Great story, Rich, as usual. Thanks!
Karin
At 03:12 AM 03/11/2007 +0000, Richard Moore wrote:
>--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "capnbob@..."
<capnbob@...>
>wrote:
>>
>> Didn't William Campbell Gault have two of his
series characters
>appear in the same book? Joe Puma
>> and Brock Callahan?
>>
>>
>> Robert S. Napier, author
>> LOVE, DEATH, AND THE TOYMAN
>
>
>Yes, it was THE CANA DIVERSION (1982) which I will
never forget
>because Gault got me booed at a Bouchercon over it.
Both Gault and
>I had sold novels to the Raven House line published
by
>Worldwide/Harlequin around 1980. The publishers
thought they could
>establish a subscription service for these novels as
they did their
>Romances. The fact that they failed to do this in
science fiction
>with Laser Books did not discourage them.
>
>The books would also be published for news stand/book
store sales.
>The publisher was committed to a certain date for the
subscription
>deliveries but some market research indicated designs
would die
>lousy in the street on the news stand. So the company
published a
>subscription edition but held off on distribution to
the book racks
>until a redesign could be accomplished.
>
>So Gault and I had copies of our books but no one
other than the
>trusting fools who subscribed early had ever seen the
novels. Gault
>had sold them a trunk novel (THE BAD SAMARITAN) but
had written THE
>CANA DIVERSION fresh, and I think it was the best of
his later day
>novels. He and I shared an editor and ended up being
penpals
>because the editor asked me to write Gault. I had
been very
>enthusiastic when I heard Gault was among the authors
and she asked
>me to write him because he felt he was completely
forgotten by the
>mystery world, which he had left more than 15 years
before. Believe
>it or not, she thought he needed
encouragement.
>
>So we began to correspond quite a bit via snail mail
and I urged him
>to attend the 1981 (or was it 1982) Milwaukee
Bouchercon. Milwaukee
>had been his hometown and it was a natural place to
celebrate his
>return to mysteries. Neither of us had ever been to a
mystery
>convention before but figured we could pal together
no matter who
>else showed up.
>
>Back in those early days the Bouchercons were small
groups--350
>folks is my guess for Milwaukee--with the mix being
die-hard mystery
>fans and collectors and a few local walk-ins. Later
on an old
>pulpster like Gault could appear and be littled noted
by 80% of the
>attendees (Dorothy B. Hughes attended several
conventions without
>notice or tribute) but in 1981 (or 1982) in Milwaukee
most of the
>attendees knew exactly who he was. As happened with
all the old
>writers in the early days of Bouchercon, they were
shocked and
>flattered at anyone knowing them and dumbfounded at
meeting people
>who knew their career in depth. Such a contrast to
today when some
>first book writers bitch about not getting a better
panel.
>
>So Gault arrives in Milwaukee and there is an event
put on by the
>Milwaukee Press Club and Gault is given a special
award. When Bill
>graduated from high school, he managed about a year
in college and
>then went to work in a shoe factory. He worked in
that shoe factory
>until his story sales made that check unnecessary.
The press club
>gave him an award that featured the sole of a shoe.
Tough old Bill
>was blown away. That and the detailed knowledge of
his work by so
>many fans touched him deeply.
>
>Back in 1981 (or was it 1982) publishers didn't know
Bouchercon or
>mystery conventions from beans and most of the
writers who showed up
>were fans themselves, in the area, or had been
courted by the
>organizers. At the Milwaukee convetion, the big name
was Mickey
>Spillane, who came because he wanted to come and
because Miller Lite
>paid his way as a promotional appearance.
>
>Gault had expressed mixed feelings to me about
Spillane because
>Mickey had always claimed to have been a pulp writer
and none of the
>old pulp writers believed the claim. He had written
one and two
>pagers for comic books, which met some requirement or
other for
>mailing privileges, and this was a sharp drop from
the prestige of
>the pulps (at least in the view of the old pulp
writers).
>
>But Mickey, bless his heart, knew exactly who Gault
was and was very
>generous with the comments. Both had been published
by Dutton. It
>turned out Mickey was a big fan of Fred Brown,
another Dutton
>writer, who was a long-time poker pal and mentor of
Gault's. I have
>to say that regardless of anyone's view of Mickey's
achievements as
>a writer, he was a standup guy and in every way a
class act.
>
>One other writer in Milwaukee was Helen McCloy, who
was the guest of
>honor. McCloy is not much remembered today but she
was the first
>woman to serve as president of the Mystery Writers of
America
>(1950). When McCloy spoke to the convention I was
seated next to
>Gault. Most of her talk dealt with her ex-husband the
late Davis
>Dresser, better known as Brett Halliday. The same
Raven House line
>about to publish novels by Gault and myself also was
republishing
>the first Michael Shayne novel DIVIDEND ON DEATH with
the promise of
>bringing them all back into print. This never
happened and I am not
>certain that the one Shayne novel was ever published
beyond the
>small printing for the subscribers.
>
>It is true that McCloy and Dresser had been a mystery
genre power
>couple for years doing joint book reviews, founding
Torquil Books
>and a literary agency but it is also true that they
divorced in the
>early 1960s and Dresser remarried.
>
>Gault had known Dresser after he moved to Santa
Barbara (and after
>the divorce). He had also complained to me that
Dresser had
>approached him at one point about leaving his current
publisher for
>Dresser's Torquil (distributed by Dodd, Mead) and
when he said no,
>Dresser as a reviewer panned every Gault novel after
that.
>
>So as we listened to Helen McCloy ignore her own
accomplishments
>(for which she was being honored) to praise her
ex-husband, Gault
>leaned over to me and whispered "Do you think she's
forgotten about
>the divorce?" It was all I could do not to burst into
laughter.
>
>Ah, but I am forgetting what started me on this
journey of
>recollection. So we reach the point in the convention
when William
>Campbell Gault is on the stage after talking briefly
about his
>career and asks for questions. As is often the case,
no one jumps
>out with an immediate question and for friends I like
to jump into
>the silence and give them something that will
stimulate
>conversation.
>
>So I helpfully asked Gault: "Could you talk about
your latest novel
>where Brock the Rock Callahan investigates the murder
of your other
>private eye Joe Puma?"
>
>Now let me point out here that Puma is dead before
THE CANA
>DIVERSION is more than four or five pages old and the
death is
>mentioned on the novel's blurb. Any reviewer would
mention Puma's
>death without worrrying about a spoiler alert--and
when the novel
>finally appeared on the stands this proved to be
true. But at the
>time of this convention the only two people who had
seen the novel
>beyond the line's subscribers were Gault and
myself.
>
>So my comment was to the audience (dominated by
die-hard mystery
>fans) a very shocking statement as many of them
preferred the Joe
>Puma novels to those featuring Callahan. All of this
possibility
>escaped me as I made my hopefully helpful question. I
only realized
>what I had done when I heard the gasps from the
audience as I said
>the words "...the murder of your other private eye
Joe Puma."
>
>As the gasp went through the room, Gault looked at me
with a
>knowing, evil glint in his eye and put his finger to
his lips as he
>went "Shssss..."
>
>And at that moment I was booed and hissed like I have
never been
>before or since. And there was no opportunity to
explain. I was a
>bum who violated the spoiler rules. Gault got a huge
kick out of it.
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