, Arthur J. Burks etc. Could… Continue reading One Man Show: Authors, pound that typewriter till it bleeds!
Bellem Lettres: The secret life of a pulpster
And no, that isn’t a spelling mistake. Read on and find out why. While pursuing some research, I came across five letters from Robert Leslie Bellem, the creator of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective and prodigious producer of pervy passion plots for the pulps. These letters have little personal stuff but quite a bit about the… Continue reading Bellem Lettres: The secret life of a pulpster
The mysterious life of Robert Reeves – Storyteller, Soldier
Robert Reeves, the author of the Cellini Smith stories in Black Mask, is a mysterious character. The veil of mystery around Reeves starts with his life. He seems to appear out of nowhere in the magazines, showing no evidence of newspaper work or other professions connected to the publishing business. Who was he? Where did… Continue reading The mysterious life of Robert Reeves – Storyteller, Soldier
Craving hardboiled pulp? Try the first issue of Texas Western free, now at archive.org
Launching a new pulp in 1953, as the last flakes of the once mighty pulp empires fluttered around the publisher’s offices, was a bold decision. What were they thinking? Here is an excerpt from the editorial in the first issue of Texas Western: Here it is, readers, the magazine you’ve been demanding! TEXAS WESTERN is… Continue reading Craving hardboiled pulp? Try the first issue of Texas Western free, now at archive.org
Roe Richmond – Western Writer, Professional athlete, Cowboy
Everybody thinks they know what a western is. Frank Gruber, a long time pulp author with a flair for self-promotion, categorized the western into seven categories: In my reading I’ve come across these plots frequently, but such categorization does disservice to writers who stayed away from these tropes. Like Roe Richmond. That may come as… Continue reading Roe Richmond – Western Writer, Professional athlete, Cowboy
Interview William E. Barrett – Best-selling writer, movie man
William Edmund Barrett (1900 – 1986) was an American writer, best known for the 1962 novella The Lilies of the Field, later made into a movie that won Sidney Poitier his best actor Oscar. Before Barrett got into movies, he wrote many stories for the pulps, including this one that I reviewed a few years… Continue reading Interview William E. Barrett – Best-selling writer, movie man
One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
John A. Saxon (1886-1947) wrote mostly western and detective stories in a writing career that spanned more than twenty five years. Working as a law clerk, he wrote stories on the side and was part of a California writing circle that included Robert Leslie Bellem, the author of the Dan Turner stories. ABOUT THE AUTHOR… Continue reading One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
Ralph S. Kendall on becoming a writer
Ralph S. Kendall was an Englishman who became a member of the RCMP, a Mountie as they were called then. After a long career, he wrote two novels partly based on his experiences: Benton of the Royal Mounted and its sequel, The Luck of the Mounted. His hero, Benton, was the younger son of a… Continue reading Ralph S. Kendall on becoming a writer
Double booked: Identity theft among authors
We all know of plagiarism, the crime of stealing words without attribution. To deal with it, publishers used to ask for references when they wanted to use a story from a first-time author. But how do you deal with someone who pretends to be a famous author? Read on to find out how authors came… Continue reading Double booked: Identity theft among authors