|
Black Mask (magazine)
''Black Mask'' was a pulp magazine first published in April 1920 by the journalist H. L. Mencken and the drama critic George Jean Nathan. It is most well-known today for launching the Hardboiled, hardboiled crime subgenre of mystery fiction, publishing now-classic works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner, Cornell Woolrich, Paul Cain (pen name), Paul Cain, Carroll John Daly, and others. Early years, 1920–26 The magazine was one of several money-making publishing ventures to support the prestigious literary magazine ''The Smart Set'', which Mencken edited, and which had operated at a loss since at least 1917. Under their editorial hand, the magazine was not exclusively a publisher of crime fiction, offering, according to the magazine, "the best stories available of adventure, the best mystery and detective stories, the best romances, the best love stories, and the best stories of the occult." The magazine's first editor was Florence Osborne (credited as F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Maltese Falcon (novel)
''The Maltese Falcon'' is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine ''Black Mask (magazine), Black Mask'' beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character's thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema. It is considered part of the hardboiled genre, which Hammett played a major part in popularizing. The main character, Sam Spade (who also appeared later in some lesser-known short stories), was a departure from Hammett's nameless detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, notably his cold detachment, keen eye for detail, unflinching and sometimes ruthless determination to achieve his own form of justice, and a complete lack of sentimentality. In 1990 the novel ranked 10th in Top 100 Crime Novels of A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Continental Op
The Continental Op is a fictional character created by Dashiell Hammett. He is a private investigator employed as an operative of the Continental Detective Agency's San Francisco office. The stories are all told in the first person and his name is never given. Profile The Continental Op is a master of deceit in the exercise of his occupation. In his 1927 '' Black Mask'' story "$106,000 Blood Money" the Op is confronted with a dilemma: should he expose a corrupt fellow detective, thereby hurting the reputation of his agency; and should he also allow an informant to collect the $106,000 reward in a big case even though he is morally certain—but cannot prove—that the informant has murdered one of his agency's clients? The Op resolves his two problems neatly by manipulating events so that the corrupt detective and the informant get into an armed confrontation in which both are killed. Decades of witnessing human cruelty, misery, and ruin, as well as being instrumental in sendi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casey, Crime Photographer
''Casey, Crime Photographer'' (also known as ''Crime photographer''; ''Flashgun Casey''; ''Casey, Press Photographer''; ''Stephen Bristol, Crime Photographer'') was an American media franchise that lasted from the 1930s until the 1960s. Created by crime writer George Harmon Coxe, the photographer Casey was featured in radio, film, theater, novels, magazines and comic books, and television. Launched in a 1934 issue of the pulp magazine ''Black Mask'', the character Jack "Flashgun" Casey, was a crime photographer for the newspaper ''The Morning Express''. With the help of reporter Ann Williams (portrayed on radio and TV by Jan Miner), he solved crimes and recounted his stories to friends at The Blue Note, their favorite tavern. ''Black Mask'' '' "Flashgun" Casey'' began in the ''March 1934'' issue of '' Black Mask'', in the story "Return Engagement". This story was later used in the film ''Here's Flash Casey''. Twenty more stories appeared in the magazine over the next decade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Harmon Coxe
George Harmon Coxe (April 23, 1901 – January 31, 1984) was an American writer of crime fiction. He created the series featuring crime scene photographer Jack "Flashgun" Casey, which became a popular radio show airing through to the 1940s. Early years Coxe grew up in Olean, New York, where he was born, and Elmira, New York. He graduated from Elmira Free Academy, then attended Cornell and Purdue for one year each and then worked for newspapers in New York, Florida, and California. After working for a printer for five years, he became a full-time writer. Overview Coxe started writing around 1922, initially working as a newspaperman and penning stories for nickel-and-dime pulp fiction publications. To maximize his earnings, he originally wrote in many genres, including romance and adventure stories. But he was especially fond of crime fiction and soon made it his specialty. He wrote his first book in 1935. His series characters in the mystery genre are Jack "Flashgun" Casey, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh B
Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). The Germanic name is on record beginning in the 8th century, in variants ''Chugo, Hugo, Huc, Ucho, Ugu, Uogo, Ogo, Ougo,'' etc. The name's popularity in the Middle Ages ultimately derives from its use by Frankish nobility, beginning with Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris Hugh the Great (898–956). The Old French form was adopted into English from the Norman period (e.g. Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury d. 1098; Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, d. 1101). The spelling ''Hugh'' in English is from the Picard variant spelling '' Hughes'', where the orthography ''-gh-'' takes the role of ''-gu-'' in standard French, i.e. to express the phoneme /g/ as opposed to the affricate /ʒ/ taken by the grapheme ''g'' before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventure Novel
