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Gold Medal Books
Gold Medal Books, launched by Fawcett Publications in 1950, was an American book publisher known for introducing paperback originals, a publishing innovation at the time. Fawcett was also an independent newsstand distributor, and in 1949 the company negotiated a contract with New American Library to distribute their Mentor and Signet titles. This contract prohibited Fawcett from publishing their own paperback reprints. Roscoe Kent Fawcett wanted to establish a line of Fawcett paperbacks, and he felt original paperbacks would not be a violation of the contract. In order to test a loophole in the contract, Fawcett published two anthologies — ''The Best of True Magazine'' and ''What Today's Woman Should Know About Marriage and Sex'' — reprinting material from Fawcett magazines not previously published in books. When these books successfully sailed through the contract loophole, Fawcett announced Gold Medal Books, their line of paperback originals. Sales soared, prompting Ralph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odd Girl Out Cover 1957
Odd means unpaired, occasional, strange or unusual, or a person who is viewed as eccentric. Odd may also refer to: Acronym * ODD (Text Encoding Initiative) ("One Document Does it all"), an abstracted literate-programming format for describing XML schemas * Oodnadatta Airport (IATA: ODD), South Australia * Oppositional defiant disorder, a mental disorder characterized by anger-guided, hostile behavior * Operational due diligence * Operational Design Domain (ODD) in case of autonomous cars * Optical disc drive * ''ODD'', a 2007 play by Hal Corley about a teenager with oppositional defiant disorder Mathematics * Even and odd numbers, an integer is odd if dividing by two does not yield an integer * Even and odd functions, a function is odd if ''f''(−''x'') = −''f''(''x'') for all ''x'' * Even and odd permutations, a permutation of a finite set is odd if it is composed of an odd number of transpositions Ships * HNoMS ''Odd'', a Storm-class patrol boat of the Royal Norw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marijane Meaker
Marijane Agnes Meaker (May 27, 1927 – November 21, 2022) was an American writer who, along with Tereska Torres, was credited with launching the lesbian pulp fiction genre, the only accessible novels on that theme in the 1950s. Under the name Vin Packer, she wrote mystery and crime novels, including ''Spring Fire''. As Ann Aldrich, she wrote nonfiction books about lesbians, and as M.E. Kerr, she wrote young-adult fiction. As Mary James, she wrote books for younger children. Meaker won multiple awards including the American Library Association's lifetime award for young-adult literature, the ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award. She was described by ''The New York Times Book Review'' as "one of the grand masters of young adult fiction." Meaker's books feature complex characters that have difficult relationships and complicated problems, who rail against conformity. Meaker said of this approach, " I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1950 Establishments In New York City
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annexed the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establish his head ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel, ''Andersonville''. He also wrote the novel ''Gettysburg'', set during the Civil War. Early life and education Kantor was born and grew up in Webster City, Iowa, the second child and only son in his family. He had a sister, Virginia. His mother, Effie (McKinlay) Kantor, worked as the editor of the ''Webster City Daily News'' during part of his childhood. His father, John Martin Kantor, was a native-born Swedish Jew descended from "a long line of rabbis, who posed as a Protestant clergyman". His mother was of English, Irish, Scottish, and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. (Later, MacKinlay Kantor wrote an unpublished novel called ''Half Jew''.) republished on ''Mystery File'' Kantor's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Fischer
Bruno Fischer (29 June 1908 – 16 March 1992) was a German-born American author of weird and crime fiction. Biography The son of a grocer, Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany, on 29 June 1908. Bruno emigrated to the United States with his family in 1913, attending high school in Long Island. He later attended the Rand School of Social Science and married Ruth Miller, a secretary, in 1934. Fischer became a sports reporter and then police reporter for the ''Long Island Daily Press'' (1929–31), following this with stints writing and editing at the ''Labor Voice'' (1931–32), ''Socialist Call'' (1934–36), and '' Modern Monthly''. In the 1936 election he ran as a candidate for New York's 14th district, and in 1938 he ran for the New York State Senate (12th district, Manhattan), both times under the Socialist banner. With journalism providing an unreliable income, at a friend's recommendation Fischer tried his hand at writing for the pulps. Among the hundreds of pulp title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fiction horror novel that has been adapted for the screen three times. Matheson himself was co-writer of the first film version, '' The Last Man on Earth'', starring Vincent Price, which was released in 1964. The other two adaptations were ''The Omega Man,'' starring Charlton Heston, and '' I Am