Frederick van Rensselaer Dey (February 10, 1861 – April 25, 1922) was an American

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...

ist and

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Early life and marriages

He was born on February 10, 1861, in

Watkins Glen, New York Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, Schuyler County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies between the ...

, to David Peter Dey and Emma Brewster Sayre. He attended the Havana Academy, and later graduated from the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

. He practiced law and was a junior partner of

William J. Gaynor William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...

. Dey took up writing while recovering from an illness. His first full-length story was written for Beadle and Adams in 1881. Dey married Annie Shepard Wheeler, of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, on June 4, 1885, and they had two children, Harriet and Kinsley. After a divorce he married Haryot Holt (c. 1857–June 16, 1950) on April 1, 1898.

Career

In 1891,

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc., was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

hired him to continue the series begun by John R. Coryell, on the adventures of

Nick Carter Nickolas Gene Carter (born January 28, 1980) is an American singer, the lead vocalist of the vocal group Backstreet Boys, and an alleged rapist. As of 2015, he has released three solo albums, '' Now or Never'', '' I'm Taking Off'' and '' All A ...

. Most of his Nick Carter stories appeared under the pseudonyms "A Celebrated Author" and "The Author of 'Nick Carter'". He wrote over a thousand Nick Carter novelettes, comprising over forty million words, all written longhand. Dey also worked as a

newspaper reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. Writing as "Varick Vanardy", he created "The Night Wind", which appeared in stories from 1913 to the early 1920s. Collected into 4 books, these have been recently reprinted by Wildside Press: ''Alias The Night Wind'' (1913), ''Return of the Night Wind'', ''The Night Wind's Promise'', ''The Lady of the Night Wind'' (1918).

Death

Dey shot himself in his room in the

Hotel Broztell A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, during the night of April 25, 1922, or the morning of April 26, 1922. The body was found either by Charles E. MacLean, the managing editor for

, or by Deputy Police Commissioner

Joseph Faurot Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

.Van Raalte, Joseph. "Nick Carter: The Picturesque Career of the Man Who Made Him." ''Century: A Popular Quarterly'' 114 (Nov 1927): 91-97. Print.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dey American male writers 1861 births 1922 suicides 1922 deaths Street & Smith Suicides by firearm in New York City People from Watkins Glen, New York Dime novelists Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction