Ed Naha (born June 10, 1950) is an American science fiction and mystery writer and producer. His first known publication was artwork that appeared in the first issue of ''Modern Monsters'' magazine, dated June 1966.

Education and early career

Naha was born in Linden, New Jersey and graduated from Kean University in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

with a degree in Secondary English Education. His early career was as a journalist, writing pieces about film and rock music for American publications such as ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

,'' ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

,'' ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

,'' and ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

.'' He worked in publicity and artistic development at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, where he was mentored by the producer and talent scout John Hammond. He produced the spoken-word album ''Inside Star Trek'' in 1976, featuring the series creator

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

with guests

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

DeForest Kelley Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999) was an American actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer. He was known for his roles in film and television Western (genre), Westerns and achieved international fame as Dr. Leonard McCoy ...

, and Mark Lenard. That same year, the

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

album '' Born to Run,'' for which Naha was A&R Coordinator, was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Journalism, novels and non-fiction

Naha worked as a staff writer and editor for the

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

magazine '' Starlog.'' Under the pseudonym Joe Bonham (a name borrowed from the protagonist of Dalton Trumbo's anti-war novel '' Johnny Got His Gun'') he edited the first issue of ''Starlogs sister magazine, the popular horror film magazine ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

.'' Naha has written more than 25 novels in the horror, mystery and science fiction genres, including the ''Traveler'' science fiction series under the "house pseudonym" D.B. Drumm, which Naha shared with

John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...

. His mystery novel ''Cracking Up'' was nominated for the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

for "Best Paperback Original" by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

in 1992. His novelizations include prose adaptations of the films ''Dead-Bang'', ''

Ghostbusters II ''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson ...

,'' and the first two ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

'' pictures. Naha's nonfiction works include ''The Science Fictionary,'' ''The Films of Roger Corman: Brilliance on a Budget,'' '' The Making of Dune'' (1984), and the posthumous editions of '' Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia.''

Screenwriting and television production

Naha's screen work includes two screenplays for

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

, ''Oddballs'' and '' Wizards of the Lost Kingdom,'' and three scripts for producer

Charles Band Charles Robert Band (born December 27, 1951) is an American film producer and director, known for his work on horror comedy movies. Career Band entered film production in the 1970s with Charles Band Productions. Dissatisfied with distributo ...

: '' ''Troll'','' ''

Dolls A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

,'' and '' Spellcaster.'' Naha achieved his greatest commercial success through a screenplay collaboration with ''Doll''s director

Stuart Gordon Stuart Alan Gordon (August 11, 1947 – March 24, 2020) was an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Go ...

and

Brian Yuzna Brian Yuzna is an American film producer, director, and writer. He is best known for his work in the science fiction and horror film genres. Yuzna began his career as a producer for several films by director Stuart Gordon, such as ''Re-Animator ...

on the script for a comedy/science-fantasy feature, ''The Teenie-Weenies,'' which became the family-friendly franchise ''

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' is a 1989 American science fiction comedy film. It is the first installment of a film franchise and served as the directorial debut of Joe Johnston. The film stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, an ...

.'' He served as a writer and producer of the TV shows ''

'' and '' The Adventures of Sinbad.'' Naha's contractual work for Hollywood is done through his company A Fine Mess, Inc., named in honor of his comedy idols,

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

. Most recently, Naha has been credited with the screenplays for the first three titles in the "Epic Stories of the Bible" series of animated features produced by Promenade Pictures.

Politics

As a sideline, Naha maintains a political blog, hosted at ''The Smirking Chimp'', which he says was motivated by his concern over the inauguration of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

as 43rd President of the United States.

References

External links

*
Ed Naha's blog at ''The Smirking Chimp''

Naha's account of his years at CBS
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Naha, Ed Novelists from New Jersey 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers American male screenwriters Kean University alumni American bloggers Living people 1950 births American music journalists American magazine editors People from Linden, New Jersey 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New Jersey American male bloggers Writers from Union County, New Jersey