Just 83 years ago today, The Shadow first appeared!

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” . . . why Orson Welles, of course.

Today, July 31^st marks the 83 anniversary of the first appearance of The Shadow as a mysterious narrator on the Street & Smith radio program, Detective Story Hour. He was so popular that they gave him his very own pulp magazine starting on April 1^st, 1931.

The nature of the publishing game at the time was to invest as little as possible in new ventures – the awful world economy of the early 1930s was not conducive to “rolling out” new magazines with any kind of “bang.” Thus, this first Shadow cover used recycled art that had originally appeared as the cover of The Thrill Book on Oct. 1, 1919.

http://www.thepulp.net/the-links/theshadow/shadow-cover/ 

Edgar Allan Poe and Pulp Magazines

Researching the history of pulp magazines must inevitably include the history of mystery and detective fiction. It is widely recognized that Edgar Allan Poe invented detective fiction with the publication of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841 (over 45 years before Sherlock Holmes appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in Britain).

The first pulp magazine was Frank Munsey’s Argosy Magazine in 1896. This was soon followed by the Street and Smith publication, The Popular Magazine, in 1903. More important to what would become the pulp magazine industry, Street and Smith had earlier published The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square as a dime novel in September, 1886. This was the first appearance of the Nick Carter character who appeared regularly in Street and Smith magazines for nearly 20 years and then had several revisions well into the 1950s.

Nick Carter was originally conceived by John R. Coryell and Ormond G. Smith (son of Francis S. Smith, one of the founders of Street & Smith). Frederic Marmaduke van Rensselaer Dey agreed to write the stories and stayed with that assignment for 17 years. The character was clearly very successful for Street and Smith and also for the pulp magazine business in general. Nick Carter was a crack shot, a versatile and skilled fighter, a talented linguist, and a master of disguise. He was honest and clean – he didn’t smoke, drink, curse or swear. He was a truly mythical hero and became a model for future fiction detectives.

Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin was Poe’s detective in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”.  Dupin had a superior intellect and the ability to use is mind quite creatively to solve the crime. The narrator of the story is Dupin’s nameless friend (these characters have come to be known as Watsons after Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. Watson). 

Lines can clearly be drawn that trace detective characters back almost 175 years to Poe. So, we must also consider how Poe’s story was originally published. Poe has also been said to have been the first well-known American writer to have tried to support himself in this trade, although not a very good living. In fact Poe had anything but a good life. An orphan, he never seemed to have much of a relationship with his guardian, John Allan, and financial support was repeatedly an issue.

Times were particularly difficult for writers in the late 1830s when Poe was trying to succeed as a writer. A financial crisis in the United States, known as the “Panic of 1837” had devastated the economy  –  recovery went well into the 1840s. There were no international copyright laws, so publishers used whatever they were able to with little regard for payment. This did not give American authors much bargaining power and publishers were very casual about paying for what they published. Poe worked for a number of “magazines” and journals and began working for Graham’s Magazine in 1840.

It is at Graham’s Magazine that Poe’s contribution to what would become "detective fiction" took place. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” was published in April, 1841. A month later, “A Descent into the Maelstrom” was published. The third of Poe’s ground-breaking detective stories starring C. Auguste Dupin, “The Masque of the Red Death”, was published in May, 1842.  

Graham’s Magazine might be considered a significant model for the publishers that more than a half century later would be publishing what have come to be known as “pulp magazines”.  During the 1840s a typical number of Graham’s would consist of 3 or 4 short stories, a light essay on manners, a biographical sketch, a literary article, a considerable amount of poetry, narrative, lyrical and didactic, an outdoor sketch by “Frank Forrester,” a travel article, fine arts and book review departments, a “chat” with the editor, as well as a colored fashion plate and one or two art plates by well-known engravers. 

So, what the hell am I doing at PulpFest? What is PulpFest? Who cares?

My career in the book biz was mostly a very fulfilling experience and I can think of very little that I would change. Sure, it would have been nice to have made a whole lot more money, but that was never something that was on the table. It was the people, the ideas, and the dynamic relationships between both.

My retirement has also been pretty damn nice for the past decade. Spousal unit and I are always busy, mostly healthy, travel, have plenty of time with family and friends, and would not complain about comfort.

So, what the hell am I doing at PulpFest? What is PulpFest? Who cares?

The term “pulp” refers to the pulp paper that was a cheap medium for publishing in the infancy of a highly competitive, new industry that began with the maturation of society after the industrial revolution – yes, I’m referring back to the early to mid-19^th century.

