Peggy Gaddis Dern (born Erolie Pearl Gaddis; March 5, 1895 - June 14, 1966)Peggy Gaddis; LibraryThing website http://www.librarything.com/author/gaddispeggy was an American writer of traditional romance novels, so-called "nurse novels," as well as racy pulp romance stories. Utilizing her actual surname as well as various pseudonyms, she was actively writing from the late 1930s up until the 1960s, ultimately producing dozens of books, perhaps even a couple hundred or more. Her primary literary identity was as Peggy Gaddis.

Life

Peggy Gaddis Dern was born Erolie Pearl Gaddis March 5, 1895 in Gaddistown, Georgia. She attended and graduated from

Reinhardt College Reinhardt University is a private university in Waleska, Georgia. The university has an off-campus center in Alpharetta and offers some programs in Cartersville, Marietta, and Canton, and online. Reinhardt is affiliated with the United Methodi ...

, and then worked editing periodicals, first in Atlanta and later New York City, where she edited movie fan magazines and racy pulp periodicals. In 1931, she married John Sherman Dern, a member of a traveling minstrel group. Dern began her career writing for

pulp magazine 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 ...

s such as ''Breezy Stories'' and ''

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 ...

'', usually under the pseudonym "Peggy Gaddis". Later, Dern moved on to writing paperback novels. Dern worked six days a week and endeavored to write a minimum of 3,000 words a day. Typically, she produced a book approximately every three weeks. Of writing, she was quoted as saying, "It's a sort of drug, for which I hope no one ever finds a cure."Server, Lee. ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers'' (New York: Facts of File, Inc., 2002), p. 108 Dern died in 1966 and was buried in Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in

Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in the s ...

, Georgia.

Pseudonyms

Dern utilized her actual surname and nearly a dozen pseudonyms during her career. The majority of her books were published under the names ''Peggy Gaddis'' and ''Peggy Dern''. Frequently used pseudonyms included ''Gail Jordan'', ''Perry Lindsay,'' and ''Joan Sherman''. Other pen names included ''Carolina Lee'', ''Georgia Craig'', ''James Clayford'', as well as ''Roberta Courtland'', ''Joan Tucker'', ''Sylvia Erskine'', and ''Luther Gordon''.

Partial bibliography

* ''The Affairs of a Country Girl'', Gail Jordan, Cameo, 1952 (Country Girl, 1954) * ''The April Heart'', Peggy Dern; Arcadia, 1959 * ''As Good As Married'', Perry Lindsay, Phoenix, 1945 * ''At Granada Court'', Peggy Dern, Arcadia, 1959, Wright Brown (UK), 1960 (Karen, Valentine, s.d.) * ''At Ruby's Place'', Joan Tucker, Cameo, 1952 (Waterfront Club, 1954), também em1956, como John Tucker, pela Venus * ''The Babe in Arms'', Perry Lindsay, Phoenix, 1943 * ''Back Home'', Peggy Gaddis, Arcadia, 1950. Também pela Manor, Star (Austrália) e 5-Star (UK), 1972 (ou como “Reaching Out for Love”, Large Print, 1996) * ''Backwoods Girl'', Peggy Gaddis; Venus, 1954 * ''Bayou Nurse'', Peggy Gaddis, Arcadia, 1964 * ''Beauty to Burn'', Peggy Gaddis, Godwin, 1937 * ''Beloved Intruder'', Peggy Dern, Arcadia, 1958 * ''Betsy Moran'', Peggy Dern, Arcadia, 1964 * ''Beware of Romance'', Roberta Courtland, Gramercy, 1948 * ''Coast Guard Girl'', Georgia Craig, Arcadia, 1945 * ''Courtesan'', Joan Sherman, Godwin, 1936 (publicado como Lulie, pela Handi-Book, 1949) * ''Eileen Duggan'', Peggy Gaddis, Arcadia, 1952 * ''Goodbye, My Heart'', Peggy Dern, Arcadia, 1941 * ''Marriage Can Wait'', James Clayford, Quarter, 1949 * ''Shanty Girl'', Joan Tucker, Venus, 1953 * ''Satan's Gal'', Carolina Lee, Handi, 1950 * ''Show Boat Girl'', Roberta Courtland, Gramercy, 1940 * ''The Girl Next Door'', Peggy Gaddis, Arcadia, 1949 * ''The Marryin'Kind'', Roberta Courtland, Gramercy, 1947 * ''Young Doctor Merry'', Peggy Gaddis, Arcadia, 1944 * ''Young Nurse'', Sylvia Erskine, Cameo, 1952 * ''Wings on Her Heart'', Roberta Courtland, Gramercy, 1942 * ''Winter Circus'', Peggy Dern, Arcadia, 1943

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dern, Peggy 1895 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists American women novelists Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state) Reinhardt University alumni People from Union County, Georgia 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers American romantic fiction novelists Women romantic fiction writers