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 The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

for ''The Shadow Magazine''

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, magazin ...

. He also created Carrie Cashin, one of the first female detectives in pulp fiction, who appeared in

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 ...

'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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, 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 The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1916, and worked as a school teacher and insurance agent before fighting in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 life

On February 5, 1935, Theodore Tinsley married May Ethel White. In 1989, their daughter Dr. Adrian Tinsley would be named president of Fitchburg State University. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Tinsley moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked in the Writer's Division of the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. After the war's end, he worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

for the

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

until 1960, when he retired to

Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama, with a 2020 population of 76,143. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. The Auburn-Opelika, AL MSA with a population o ...

, where he spent the rest of his life.Dralyuk Tinsley died on March 3, 1979, at age 84.

References

1894 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers Pulp fiction writers 20th-century American male writers People of the United States Office of War Information {{US-fiction-writer-stub