There's a facinating book called "Secrets of the Wolds's
Best-Selling Writer; the Storytelling Techniques of Erle
Stanley Hardner," by Francus L. & Roberta B. Fugate. Not
the most promising title, but the book is amazing. It's
derived from the millions of items of personal letters and
notes Gardner donated to the Humanities Research Center
Library at the University of Texas at Austin. Gardner even
included his writing desk. And he was a guy who never threw
anything away. Much of the book details Gardner's
relationship with the pulp editors he worked with early in
his career, with an except from his first published story in
'Breezy Stories,' August, 1921, entitled "Nellie's Naughty
Nightie," and lots of quoted correspondance with folks like a
'Black Mask' associate editor who wrote in 1923: "Dear Mr.
Gardner, This is terrible. Sincerely, H.C. North." Gardner's
progress is marked by a letter from Joseph T. Shaw, in 1926,
banging out football metaphors to explain his editorial
policy:
"You, Daly, Suter and Hammett are now the backfield, carrying
the ball on novellettes with a few likely substitutes --
punters, forward pass artists and goal kickers -- on the
sidelines waiting for a chance to get in..." The book is full
of inside dope on how the pulps were edited and how one very
determined writer learned to meet their needs. A gem for fans
of the literature.
BobT
Joy Matkowski wrote:
> Yesterday's NewsScan had a feature on Gardner--said
he started off as a
> hardboiled writer for the pulps and later made his
protagonists more
> cerebral for middle-brow appeal.
> His first job was as a lawyer's typist, probably the
source of his
> prolific speed as a writer. When he became a lawyer,
he represented the poor
> and minorities and then wrote about the mean streets
he knew.
> When rich and famous, he founded the Court of Last
Appeal to free
> innocent convicts.
>
> Joy, the impressed
>
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