Kirby McCauley (September 11, 1941 – August 30, 2014) was a Minnesota-born American fan of the macabre who went on to a career as a major literary agent and editor professionally based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, becoming a prime mover behind the commercial phenomenon known as Modern Horror.

Early life

Kirby McCauley attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

and worked as an insurance salesman in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

. He was a fan of H. P. Lovecraft and the

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

school of horror writers. Indicating quite refined tastes, by the mid-1960s McCauley was corresponding with his favorite supernatural writer, British ghost story great

Robert Aickman Robert Fordyce Aickman (27 June 1914 – 26 February 1981) was an English writer and conservationist. As a conservationist, he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, a group which has preserved from destruction and restored England's inl ...

. He soon met the Arkham House authors in and around his native Minneapolis, including Carl Jacobi,

Donald Wandrei Donald Albert Wandrei (20 April 1908 – 15 October 1987)Minnesota Death Certificates Index
. ...

, and

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...

. In 1973, ''Etchings and Odysseys'' magazine was launched in Minneapolis by McCauley, John J. Koblas, Eric Carlson, Joe West and others.

Career

When he decided to move to New York City in the 1970s to become a literary agent, writer and friend Richard L. Tierney helped drive him there to set up. McCauley soon had a successful agency representing authors such as Stephen King,

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

, and

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

, who credits him with helping to launch his writing career. The match of King's relentless productivity and McCauley's shrewd deal-making is unique in the history of weird fiction. With McCauley aggressively agenting his material, King's star climbed steadily. The novel ''

Pet Sematary ''Pet Sematary'' is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. In November 2013, PS Publishing r ...

'' is dedicated to McCauley, and all but the earliest of the pseudonymous

Richard Bachman Richard Bachman is a pen name (as well as fictional character) of American horror fiction author Stephen King. King portrays Bachman in the third season of the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy''. Origin At the beginning of King's car ...

novels were copyrighted in his name; for the first edition of ''Thinner'' (1984), McCauley provided him with a fake author picture of the elusive "Bachman" that actually showed his own insurance agent, Richard Manuel. King's memoir ''On Writing'' (2000) covers the years he worked with McCauley. The success of King convinced publishers that a market existed for this sort of fiction and a host of contracts were signed by McCauley, who represented a Who's Who of horror writers with his agency. In 1975, McCauley chaired the first

World Fantasy Convention The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art show, a dealer's room, and an ...

, an event he conceived with T. E. D. Klein and several others. McCauley was a co-executive producer on the

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

-directed 1983 movie of Stephen King's novel ''

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

''. He received special thanks on the 1987 King-based movie ''

Creepshow 2 ''Creepshow 2'' is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, and the sequel to ''Creepshow''. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who was ...

'' and the 2008 documentary about the making of Frank Darabont's 2007 version of King's '' The Mist'', titled ''When Darkness Came: The Making of The Mist.''

Works edited

* ''Night Chills''. NY: Avon, Nov 1975. * ''Beyond Midnight''. NY: Berkley, Nov 1976. Italian edition as ''Racconti senzo respiro. Volume primo'' (trans. Giuseppe Lippi). Mondadori, 1981. * ''Frights''. NY: St Martin's, 1976. London: Gollancz, 1977. US paperback Warner, 1977. Italian edition as ''Racconti senzo respiro. Volume secondo'' (trans. Giuseppe Lippi). Mondadori, 1981. UK paperback in two volumes as ''Frights 1'' and ''Frights 2'', Sphere, 1979. * '' Dark Forces''. NY: Viking, 1980. Published simultaneously in UK by Macdonald. US paperback Bantam, 1981. Limited 25th Anniversary edition issued in 2007 by Lonely Road Books (Forest Hills, MD). German edition as ''Acht Stationen des grauens'' (Moewig Verlag; trans Elisabeth Simon). Dutch edition as ''Macaber Carnaval'' (Loeb, 1983; reprint 1990; new edition In der Toren publisher, 1993). * ''Stille Nacht, grausame Nacht'' (Moewig Verlag, 1979, 1985). * Hammett, Dashiell. ''Nightmare Town: Stories'' (edited with Martin H. Greenberg and Ed Gorman). NY: Knopf Doubleday, 2000. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2000.

Awards

McCauley was the recipient of the 1996 Minnesota Fantasy Award, presented at Arcana 26 (Oct 4-6, 1996) - see Arcana (convention).

Interviews with McCauley

* "The Kirby McCauley Interview" (1978) by

David Bischoff David F. Bischoff (December 15, 1951 – March 19, 2018) was an American science fiction and television writer. General background Born in Washington D.C., Bischoff wrote science fiction books, short stories, and scripts for television. He beg ...

. ''Thrust'' No 10 (Spring 1978) * ''Dark Forces: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition'' (Lonely Road Books, 2007). Interview by

Kealan Patrick Burke Kealan Patrick Burke (born in Dungarvan, Ireland) is an author. Some of his works include the novels ''Kin'', ''Currency of Souls'', ''Master of the Moors'', and ''The Hides'' (Bram Stoker Award nominee), the novellas ''The Turtle Boy'' (Bram S ...

Death

He died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

associated with long-term diabetes in August 2014.'Kirby McCauley, September 11, 1941 – August 30, 2014' (Black Gate)
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Awards

* 1979 World Fantasy Convention Award * 1996 Minnesota Fantasy Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccauley, Kirby 1941 births 2014 deaths American book editors Science fiction editors University of Minnesota alumni Male speculative fiction editors Writers from Minnesota