Joseph Shallit (February 7, 1915 — June 13, 1995) was an American mystery novelist and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author.

Early life

He was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants from

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

in present-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

under the name Joseph Shaltz. This name was the result of a clerical error affecting his parents when they emigrated from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and he changed it back to "Shallit" in November 1942.

Career

He was instrumental in getting the regulation against photography in

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

changed when he was arrested for taking a photo of the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

in 1942. He was a reporter at the time for ''

The Philadelphia Record ''The Philadelphia Record'' was a daily newspaper published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1877 until 1947. It became among the most circulated papers in the city and was at some points the circulation leader. History ''The Public Record'' ...

''. Subsequent to this event, the rule was changed. Shallit served in the

Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Upon his return, he began to write, publishing his first mystery, ''The Billion-Dollar Body'', in 1947 with Lippincott. Other mysteries include ''Yell Bloody Murder'', ''Lady, Don't Die on My Doorstep'', and ''Kiss the Killer''. ''Take Your Last Look'' was published under the pseudonym "Matt Brady". He also wrote a number of short stories for science fiction magazines, including "Education of a Martian", in the August 1952 issue of

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

. A short story, entitled "Margie Passes", was published in Hallie and

Whit Burnett Whit Burnett (August 14, 1899 – April 22, 1973) was an American writer and educator who founded and edited the literary magazine ''Story (magazine), Story''. In the 1940s, ''Story'' was an important magazine in that it published the first or earl ...

's 1951 first volume of the anthology-series continuation of ''

Story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

'', and later was adapted by John Tobias into one segment of a 1972 ABC television drama produced by

Fred Coe Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe (December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1979) was an American television producer and director most famous for '' The Goodyear Television Playhouse''/'' The Philco Television Playhouse'' in 1948-1955 and ''Playhouse 90'' from ...

, entitled "Of Men and Women" and starring

Deborah Raffin Deborah Iona Raffin (March 13, 1953 – November 21, 2012) was an American actress, model and audiobook publisher. Early life Raffin was born in Los Angeles to actress Trudy Marshall and Phillip Jordan Raffin, a restaurateur and business exec ...

. Shallit later worked for

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, later

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

, editing an employee magazine that they published. He retired in 1980, and died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on June 13, 1995. He was married to Louise Lee Outlaw Shallit, an author, and was survived by two sons, Jonathan Shallit, a music professor and

Jeffrey Shallit Jeffrey Outlaw Shallit (born October 17, 1957) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is an active number theorist and a noted critic of intelligent design. He is married to Anna Lubiw, also a computer scientist. Early life ...

, a computer scientist.

References

About Joseph Shallit

External links

* 1915 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Jewish American novelists Novelists from Philadelphia American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni {{sf-writer-stub