Scanners to Buy and Letters to Write About

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to break down and buy a scanner. Not something I wanted to do at this particular moment in time, but it wasn't until I didn't have a working scanner that I realized how much I depended on it. I'm only telling you this because that's why I haven't been back with another Black Mask short story summary. I didn't want to do one on the current story I'm reading - "Heads - the Corpse Loses" by D.L. Champion, until I could give you a decent picture of the magazine cover. I will tell you that the story is terrific. Champion is known for his "Corpse" stories, and this is one of his Rex Sackler/Joey Graham private eye series - hard boiled and very funny.

I'm also working on an article for Blood N Thunder magazine, based on the letters my grandfather received from the editors of Wild West Weekly while he was writing for them from 1928 to 1943. The letters, written by Ronald Oliphant up until 1939. My grandfather and Oliphant became very friendly, and my uncle, Thomas Ronald Powers, was named for the editor. These letters provide a window into the pulp industry from which you can see the extraordinary stress that both the editors and writers were under to produce a staggering amount of words. Here's one of the letters. By this time, it appears that the relationship between the two men had become strained due to my grandfather's constant tardiness in getting his stories in. But you can hardly blame him, judging from what was asked of him.



Anyway, it's a great project to work on and I'm indebted to Ed Hulse, editor of Blood N Thunder, for giving me the opportunity to do it. I do have to say that it's also good to have a deadline. This time I have no excuses.