James Allen Turner (March 19, 1945 – March 28, 1999) was an American editor and publisher. Turner was editor for

Arkham House Arkham House was an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...

after the death of

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...

. After leaving Arkham House, he founded

Golden Gryphon Press Golden Gryphon Press was an independent publishing company, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and cross-genre novels. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Turner, former editor at Arkham House, until his death in 1999. It was then o ...

Biography

James Allen Turner was born on March 19, 1945, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. He graduated from Collinsville High School in 1963. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

and began graduate school but became the editor at

in 1973 before he received his degree. As well as overseeing editorial operations at Arkham House generally, Turner himself edited an anthology of

Lovecraftian horror Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

for them - ''Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology'' (1995; reprinted by

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is an imprint (trade name), imprint of the Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House. The imprint was established in 1977 under the editorship of Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, author Lester del Rey. Today, th ...

). In 1996 he left Arkham House over creative differences with Arkham co-owner April Derleth. He immediately started his own company,

, and continued to publish similar books as he had at Arkham House. Here he edited a second Lovecraftian anthology, ''Eternal Lovecraft: the Persistence of HPL in Popular Culture'' (Golden Gryphon Press, 1998). Turner won the 1999

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for his work with Golden Gryphon Press.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Jim 1945 births 1999 deaths American book editors American science fiction editors American book publishers (people) Washington University in St. Louis alumni 20th-century American businesspeople