After the age of discovery and exploration and the industrial revolution, society was adjusting to a transition from an agrarian base to one of trade, manufacturing, and new ways of viewing the world. More and more of the populace began to reach out, beyond the microcosm of their immediate community for ideas and opportunity. There had always been a fascination with those who had left the nest and reported back on their adventures, discoveries, successes, and tragic failures.

To put this in perspective, we must realize that there was no Facebook, no Internet, and no telephones. Many were illiterate. Mail (Pony Express, 1860), the telegraph (1837), and newspapers (Gutenberg, 1450) were relatively new innovations and not always widespread resources.

As a society reaps the benefit of greater economic efficiency, it begins to prosper. An early measure of prosperity is a greater awareness of the broader world. There is a growth in sophistication and education. Literacy provides the potential for even greater knowledge.  The growth of the publishing industry and the evolution of written storytelling are integral parts of our culture.

The Pulp Magazines and periodicals provided the basic incubator for many styles of storytelling that have both filtered and broadened our knowledge of human experiences.  They form a foundation for today’s literature, movies, entertainment, and what has become known as “popular culture”. Thus, the history of this industry has also contributed to our overall social and cultural history.

During the process of this evolution, all kinds of things were tried. Some was good, some was brilliant, and much was just plain awful. There were many stories shared through a broad opportunistic medium. The early publishing industry helped  to define what the market would become – what kind of information do people want to learn about, what kind of storytelling best conveys this information, and what is not desired. We learned that entertainment and learning are related. We learned how to manipulate information consumers for both good and bad reasons.

The “Pulps” provided a laboratory that was essential. However, because this medium was so basic and included rougher experimental elements of what would evolve to levels of greater refinement, there is a tendency to be disdainful and ignore the importance of this stage in the development of our culture. Some of the pulp writers were very good wordsmiths but not very creative. Some were terrific at plot development. Others explored how dialogue is converted from the ear to the page. Some were prolific, while others were slow and deliberate. Very few had all the skills to be looked back on as literary all-stars, but it is evident that they influenced each other and together contributed to an end product.

PulpFest is one of a number of “meet-ups” where collectors, traders, aficionados, writers, editors, and publishers get together and help to sustain and proliferate the knowledge this history. Since I have been researching the history of the pulp magazines for a course that I will teach, the idea of attending PulpFest was compelling. Summertime is the time for road trips. So, here I am!

Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow must be turning over in their graves.

So, I'm watching the national evening news and they keep promising "much more". But, so far there hasn't been much. The lead story is a speculative story on the chance that a major terrorist has been killed in Mali. Of course none of it has been confirmed and this particular terrorist has survived 2 previous claims that he had been killed. Should this be a lead story? No wonder the major networks are no longer viable news resources. 

Then there's the sink hole! Possibilities of sink holes a reality for 40% of the country. Where can we go? What really is the threat? Should we all be concerned? Should 40% of us be concerned? Finally, some TV stars got stuck for an hour on an elevator. Oh my god!

Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow must be turning over in their graves. They may even be glad to be dead – given that journalists can no longer sell news stories of any depth. When is the last time that anyone has felt compelled to read their local newspaper? Watched their local TV news?

Does anyone believe all the nonsense that comes out of Washington, D.C. these days? I don't think so. We watch or read the news in utter disbelief and frustration. Have our elected officials learned to play the media as well as all this? I don't think so. No, the media tries so hard to sell advertising that they create stories and hype for whatever they may. Then they harp on it over and over with redundant commentary that could drive us all nuts. The only compelling thing about the news is the level of stupidity that we are all subjected to.

The amazing thing about all this is that higher education has become the right of all. So, we should all have the analytic skill to reject the baloney that we are presented with daily. We have the internet and access to information of all kinds. The threat of "information overload" is real as we try to figure out how best to use all the technological advances we are confronted with. Yet, we have become apathetic regarding the effort that is required to delve into the facts of the matter – whatever that is.

Oh yes, thank you for your lack of analytic skill and apathy – without this, you probably would not have read this.

Some birthdays this week, and some quotes:

January 14
Faye Dunaway ('41) "Years are not important, my dear."

LL Cool J ('68) –  "I don't think you should go around talking trash about people because I think that's how you get your hat handed to you."

January 15
Charo (María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza de Rasten) ('41) –  “What I don’t like is when somebody copies somebody and just adopt it. Like, their own idea … I can tell you, to me, Lady Gaga is Madonna with diarrhea.” 

