Edwin Balmer (July 26, 1883 – March 21, 1959) was an American

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 ...

and mystery writer.

Biography

Balmer was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to Helen Clark (Pratt) and Thomas Balmer. In 1909, he married Katharine MacHarg, sister of the writer William MacHarg. After her death, he married Grace A. Kee in 1927. He began as a reporter for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in 1903 before writing for books and magazines. He was editor of ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...

'' (1927–1949) and later became associate publisher. He would then commission young writers to write up these ideas for inclusion in Redbook. He died on March 21, 1959, at age 75.

Novels

Together with author

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Bever ...

, he wrote the catastrophe science fiction novels '' When Worlds Collide'' (1933) and '' After Worlds Collide'' (1934). The former was made into an award-winning 1951

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

. Balmer also wrote several detective novels and collaborated with William MacHarg on ''The Achievements of Luther Trant'' (1910), an early collection of detective short stories.

Comic strip

Balmer also helped create (with artist Marvin Bradley) the syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

''Speed Spaulding'', partially based on the ''Worlds Collide'' series, which ran from 1938 through 1941 in the comic book ''

Famous Funnies ''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955 with two precursor One-shot (comics), one-shots appearing in 1933–1934. Published by Eastern Color Printing, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by popular ...

''.

Bibliography

* 1909 – '' Waylaid by Wireless'' * 1910 – '' The Achievements of Luther Trant'' with William MacHarg * 1910 – '' The Science of Advertising'' with counsel from Thomas Balmer * 1913 – '' The Surakarta'' with William MacHarg * 1915 – '' A Wild-Goose Chase'' * 1916 – ''

The Blind Man's Eyes ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' with William MacHarg * 1917 – '' The Indian Drum'' with William MacHarg * 1919 – '' Ruth of the U. S. A.'' * 1920 – '' Resurrection Rock'' * 1922 – '' The Breath of Scandal'' * 1923 – '' Keeban'' * 1924 – '' Fidelia'' * 1925 – '' That Royle Girl'', basis for a silent comedy film of the same name * 1927 – ''Dangerous Business'', filmed as '' Party Girl'' in 1930 * 1927 – ''Flying Death'' * 1932 – ''Five Fatal Words'' with Philip Wylie * 1933 – ''The Golden Hoard'' with Philip Wylie * 1933 – '' When Worlds Collide'' with Philip Wylie * 1934 – '' After Worlds Collide'' with Philip Wylie * 1934 – ''Dragons Drive You'' * 1936 – ''The Shield of Silence'' with Philip Wylie * 1941 – ''The Torn Letter'' * 1954 – ''In His Hands'' * 1956 – ''The Candle of the Wicked'' * 1958 – ''With All the World Away'' * 2013 – ''The Complete Achievements of Luther Trant'' (the 1910 book with 3 additional stories)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balmer, Edwin 1883 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American comics writers American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers Redbook