Bertrand R. Brinley (19 June 1917 in
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...
– 20 October 1994 in
Luray, Virginia
Luray is the county seat of Page County, Virginia, United States, in the Shenandoah Valley in the northern part of the Commonwealth. The population was 4,895 at the 2010 census.
The town was started by William Staige Marye in 1812, a descendant ...
) was an American writer of short stories and children's tales. He was best known for his ''
Mad Scientists' Club'' stories.
The stories in ''The Mad Scientists' Club'' originally appeared over several years in ''
Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
'' magazine, starting in 1961, and were later collected into book form. ''The Mad Scientists' Club'', ''The New Adventures of The Mad Scientists' Club'' and ''The Big Kerplop!'' were first published by the now-defunct MacRae Smith Company of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Much of the character of Mammoth Falls, the fictional town where the Mad Scientists' adventures take place, was based on the town of
West Newbury, Massachusetts
West Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Situated on the Merrimack River, its population was 4,500 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally inhabited by Agawam or Naumkeag peoples, West Newbury was settled by Eng ...
, where Brinley lived during part of his youth and where he graduated from high school in 1935.
West Newbury contributed a good many place names and several of the characters to the Mad Scientists' Club stories.
They have since been republished by
Purple House Press
Purple House Press is a publishing house based in Cynthiana, Kentucky. Founded in 2000 by former software engineer Jill Morgan, it specializes in bringing out-of-print children's books back into print.
In the mid-1990s, Morgan purchased a copy ...
in
Cynthiana, Kentucky
Cynthiana is a home rule-class city in Harrison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,402 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of its county.
History
The settlement developed on both sides of the South Fork of the Licki ...
. Brinley's final work, ''The Big Chunk of Ice'', was published posthumously in 2005 by Purple House Press with permission from his son, Sheridan Brinley.
Writings
*''Rocket Manual for Amateurs'' (1960, nonfiction)
*''The Mad Scientists' Club'' (1965, juvenile)
*''The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club'' (1968, juvenile)
*''The Big Kerplop!'' (1974, juvenile)
*''The Big Chunk of Ice'' (2005, juvenile)
See also
*
Charles Geer
Charles Hand Geer (August 25, 1922 – December 7, 2008) was an American illustrator of children's books, two of which he wrote. He also designed numerous book jackets.
Geer grew up on Long Island, New York, attended Dartmouth College in New ...
(illustrator)
References
External links
Mad Scientists' Club: The Official Website
1917 births
1994 deaths
American children's writers
American science writers
People from Hudson, New York
People from West Newbury, Massachusetts
Writers from New York (state)
20th-century American short story writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
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