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the introduction to the ''Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction'', Critic Don D'Ammassa defines the genre as follows: D'Ammassa argues that adventure stories make the element of danger the focus; hence he argues that Charles Dickens's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed, whereas Dickens's '' Great Expectations'' is not because "Pip's encounter with the convict is an adventure, but that scene is only a device to advance the main plot, which is not truly an adventure." Adventure has been a common theme since the earliest days of written fiction. Indeed, the standard plot of Heliodorus, and so durable as to be still alive in Hollywood movies, a hero would undergo a first set of adve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and Louis L'Amour from the mid-20th century. The genre peaked around the early 1960s, largely due to the popularity of televised Westerns such as ''Bonanza''. Readership began to drop off in the mid- to late 1970s and reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores, outside a few west American states, only carry a small number of Western fiction books. History Pre-1850s The predecessor of the Western in American literature emerged early with tales of the frontier. The most famous of the early 19th-century frontier novels were James Fenimore Cooper's five novels comprising the '' Leatherstocking Tales''. Cooper's novels were largely set in what was at the time the American frontier: the Appalachian Mountains and areas west of there. As did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katherine Brocklebank
Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christian era it came to be associated with the Greek adjective (), meaning 'pure'. This influenced the name's English spelling, giving rise to variants ''Katharine'' and ''Catharine''. The spelling with a middle 'a' was more common in the past. ''Katherine'', with a middle 'e', was first recorded in England in 1196 after being brought back from the Crusades. Popularity and variations Anglophone use In Britain and America, ''Catherine'' and its variants have been among the 100 most popular names since 1880. Amongst the most common variants are ''Katherine'' and ''Kathryn''. The spelling ''Catherine'' is common in both English and French. Less-common variants in English include ''Katharine' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Marjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, author, women's suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for ''The Miami Herald'', she became a freelance writer, producing over one hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her most influential work was the book '' The Everglades: River of Grass'' (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book ''Silent Spring'' (1962). Her books, stories, and journalism career brought her influence in Miami, enabling her to advance her causes. As a young woman, Douglas was outspoken and politically conscious of the women's suffrage and civil rights movements. She was called upon to take a central ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Todhunter Ballard
Willis Todhunter Ballard (December 14, 1903 – December 27, 1980) was an American writer, known for his Westerns and mystery novels. Pseudonyms Ballard was a prolific pulp writer, most notably for the legendary mystery magazine '' Black Mask'' under the name W.T. Ballard. He also authored several mystery and crime novels under that name. Ballard wrote western novels as Todhunter Ballard and the following pseudonyms: P.D. Ballard, Neil MacNeil, Jack Slade, Hunter D'Allard, Clay Turner, John Hunter, Sam Bowie, Parker Bonner, Brian Fox, and Clint Reno. He wrote numerous teleplays for shows such as ''Death Valley Days'' and ''Shannon''. Personal Ballard was born on December 13, 1903, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ballard attended schools in Cleveland and Westtown Township, Pennsylvania. In 1926 he graduated from Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio. He was married to Phoebe Dwiggins, daughter of Clare Victor Dwiggins, the popular American cartoonist known as "Dwig." Ballard was a cousin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodore Tinsley
Theodore A. Tinsley (October 27, 1894 – March 3, 1979) was an American writer who primarily wrote mystery stories. Tinsley wrote 27 stories featuring The Shadow for ''The Shadow Magazine'' pulp magazine. He also created Carrie Cashin, one of the first female detectives in pulp fiction, who appeared in Street & Smith's ''Crimebuster'' pulp magazine. An early series he wrote is the "Amusement Inc./Scarlet Ace" series that ran over 4 different pulp magazines in the 1930s. Early life Theodore Adrian Tinsley was born on October 27, 1894, in New York City, the eldest of six children of Francis B. Tinsley, the owner of a coal yard, by his wife Gertrude (Theban) Tinsley. Tinsley graduated from City College of New York in 1916, and worked as a school teacher and insurance agent before fighting in World War I as a member of an anti-aircraft machine gun battery. He was a veteran of the battle of Meuse-Argonne. Stories Tinsley's Shadow stories are listed chronologically here: Later l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raoul Whitfield
Raoul Whitfield (November 22, 1896 – January 24, 1945) was an American writer of adventure, aviation, and hardboiled crime fiction. During his writing career, from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, Whitfield published over 300 short stories and serials in pulp magazines, as well as nine books, including ''Green Ice'' (1930) and ''Death in a Bowl'' (1931). For his novels and contributions to the ''Black Mask (magazine), Black Mask'', Whitfield is considered one of the original members of the hard-boiled school of American detective fiction and has been referred as "the ''Black Mask'' forgotten man". By the mid-1930s, the amount of work Whitfield produced dropped substantially as he suffered what the ''Black Mask'' editor Joseph Shaw (editor), Joseph Shaw described as a "personal tragedy." Both his second and third wife died by suicide; in his later years, despite coming into money, Whitfield was broke and suffering from tuberculosis. He would die of the disease in 1945. Early life ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