Legend'' with Will Smith. Matheson also wrote 16 television episodes of ''The Twilight Zone'', including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Steel", as well as several adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for Roger Corman and American International Pictures – '' House of Usher'', ''The Pit and the Pendulum'', ''Tales of Terror'' and ''The Raven''. He adapted his 1971 short story "Duel" as a screenplay directed by Steven Spielberg for the television film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote historical fiction ('' The Walking Drum''), science fiction ('' Haunted Mesa''), non-fiction (''Frontier''), as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers". Life and career Early life Louis Dearborn LaMoore was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, on March 22, 1908, the seventh child of Emily Dearborn and veterinarian, local politician, and farm equipment broker Louis Charles LaMoore (who had changed the French spell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald E
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the Gaelic pronunciation by English speakers, and partly associated with the spelling of similar-sounding Germanic names, such as ''Ronald''. A short form of ''Donald'' is ''Don''. Pet forms of ''Donald'' include ''Donnie'' and ''Donny''. The feminine given name ''Donella'' is derived from ''Donald''. ''Donald'' has cognates in other Celtic languages: Modern Irish ''Dónal'' (anglicised as ''Donal'' and ''Donall'');. Scottish Gaelic ''Dòmhnall'', ''Domhnull'' and ''Dòmhnull''; Welsh '' Dyfnwal'' and Cumbric ''Dumnagual''. Although the feminine given name ''Donna'' is sometimes used as a feminine form of ''Donald'', the names are not etymologically related. Variations Kings and noblemen Domnall or Domhnall is the name of many ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press, 1998; (pp. 482–484). Life and work Born in Birmingham to working class Irish parents William Ward (c. 1850–1932), a clerk, and Margaret Mary (née Furey; c. 1850–1901), Arthur Ward initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time. He worked as a poet, songwriter and comedy sketch writer for music hall performers before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing fiction. Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring Fire
''Spring Fire'', is a 1952 paperback novel written by Marijane Meaker, under the pseudonym "Vin Packer". It is the first lesbian paperback novel, and the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre; it also addresses issues of conformity in 1950s American society. The novel tells the story of Susan "Mitch" Mitchell, an awkward, lonely freshman at a Midwestern college who falls in love with Leda, her popular but troubled sorority sister. Published by Gold Medal Books, ''Spring Fire'' sold 1.5 million copies through at least three printings. Cleis Press re-released the book in 2004 after extensive negotiations with Meaker, who had long denied permission over her feelings about the ending. Following the exposure of their relationship, Leda is committed to a mental institution and Mitch realizes she never loved Leda. Meaker later wrote, "I still cringe when I think about it. I never wanted it republished. It was too embarrassing." Meaker explained in the 2004 foreword that Dick Carro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tereska Torrès
Tereska Torrès (born Tereska Szwarc; 3 September 192020 September 2012) was a French writer known for the 1950 book ''Women's Barracks'', the first "original paperback bestseller." In 2008 historians credited the republished book as the first pulp fiction book published in America to candidly address lesbian relationships, although Torrès did not agree with this analysis. Life Torrès was born Tereska Szwarc to the Jewish Polish sculptor Marek Szwarc and his wife Guina Pinkus in Paris. Her paternal uncle Samuel Schwarz was a noted historian of the Jewish diaspora and crypto-Judaism. Torrès fled her native country in 1940 via Lisbon to England when France surrendered to Nazi Germany after the Battle of France while her father—serving in the Polish Armed Forces in the West—was evacuated from La Rochelle by the British Home Fleet. Her family was able to escape because they received visas signed by Portuguese vice-consul Manuel Vieira Braga (following instructions from Aris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Women's Barracks
''Women's Barracks: The Frank Autobiography of a French Girl Soldier'' is a classic work of lesbian pulp fiction by French writer Tereska Torrès published in 1950. Historians credit it as the first US paperback-original bestseller, as the first lesbian pulp fiction book published in America, and as "the pioneer of lesbian fiction". As the first of its genre, it received heavy backlash, and it was banned in Canada. Its popularity prompted the formation of the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in the United States. Its original cover art is considered a classic image of lesbian fiction. Author Tereska Torrès was a member of the Corps des Volontaires françaises within Free French Forces, and worked as a secretary in Charles de Gaulle's London headquarters. After the war, Torrès's husband Meyer Levin urged her to publish her wartime diaries. Torrès wrote the book as "a serious-minded account of wartime situations" and an exploration of "the way in which c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
