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Bizarre, v. 4, issue 1, Janurary 1941
Page 9
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January 1941 Page 9 Stardust by The Star-Treader The marriage on June 7 of Miss C. L. Moore to Henry Kuttner was brought about by H.P. Lovecraft–who has been dead for three and a half years! Kuttner became a Lovecraft correspondent in late 1935, when Miss Moore had already known HPL for some time. Lovecraft used to send copies of his unpublished stories to his correspondents, and after Kuttner had read a batch of them, HPL gave him CLM's address and asked him to forward the tales to her. From that beginning a correspondence arose. Then they met, first in Los Angeles, Kuttner's home, then Indianapolis, Miss Moore's, and behold–romance! Receiving a letter from A. Merritt is something of an adventure. After typing the letter, Merritt goes over it, and makes innumerable additions by hand, and unraveling them is a real job at times. Merritt has a queer, delicate handwriting that becomes printing about half the time. Frank Utpatel, Weird Tales artist, is one of the few remaining woodcut makers in the country. He makes his home in Wisconsin and is a boon companion of August Derleth's. He recently did twelve woodcuts for the latter's book, "Atmosphere of Houses." At the recent Chicago Convention, I was struck by the friendly, man-to-man attitude of the authors present. It was very gratifying to hear them actually asking for the fans' opinions. If only editors would do the same! I especially liked Doc Smith, Ross Rocklynn, Charlie Tanner, (who bought a Paul cover for one buck–and still can't believe it), Ross Rocklynne, and Don Wilcox, but there didn't seem to be a bad fellow present. After writing hundreds of fantastic tales, and becoming one of the top authors in the field, Dr. David Keller says he wishes he could learn how to write. He thinks that on the day he dies a great clarity of vision will come to him and he will pen a truly worthy story. According to a recent poll, John W. Campbell, Jr. (Don A. Stuart), is the top author, living, (or dead for that matter) of science fiction. How many readers remember a letter in the old Amazing that asked at the end, "How much do you pay for stories?" –and signed...yes, by Campbell! He was an undergraduate at MIT then. That recalls another letter in Amazing. It was from Charles Schneeman, Astounding's number one interior artist now. The letter compared Campbell and E.E. Smith, ridiculing Campbell unmercifully. Schneeman was an art student then. Campbell now allegedly considers him the finest artist in the S-F field. Edmond Hamilton's first story was rejected by Weird Tales. It was rewritten, renamed "The Monster God of Mammurth," and later appeared in Weird. Since then Hamilton has sold nearly fifty stories to WT–without a single rejection. It just occurred to me that A. Merritt is probably the only fantasy author of any standing never to receive a rejection slip. He probably never will, either. E. Hoffmann Price began his career as a graduate from West Point, one of the finest engineering schools in the world. The last I heard, he'd risen to working in a garage–o yes, and writing "spicy" stories. Clark Ashton Smith is a very versatile fellow. He is one of the finest fantasy authors; he has illustrated many of his own stories in Weird; many persons consider him the greatest living poet (he has published five volumes of poetry), and he carves strange sculptures from the rock of native California! See you in Spaceways.
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January 1941 Page 9 Stardust by The Star-Treader The marriage on June 7 of Miss C. L. Moore to Henry Kuttner was brought about by H.P. Lovecraft–who has been dead for three and a half years! Kuttner became a Lovecraft correspondent in late 1935, when Miss Moore had already known HPL for some time. Lovecraft used to send copies of his unpublished stories to his correspondents, and after Kuttner had read a batch of them, HPL gave him CLM's address and asked him to forward the tales to her. From that beginning a correspondence arose. Then they met, first in Los Angeles, Kuttner's home, then Indianapolis, Miss Moore's, and behold–romance! Receiving a letter from A. Merritt is something of an adventure. After typing the letter, Merritt goes over it, and makes innumerable additions by hand, and unraveling them is a real job at times. Merritt has a queer, delicate handwriting that becomes printing about half the time. Frank Utpatel, Weird Tales artist, is one of the few remaining woodcut makers in the country. He makes his home in Wisconsin and is a boon companion of August Derleth's. He recently did twelve woodcuts for the latter's book, "Atmosphere of Houses." At the recent Chicago Convention, I was struck by the friendly, man-to-man attitude of the authors present. It was very gratifying to hear them actually asking for the fans' opinions. If only editors would do the same! I especially liked Doc Smith, Ross Rocklynn, Charlie Tanner, (who bought a Paul cover for one buck–and still can't believe it), Ross Rocklynne, and Don Wilcox, but there didn't seem to be a bad fellow present. After writing hundreds of fantastic tales, and becoming one of the top authors in the field, Dr. David Keller says he wishes he could learn how to write. He thinks that on the day he dies a great clarity of vision will come to him and he will pen a truly worthy story. According to a recent poll, John W. Campbell, Jr. (Don A. Stuart), is the top author, living, (or dead for that matter) of science fiction. How many readers remember a letter in the old Amazing that asked at the end, "How much do you pay for stories?" –and signed...yes, by Campbell! He was an undergraduate at MIT then. That recalls another letter in Amazing. It was from Charles Schneeman, Astounding's number one interior artist now. The letter compared Campbell and E.E. Smith, ridiculing Campbell unmercifully. Schneeman was an art student then. Campbell now allegedly considers him the finest artist in the S-F field. Edmond Hamilton's first story was rejected by Weird Tales. It was rewritten, renamed "The Monster God of Mammurth," and later appeared in Weird. Since then Hamilton has sold nearly fifty stories to WT–without a single rejection. It just occurred to me that A. Merritt is probably the only fantasy author of any standing never to receive a rejection slip. He probably never will, either. E. Hoffmann Price began his career as a graduate from West Point, one of the finest engineering schools in the world. The last I heard, he'd risen to working in a garage–o yes, and writing "spicy" stories. Clark Ashton Smith is a very versatile fellow. He is one of the finest fantasy authors; he has illustrated many of his own stories in Weird; many persons consider him the greatest living poet (he has published five volumes of poetry), and he carves strange sculptures from the rock of native California! See you in Spaceways.
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