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Black Widowers
The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'', though a few first appeared in ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'', ''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine'', and the various book collections into which the stories were eventually gathered. Asimov wrote "there are few stories I write that I enjoy as much as I enjoy my Black Widowers." Synopsis Most of the stories follow the same basic convention: the six club members meet once a month at a private room at the Milano restaurant at Fifth and Eighteenth in New York. Each one takes a turn to act as host for the evening and brings along a guest for the occasion. The guest may be a friend, relative or colleague from work (women are not allowed). The meal is served by the incomparable waiter Henry Jackson — almost invariably referred to as simply Henry & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (1922–1928)American (1928–1992) , occupation = Writer, professor of biochemistry , years_active = 1939–1992 , genre = Science fiction (hard SF, social SF), mystery, popular science , subject = Popular science, science textbooks, essays, history, literary criticism , education = Columbia University ( BA, MA, PhD) , movement = Golden Age of Science Fiction , module = , signature = Isaac Asimov signature.svg Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Cant
Gilbert Cant (September 16, 1909 – August 1, 1982)"Gilbert Cant." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. was a London-born American journalist. Cant arrived in the U.S. in 1934 and began working for the ''New York Post'' in 1937. He was a war correspondent in the Pacific during World War II and wrote three books on the subject, ''The War at Sea'', ''America's Navy in World War II'', and ''The Great Pacific Victory''. He joined ''Time'' in 1943 and was their medical editor from 1949 to 1969. Cant was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers. Cant himself was the model for the Thomas Trumbull character. After Cant died, Asimov dedicated the collection ''Banquets of the Black Widowers'' (1984) to his memory and to that of Frederic Dannay Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction write ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Acquisitive Chuckle
"The Acquisitive Chuckle" is a mystery short story by American writer Isaac Asimov in 1971, first published in the January 1972 issue of ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. He originally called it "The Chuckle", but the magazine's title was kept in subsequent uses of the story. It was the first of Asimov's stories about the Black Widowers, an eccentric group of men who met once a month. The story is based loosely upon the Trap Door Spiders, a stag-club of which Asimov was a member. The Black Widowers stories concerned a dinner guest who had a problem or mystery to solve; after the members deliberated, Henry would offer the correct solution. This story, the first, deviates from that pattern in the nature of Henry's "contribution". Plot summary Each month, the Black Widowers meet at a restaurant and converse over dinner with each other and their waiter. The host of the group brings the evening's guest. On this occasion, Geoffrey Avalon brings a Dr. Hanley Bartram to dinner. (All m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tales Of The Black Widowers
''Tales of the Black Widowers'' is a collection of mystery short stories by American author Isaac Asimov, featuring his fictional club of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in June 1974, and in paperback by the Fawcett Crest imprint of Ballantine Books in August 1976. The first British edition was issued by Panther in 1976. The book has also been translated into German and French. This book is the first of six that describe mysteries solved by the Black Widowers, based on a literary dining club he belonged to known as the Trap Door Spiders.Asimov 1994, ''I. Asimov'', chapter "120. The Trap Door Spiders". It collects twelve stories by Asimov, nine reprinted from mystery magazines and three previously unpublished, together with a general introduction, and an afterword following each story by the author. Each story involves the club members' knowledge of trivia. Contents * " The Acquisitive Chuckle" * " Ph as in Phony" * "Truth to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundation's Friends
''Foundation's Friends, Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov'' is a 1989 book written in honor of science fiction author Isaac Asimov, in the form of an anthology of short stories set in Asimov's universes, particularly the ''Foundation'' universe. The anthology was edited by Martin H. Greenberg, and contributing authors include Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Harry Turtledove, and Orson Scott Card. It commemorated Asimov's 50th anniversairy as an author. A number of writers who contributed to the anthology are also portrayed on the book's cover. A "revised and expanded" edition was published in 1997, which added numerous memorials and appreciations written by those who knew him, many of them well-known authors and editors from the science fiction field. * Hardback: * Paperback: * Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback): Reception David Langford commented brielfy on the anthology, noting it contains "a lot of routine pastiche" as well as seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the honoree's colleagues, former pupils, and friends. ''Festschriften'' are often titled something like ''Essays in Honour of...'' or ''Essays Presented to... .'' Terminology The term, borrowed from German, and literally meaning 'celebration writing' (cognate with ''feast-script''), might be translated as "celebration publication" or "celebratory (piece of) writing". An alternative Latin term is (literally: 'book of friends'). A comparable book presented posthumously is sometimes called a (, 'memorial publication'), but this term is much rarer in English. A ''Festschrift'' compiled and published by electronic means on the internet is called a (pronounced either or ), a term coined by the editors of the late Boris Marshak's , ''Eran ud Aner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward D
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when Henry III named his firstborn son, the future Edward I, as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, for whom Henry had a deep admiration. Variant forms The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo and Odoardo, German, Dutch, Czech and Romanian Eduard and Scandinavian Edvard. Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy and Ned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'', described Ellison as "the only living organism I know whose natural habitat is hot water." His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. Some of his best-known works include the 1967 '' Star Trek'' episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (he subsequently wrote a book about the experience that includes his original screenplay), his ''A Boy and His Dog'' cycle, and his short stories " I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" and " 'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". He was also editor and anthologist for '' Dangerous Visions'' (1967) and '' Again, Dangerous Visions'' (1972). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Brittain
William E. Brittain (December 16, 1930 – December 16, 2011) was an American writer. He is best known for work set in the fictional New England village of Coven Tree, including ''The Wish Giver'', a Newbery Honor Book. Brittain was born in Rochester, New York. He decided he wanted to be a 5th-grade teacher, and in addition to teaching, used to read stories in mystery magazines. After some time, he decided he could do as good a job at writing as some of the authors he read; he got coaching on writing from Frederic Dannay of ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' (in which, along with ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'', most of his mystery stories were published). He wrote two serials from 1964 to 1983, as well as other stories, before moving on to the children's books for which he is better known. Brittain is also the author of the popular book ''All the Money in the World'', which was adapted as a 1983 movie. Books Coven Tree series * ''Devil's Donkey'' (1981) * ''The Wish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Ardai
Charles Ardai (born 1969) is an American entrepreneur, businessperson, and writer of award winning crime fiction and mysteries. He is founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He is also an early employee of D. E. Shaw & Co. and remains a managing director of the firm. He was the former chairman of Schrödinger, Inc. Early life A New York native and the son of two Holocaust survivors, Ardai told NPR in a May 2008 interview that the stories his parents told him as a child "were the most grim and frightening that you can imagine" and gave him the impression "there was a darker circle around a very small bit of light," something that enabled him to relate to his own characters' sufferings. While in high school, Ardai enjoyed reading pulp fiction and worked as an intern at Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. After graduating from Hunter College High School in 1987, he attended Columbia University, where he graduated ''summa cum lau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010p. 271/ref> He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively called "woo-woo". Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87. Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator". He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', famously expo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fletcher Pratt
Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp. Life and work According to de Camp, Pratt was born near Tonawanda, New York. The son of Robert M. and Alice Horton Pratt, he attended public schools in Buffalo and graduated from high school in 1915 at the Griffith Institute in Springville, New York, where his father operated a trucking delivery service between Springville and Buffalo. Following high school he attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York for one year. In February 1916 the Associated Press reported that he had been arrested for burglary in Geneva after a series of midnight cash drawer robberies that allegedly netted him less than $25. He was reported to have told police that his father did not supply him with enough funds to survive at Hobart. On February 23 the ''Buffa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
