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Joseph Allan Elphinstone Dunn (21 January 1872 – 25 March 1941), best known as J. Allan Dunn, was one of the high-producing writers of the American
pulp magazines
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
. He published well over a thousand stories, novels, and serials from 1914–41. He first made a name for himself in
''Adventure''.
[Doug Ellis, ''The Best of Adventure: Volume 2, 1913–1914''. Normal, IL : Black Dog Books, 2012 (p.16).] At the request of ''Adventure'' editor
Arthur Sullivant Hoffman
Arthur Sullivant Hoffman (September 28, 1876 – March 15, 1966) was an American magazine editor. Hoffman is
best known for editing the acclaimed pulp magazine ''Adventure''
from 1912 to 1927, Bleiler, Richard. "A History of Adventure Magazine", in ...
, Dunn wrote ''Barehanded Castaways'', a novel about people trapped on a desert island which was intended to avoid the usual cliches of such stories. ''Barehanded Castaways'' was serialised in 1921 and was well received by ''Adventure's'' readers.
[Ed Hulse, ''The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction''. Murania Press, Morris Plains, New Jersey, 2018. . (pp. 49, 157–8)] Well over half of his output appeared in
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 ...
pulps, including ''
People's
People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. Gallen-Altenr ...
'', ''
Complete Story Magazine'', and ''
Wild West Weekly
Wild West Weekly was a dime novel later turned pulp magazine.
On October 24, 1902 Frank Tousey released his first issue of the 5-cent dime novel ''Wild West Weekly'' called "The Prince in the Saddle". Written by Frank, though said to be written b ...
''. Dunn wrote over a thousand stories.
He wrote approximately 470 stories for ''Wild West Weekly'' alone. His main genres were adventure and western; although he did write a number of detective stories, most of them appearing in ''
Detective Fiction Weekly
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
'' and ''Dime Detective''.
Dunn wrote ''The Treasure of Atlantis'', a science fiction story about survivals from Atlantis living in the Brazilian jungle. ''The Treasure of Atlantis'' was published in ''All-Around Magazine'' in 1916 and later reprinted in 1970. He was a specialist in South Sea stories, and pirate stories. He also published a lot of juvenile fiction; including many stories for ''
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 ...
'', primarily in the 1920s. A number of his novel-length stories were reprinted in hardbound, some under the pen name "Joseph Montague" for Street & Smith's
Chelsea House
Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...
imprint; many of his books were issued in the United Kingdom. His stories were frequently syndicated in newspapers, both in America and around the world, making him, for a time, a very widely known author.
Biography
Dunn was born in England. He came to the United States in 1893. He spent about five years in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, five years in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, ten years in San Francisco, and then relocated to the East Coast in 1914, after which his writing career blossomed. While living in Honolulu, Dunn befriended the writer
H. D. Couzens
Henry De Clifford Couzens (1872 – April 20, 1914) was an American writer.
Biography
Couzens was born in Virginia.Doug Ellis, "Introduction", to H. D. Couzens, ''King Corrigan's Treasure: The Collected Adventures of Billy Englehart.'' Normal, ...
.
From 1914 forward, and in his pulp-writing career, he was known as "J. Allan Dunn"; before that he primarily went by "Allan Dunn."
While living in San Francisco, he worked for the
Southern Pacific Company
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
, which published
''Sunset'' magazine. He wrote an article for ''Sunset'' on author
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
. The two became friends.
In 1913, Dunn was a frequent visitor to London's Beauty Ranch in
Glen Ellen, California
Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Par ...
. According to the diaries of
Charmian London
Charmian London (née Kittredge; November 27, 1871 – January 14, 1955) was an American writer and the second wife of Jack London.
Early life
"Clara" Charmian Kittredge was born to poet and writer Dayelle "Daisy" Wiley and California hotelier ...
, London's second wife, she and Dunn spent a lot of time together, which prompted Jack London to reinvigorate his interest in her.
