Wyatt Rainey Blassingame (6 February 1909 – 1985), a.k.a. W.B. Rainey, was the author of many short stories and articles for national magazines, four adult novels and dozens of juvenile nonfiction books.

Early years

Blassingame was born in

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and T ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, on 6 February 1909 to Wyatt Childs Blassingame and Maude Lurton Blassingame. He was educated at

Howard College Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...

, now Samford University, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, graduating in 1952. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a Presidential Unit Citation. After moving to Anna Maria, Florida, he taught at Manatee Junior College and Florida Southern College.

Career

In the 1930s, Blassingame wrote for the "

Weird menace Weird menace is a subgenre of horror fiction and detective fiction that was popular in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and early 1940s. The weird menace pulps, also known as shudder pulps, generally featured stories in which the hero was pitted a ...

" horror pulps such as ''

Terror Tales ''Terror Tales'' was the name of two American publications: a pulp magazine of the weird menace genre of the 1930s, and a horror comic in the 1960s and 1970s. Pulp magazine ''Terror Tales'' was originally published by Popular Publications. The ...

'' and ''

Dime Mystery ''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 ...

''. His short stories have recently been republished in three collections edited by John Pelan, published by Dancing Tuatara Press. Four of his juvenile nonfiction books were written for the Landmark book series: ''The French Foreign Legion'', ''The U.S. Frogmen of World War II'', ''Combat Nurses of World War II'', and ''Medical Corps Heroes of World War II''. Blassingame made every effort to make his books as accurate as possible, and disapproved of fictionalizing juvenile history merely for the benefit of drama. Many of his books were chosen as Junior Book-of-the-Month selections,

Junior Literary Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

selections and other honors. Commire, Anne. ''Something About the Author'', Volume 1. Gale Research 1971

Death

He died in his

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

home in 1985.

Family

He married Gertrude Olsen in 1936 and had two daughters, Peggy and April.

References

External links

Wyatt Rainey Blassingame Papers
at th
University of South Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blassingame, Wyatt 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American horror writers Novelists from Alabama People from Demopolis, Alabama 1909 births 1985 deaths American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers People from Anna Maria, