Vincent Starrett
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Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (; October 26, 1886 – January 5, 1974), known as Vincent Starrett, was a Canadian-born American writer, newspaperman, and bibliophile.


Biography

Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett was born above his grandfather's bookshop in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada. His father moved the family to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
in 1889 where Starrett attended John Marshall High School. Starrett landed a job as a cub reporter with the Chicago ''Inter-Ocean'' in 1905. When that paper folded two years later he began working for the ''
Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...
'' as a crime reporter, a feature writer, and finally a war correspondent in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
from 1914 to 1915. Starrett turned to writing mystery and supernatural fiction for
pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
s during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1920, he wrote a
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
pastiche entitled ''The Adventure of the Unique "Hamlet"''. Starrett on at least one occasion said that the press-run was 100 copies, but on others claimed 200; a study of surviving copies by Randall Stock documents 110. This story involved the detective investigating a missing 1602 inscribed edition of Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. Starrett's most famous work, ''
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, ...
'', was published in 1933. Following that, Starrett wrote a book column, "Books Alive," for ''
The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
''. He retired after 25 years of the column in 1967. Starrett was one of the founders of The Hounds of the Baskerville (sic), a Chicago chapter of
The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. The nonprofit organization currently numbers some 300 individuals worldwide. The group has published '' The Baker Street Journa ...
. Starrett's horror/fantasy stories were written primarily for the pulp magazine ''
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, prin ...
'', and are collected in ''The Quick and the Dead,'' (Arkham House, 1965). His story "Penelope," published in the May 1923 issue of ''Weird Tales'', was also featured in the anthology ''The Moon Terror'' (1927) anonymously edited by
Farnsworth Wright Farnsworth Wright (July 29, 1888 – June 12, 1940) was the editor of the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' during the magazine's heyday, editing 179 issues from November 1924 to March 1940. Jack Williamson called Wright "the first great fantasy ...
, and published by the magazine. Starrett's other writing included poetry, collected in ''Autolycus in Limbo,'' (Dutton, 1943), detective novels, such as ''Murder on 'B' Deck,'' (Doubleday, 1929, and others). He had also created his own detective character, Chicago sleuth Jimmie Lavender, whose adventures usually first appeared in the pulp magazine ''
Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
''. The name Jimmie Lavender was that of an actual pitcher for the Chicago Cubs; Starrett wrote to ask the ball player for permission to use his name for a
gentleman detective The gentleman detective, less commonly lady detective, is a type of fictional character. He (or she) has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. The heroe ...
, which the pitcher granted. The stories are collected in ''The Case Book of Jimmie Lavender'' (Gold Label, 1944). Starrett was a major enthusiast of Welsh writer
Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...
and was instrumental in bringing Machen's work to an American audience for the first time. His influential weekly column "Books Alive" ran in the ''Chicago Tribune'' for 25 years. He also wrote ''Best Loved Books of the 20th Century'', a collection of 52 essays discussing popular works, published in 1955. He died in Chicago on January 5, 1974, and was buried at
Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Ir ...
next to his wife, Rachel Latimer Starrett. A complete edition of Starrett's works is being published by George Vanderburgh's
Battered Silicon Dispatch Box The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box (BSDB) is an independent, Canadian literary publisher, founded in 1993 by George A. Vanderburgh. Based in Shelburne, Ontario, and in Sauk City, Wisconsin, the company is headed by George Vanderburgh. The press i ...
, a print-on-demand publisher, with 22 of a projected 25 volumes already in print. A publication in the Vincent Starrett Memorial Library is ''Sherlock Alive'', compiled and edited by Karen Murdock, and first printed in August 2010. ''Sherlock Alive'' is a collection of the Sherlockian references from Starrett's "Books Alive" column.


Film adaptations

Among his film adaptions his 1934 story "Recipe for Murder", first published in ''Redbook'' magazine in one installment, was filmed as ''
The Great Hotel Murder ''The Great Hotel Murder'' is a 1935 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, Rosemary Ames and Mary Carlisle. It is based on ''Recipe for Murder'' a 1934 story by Vincent Starrett. The film sta ...
'' by Fox in 1935.Peter A. Ruber The Last Bookman - 1995 Page 64 "Sun Dial Mysteries published a widely distributed hard-cover reprint of the book — though not before Vincent had sold it to Redbook under the title of Recipe for Murder, and to 20th Century-Fox for a perfectly ghastly film starring Edmund Lowe ..."


Bibliography


Walter Ghost mysteries

*''Murder on 'B' Deck'', Doubleday, 1929. *''Dead Man Inside'', Doubleday, 1931. *''The End of Mr. Garment'', Doubleday, 1932.


Others

*''Buried Caesars: Essays in Literary Appreciation'', Covici-McGee Company, 1923. *''Coffins for Two'', Covici-McGee Company, 1924. *''Penny Wise and Book Foolish'', Covici-Friede, 1929. *''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'', Macmillan, 1933. A revised edition was published by The University of Chicago Press in 1960. A paperback edition was published in 1975 by Pinnacle Books and another paperback edition was published by Otto Penzler Books, 1993, . (A movie called ''
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, ...
'' had no connection to Vincent Starrett.) *''Books Alive'', Random House, 1940. *''Bookman's Holiday: The Private Satisfactions of an Incurable Collector'', Random House, 1942. *''Autolycus in Limbo'', Dutton, 1943. *''The Case Book of Jimmie Lavender'', Gold Label, 1944. *''Murder in Peking'', The Lantern Press, 1946. *''Books and Bipeds'', Argus Books, 1947. *''Book Column'', The Caxton Club, 1958. *''Born in a Bookshop: Chapters from the Chicago Renascence'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. *'' The Quick and the Dead'',
Arkham House Arkham House is 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 pr ...
, 1965, *''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', Penguin Books, 1985,


See also

*
Adrian Conan Doyle Adrian Malcolm Conan Doyle (19 November 19103 June 1970) was the youngest son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his second wife Jean, Lady Doyle or Lady Conan Doyle. He had two siblings, sister Jean Conan Doyle and brother Denis, as well as two hal ...


References

* * * *


Notes


External links


VincentStarrett.com
* * * * * * * Vincent Starrett manuscript collection (primarily correspondence) at the Lilly Librar
Vincent Starrett Papers
a
the Newberry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starrett, Vincent 1886 births 1974 deaths American male novelists American mystery writers American horror writers American fantasy writers Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Canadian male novelists Canadian mystery writers Canadian horror writers Canadian fantasy writers Edgar Award winners People from Old Toronto Sherlock Holmes scholars Writers from Toronto 20th-century American novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century American male writers Canadian emigrants to the United States