January 16
Kate Moss ('74) –  "Going to the gym wouldn't be on my list of favorite things to do."

January 17
Michelle Obama ('64) –  "I never cut class. I loved getting As, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world." 

Muhammad Ali ('42) –  "Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." 

Betty White ('22) –  “Why do people say "grow some balls"? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding.”

January 18 
Kevin Costner ('55) –  "I'm a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are our first casualty in life - people seem to give them up, quicker than anything, for a 'reality.'"

January 19 
Shawn Johnson ("92) –  "After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career."

Paula Deen ('47) – "Onions and bacon cooking up just makes your kitchen smell so good. In fact, one day I'm going to come up with a room deodorizer that smells like bacon and onions. It's a fabulous smell."

Dolly Parton ('46) –  "I'm old enough and cranky enough now that if someone tried to tell me what to do, I'd tell them where to put it."

• Charo: Caliente 
• Muhammad Ali: speech 
• LL Cool J: I'm Bad   
• Betty White: Adam and Eve (with Johnny Carson)
• Dolly Parton: Jolene 

I laugh at the Baseball Writers of America!

OMG, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America is boycotting the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. How dare they? Perhaps the era of enhancement drugs is wrong, but how do we actually know that? Steroids, their uses, and benefits are well known and like most drugs have side effects which give their application some need for risk analysis. Are sport writers, sports management, medical professionals, or even the public qualified to judge?

First, but surely not most important, I find it interesting that the New York Times would publish three quarters of a blank page to dramatize this year’s choices for baseball’s Hall of Fame. No wonder the newspaper business is in trouble. Who is paying for that space? Was there an advertiser to underwrite the void? It is difficult for me to respect these decisions by either the New York Times or the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

A word about steroids: how many of us have used steroids? My bet is that most have. How about hydrocortisone? We put it on bug bites, scrapes and scratches, skin ailments, and in inhalers to treat asthma. Hydrocortisone is produced naturally by the adrenal gland, but its manufactured form is widely used and its value is not questioned. Progesterone and estradiol are used every day by millions of women. Anabolic steroids are naturally produced by the body and promote bone and muscle growth. Synthetic versions are the culprit in controversies involving athletes.

Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens are probably the most known athletes that have dominated the news. Bonds and Clemens were both on the list of those nominated this year as candidates for the baseball Hall of Fame for the first time. Home run sluggers Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were also passed over by these sportswriters.  Babe Ruth, however, a man of some very questionable moral values, may stand at the highest level of esteem among our athletic heroes.

Let’s look at this issue from a different perspective. What about women who have enhanced their breasts? What about the privileged school children whose families can afford tutors to help them compete for academic success? What about our soldiers who have better weapons on the field of battle? What about Viagra? What about those of us who have ever gotten a job because we knew someone? There are many kinds of enhancements that we all use to get ahead in the world.

So, what’s right? Is it ethically correct for a politician to rely on the influence of lobbyists whose job is to educate rather than base their judgment on emotional ignorance? Is it the right thing for our colleges and universities to promise anything to student athletes other than an education? If we start thinking about these things, we can all come up with examples of the nebulous philosophical questions that we are all faced with.

Athletes are just as human as the rest of us. They seek approval. They seek attention. They love their sport. They seek success. There are any number of levels of dedication and commitment. Our culture encourages all sorts of ethical compromises and then arbitrarily makes judgments on those that we would like to feel we are better than. Athletes are natural targets for our hypocrisy. They were favored growing up. They dated the cheerleaders that we lusted after. They were popular. They earn more money. They make headlines for their personal lives that show they are really no better than the rest of us. They deserve what they get!

But wait, we are Americans! Altruism and high moral standards are an important part of our culture. We are also capitalists and most everything, including sports, can be viewed as a business. Do you think that the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY would exist if not for the tourists who see it as a shrine and make that pilgrimage visit? How many times have we heard questionable human behavior justified by the premise that “it’s not personal, it’s business”? It’s a competitive world out there and we need to succeed to survive. Just ask Darwin.

Therefore, I laugh at the Baseball Writers of America. I laugh at the pretentious New York Times that prints only the “news that is fit to print”.  I laugh at my fellow Americans, and I laugh at myself. How do we fix this?

There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the shades of gray get in…..

The presidential election, Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and finally Christmas – these are major stressors that lead up to the relief and the celebratory beginning of a new cycle – a new year! How does one cope with it all? How do you manage to survive and enjoy the promise that the future holds? 