A perennial "clubman", Dunn was a member of San Francisco's
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...
. Later, he belonged to New York's
Explorers Club
The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...
, and, in 1937, was elected to the board of trustees.
["Heads Explorers Club", ''The New York Times'', 4 February 1937.] He also belonged to the
Adventurers' Club of New York The Adventurers' Club of New York was an adventure-oriented private men's club founded in New York City in 1912 by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, editor of the popular pulp magazine ''Adventure''. There were 34 members at the first meeting. In its seco ...
, eventually becoming vice-president.
Dunn died, according to friends, of complications from chronic
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
; he had contracted the disease in Honolulu.
Bibliography
*''Care-Free San Francisco'' (
Southern Pacific Company
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
; 1913)
*''Boru The Story of an Irish Wolfhound'' (1915)
*''Jim Morse, South Sea Trader'' (
Small, Maynard & Company
Small, Maynard & Company (Small, Maynard and Company in bibliographies) is a defunct publishing house located in Boston. In its day it was a highly reputable house in literature, and several U.S. authors were published by it, including Walt Whitma ...
; 1919)
*''A Man to His Mate'' (
Bobbs-Merrill Company
The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Company history
The company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. After his death in 1 ...
; 1920)
*''Dead Man's Gold'' (
Doubleday; 1920)
*''Jim Morse, Gold-Hunter'' (Small, Maynard & Company; 1920)
*''Rimrock Trail'' (1920)
*''The Odyssey of Boru'' (
Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.
History Origins
In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...
; 1924)
*''The Crater of Kala''
y Joseph Montague(
Chelsea House
Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...
; 1925)
*''Sanctuary Island''
y Joseph Montague(Chelsea House; 1927)
*''Young Eagle of the Trail'' (
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
Today, through the Penguin Gro ...
; 1932)
*''Two-Gun Sheriff'' (
Nicholson & Watson; London, 1936)
*''The Treasure of Atlantis'' (
Centaur Press; 1970)
*''Forced Luck'' (
Black Dog Books; 2005)
*''The Golden Dolphin and Other Pirate Tales from the Pulps'' (
Wildside Press
Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade ...
; 2005)
*''Outdoor Stories'' (Off-Trail Publications; 2011)
*''The Peril of the Pacific'' (Off-Trail Publications; 2011)
*''Three South Seas Novels'' (Off-Trail Publications; 2012)
*''Barehanded Castaways'' (Murania Press; 2012)
*''The Crime Master: the complete battles of Gordon Manning & the Griffin, Volume One'' (
Altus Press
Altus Press is a publisher of works primarily related to the pulp magazines from the 1910s to the 1950s.
History
Founded in 2006 by Matthew Moring, Altus Press publishes collections primarily focussed on series characters, although they also publ ...
; 2014)
*''The Island'' (Murania Press; 2015)
*''Day of Doom: the complete battles of Gordon Manning & the Griffin, Volume Two'' (
Altus Press
Altus Press is a publisher of works primarily related to the pulp magazines from the 1910s to the 1950s.
History
Founded in 2006 by Matthew Moring, Altus Press publishes collections primarily focussed on series characters, although they also publ ...
; 2015)
*''The Grip of the Griffin: the complete battles of Gordon Manning & the Griffin, Volume Three'' (
Altus Press
Altus Press is a publisher of works primarily related to the pulp magazines from the 1910s to the 1950s.
History
Founded in 2006 by Matthew Moring, Altus Press publishes collections primarily focussed on series characters, although they also publ ...
; 2015)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, J. Allan
1872 births
1906 San Francisco earthquake survivors
1941 deaths
20th-century British novelists
20th-century British short story writers
British male novelists
British male short story writers
British short story writers
Deaths from malaria
English writers
Nautical historical novelists
Pulp fiction writers
Western (genre) writers
Writers from London
20th-century English male writers
English mystery writers
English science fiction writers