Walter Ryerson Johnson (October 19, 1901 – May 24, 1995) was a 20th-century 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 ...

writer and editor. He wrote in many genres, but is probably best known at having been one of the men who wrote

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 ...

novels, under the pseudonym

Kenneth Robeson Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street & Smith publications as the writer of their popular characters Doc Savage and later Avenger. Lester Dent wrote most of the Doc Savage stories; others credited under the Robeson name included: * W ...

. He also published works under the names " Matthew Blood" and " Peter Field".

Biography

Johnson earned a degree in foreign commerce. His first known published work was a short story in the February 1923 issue of '' Detective Tales''. It wasn't until 1929 that he started appearing regularly in the pulps. He wrote numerous western stories for pulps like ''

Western Story Magazine ''Western Story Magazine'' was a pulp magazine published by Street & Smith, which ran from 1919 to 1949.Doug Ellis, John Locke, and John Gunnison, (editors),''The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps'', Adventure House, 2000. (pp. 311–12). It was ...

'', '' Ace-High Magazine'', ''

Cowboy Stories A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

'', and '' Star Western''. A number of the '' Star Western'' stories featured hero Len Siringo. He wrote horror stories for ''

Dime Mystery Magazine ''Dime Mystery Magazine'' was an American pulp magazine published from 1932 to 1950 by Popular Publications. Titled ''Dime Mystery Book Magazine'' during its first nine months, it contained ordinary mystery stories, including a full-length n ...

'', '' Detective Tales'' and other pulps. He also wrote several crime novels, two under his own name, the others under various pseudonyms. These novels include ''

Naked in the Streets Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

'' (Red Seal, 1952), '' Lady in Dread'' (Gold Medal, 1955); under the joint pseudonym Matthew Blood (together with Davis Dresser) ''The Avenger'' (Gold Medal, 1952), ''Death Is a Lovely Dame'' (Gold Medal, 1954); under Dresser's pseudonym

Brett Halliday Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 – February 4, 1977) is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissioned ...

'' Dolls Are Deadly'' (Torquil/Dodd, 1960), '' Killers from the Keys'' (Torquil/Dodd, 1961) and more under the house name Robert Wallace. Some of his crime novels were translated into French and German. In 1963, he wrote a series of juvenile novels,

the Bob Blake Adventures ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, which had 4 volumes: ''The Trail of the Moaning Ghost'', ''The Trail of the Witchwood Treasure'', ''The Trail of the Golden Feather'', and ''The Trail of the Deadly Image''. These appeared under his own name. Johnson also wrote historical novels and contributed to ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

''.

Doc Savage novels

*''Land of Always-Night'' *''The Fantastic Island'' *''The Motion Menace''

References

* Allan J. Hubin: CRIME FICTION IV. A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1749–2000, 2010 Revised Edition (Locus Press CD-ROM) * Claude Mesplède, Jean-Jacques Schleret: Les auteurs de la Série Noire 1945–1995, 1996 (Joseph K.) * Jon Warren: The Official Price Guide Paperbacks, 1991 (House of Collectibles)

External links

Johnson bibliography * (previous page of browse report under 'Johnson, Ryerson, 1901–')
Matthew Blood
(joint pseudonym) an
Kenneth Robeson
(shared pseud.) at LC Authorities {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, W. Ryerson 1901 births 1995 deaths Pulp fiction writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers People from Sangamon County, Illinois Novelists from Illinois