This year we also have a political cliff to fall off thanks to the idiots we have elected to represent us in governing our country. Doesn’t it occur to anyone that our so-called “fiscal cliff” is the result of legislation dating back to the Reagan administration? In reality, there is a political “cliff” waiting to happen every day in government. We have a system of government that is designed to play on our emotions – politics is based on manipulation of the public will that allows for the empowerment of those who are willing to play the game. Most of us are not – that is why we elect others to do that dirty work. It is a ridiculous mistake to be then outraged by the folly that goes on. It seems much more logical to blame the media for following the drama rather than the facts behind the issues. Facts are really boring, while the drama sells advertising.

We all seem to love the high drama of the human condition. Isn’t that a huge part of what makes pop culture what it is? If it isn’t our political stage, it’s our reality entertainment shows. If it isn’t the spectacle of watching the fits and stops of our society, it’s the painful reality of our friends and families. If it isn’t the mistakes that we make every day in life, it’s the absurdity of what we do to others in order to make ourselves feel better. All the drama that plays upon life’s stage provides the fodder for so much of our social interaction – our common focus for the measure of comparison that gives us a sense of belonging to the great life that we share with others on this planet. This is pop culture!

So, getting back to the stress of the holiday season – the stress season, if you will – are we not all a bit stressed out by now? Can Black Friday be considered a “holiday”? I love this time of year – I loved it during all the years that I worked in retail, and I love it still. As a patriotic American, I celebrate the capitalist element to gift giving. I say let there be a chicken in every pot, and an electronic device in every hand. I hate going to malls, but could not resist making an appearance at the mall on Christmas Eve – just for the fun of it. For many, ignoring the stress of the season it a means of coping with someone else’s perception of reality, while dealing with their own – Christmas Eve shoppers are either in panic mode or simply just enjoy getting it done. There is both efficiency and beauty to behold. Black Friday shoppers, on the other hand, are the suckers who have put far too much importance on a part of life that is really of very minor significance. Black Friday certainly can be considered a holiday – the celebration of a very dark part of the human condition – it is one hell of an example of pop culture. 

My reason for dropping in on the last minute shoppers was to purchase a gift for my terrific spousal unit. We had agreed not to purchase each other gifts this year because we had made a purchase that suited us both – a common purchase that pleased us both equally. Ah, but the rub with this plan is the knowledge that one, or both of us, might ignore the agreement and purchase the token gift to share on Christmas Day. As the very imperfect example of humanity that I am, my strategy called for protecting myself from the possibility that a token gift might be given without reciprocation. There were three possible scenarios here – one that we would both have the small, token gift for each other; or she might have her offering while I did not; and finally that I would have one and she would not. Many years of marriage has taught be that it would be better to be the one with the gift in hand. The worse-case scenario is that she would feel that I had broken the agreement, but the counter to that would be my thoughtfulness. I will not bore you with the final outcome to this tale, but move on to tying these paragraphs together.

The final purchase, the token gift, can always be a book. After decades in the book business, after decades of marriage, after decades of appreciation for our pop culture, my selection was the new biography of Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons. Cohen’s “Anthem” expresses my mood very nicely – “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” It also describes our common human condition – we are not perfect, but our ability to step back and look at the drama, look at the humor, look at the hope of our lives is what allows us to enjoy life. Hallelujah!

• Prince Charles on Leonard Cohen
  
• Anthem  
• Hallelujah  
• Suzanne  
• NinaSimone performing Suzanne  

"Anthem"

The birds they sang 
at the break of day 
Start again 
I heard them say 
Don't dwell on what 
has passed away 
or what is yet to be. 
Ah the wars they will 
be fought again 
The holy dove 
She will be caught again 
bought and sold 
and bought again 
the dove is never free. 

Ring the bells that still can ring 
Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in. 

We asked for signs 
the signs were sent: 
the birth betrayed 
the marriage spent 
Yeah the widowhood 
of every government -- 
signs for all to see. 

I can't run no more 
with that lawless crowd 
while the killers in high places 
say their prayers out loud. 
But they've summoned, they've summoned up 
a thundercloud 
and they're going to hear from me. 

Ring the bells that still can ring ... 

You can add up the parts 
but you won't have the sum 
You can strike up the march, 
there is no drum 
Every heart, every heart 
to love will come 
but like a refugee. 

Ring the bells that still can ring 
Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack, a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in. 

Ring the bells that still can ring 
Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack, a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in. 
That's how the light gets in. 
That's how the light gets in.