Daisy Bacon (May 23, 1898 – March 1, 1986) was an American

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

magazine editor and writer, best known as the editor of ''

Love Story Magazine ''Love Story Magazine'' was an American romantic fiction pulp magazine, published from 1921 to 1947.Doug Ellis, John Locke, and John Gunnison, ''The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps''.Silver Spring, MD : Adventure House, 2000. (pp. 153-4) It w ...

'' from 1928 to 1947.

Early life

Daisy Bacon was born in

Union City, Pennsylvania Union City is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania. It is located southeast of Erie. In the twentieth century, there were three large chair factories, planing and grist mills, a powdered milk plant, and several furniture factories. The popula ...

. One of her great-uncles, Dr. Almon C. Bacon, was the founder of

Bacone College Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, is a private tribal college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now Americ ...

in Oklahoma.Adelaide Kerr
"Tough Editor: Daisy Bacon Brings Love to the Lonesome"
''Portsmouth Daily Times'' (July 10, 1941): 6. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

Career

Daisy Bacon started working in publishing at

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

as an advice columnist, before becoming editor of several of their pulp magazines. She began editing ''Love Story'' in 1928, and stayed in that position until the magazine's run ended in 1947. "In her pages, she offers to the average woman – not a flight from actual life — but a heightened reality," explained one profile in 1942, noting that the magazine's circulation was between two and three million readers a month. She also edited ''Smart Love Stories'', ''Detective Stories'', ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'', and ''

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

'' (the latter two, superhero adventure series). As a writer, she published several stories and essays, and a how-to manual, ''Love Story Writer'' (1953)."Daisy Bacon, Editor, Writes Handbook of Advice to Would-Be Pulp Writers"
''The Petaluma Argus-Courier'' (August 31, 1954): 2. via

In the 1960s, she launched her own imprint, Gemini Books. On romance in mid-twentieth century America, she noted that "It is better for girls to acquire careers first, husbands afterward," and "financial independence for the wife is an ideal basis for marriage. To be singled out by a girl with a good job is the highest form of flattery for a man. She does not need his support. Therefore she loves him for himself."

Personal life

Daisy Bacon's unmarried status while editing a magazine about romance was often remarked upon, along with her tall slim figure and her stylish wardrobe. She died in 1986, aged 87 years, in

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

. In 2016 the Baxter Estates Village Hall in Port Washington held an exhibit about Bacon, including her desk, photographs, manuscripts, and typewriter. A biography of Bacon, ''Queen of the Pulps: The Reign of Daisy Bacon and Love Story Magazine'', was published in 2019.Mike Chomko
"Love Story Magazine and its Romantic Sisters"
''Pulpfest'' (June 14, 2016).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Daisy 1898 births 1986 deaths American editors 20th-century American women writers People from Erie County, Pennsylvania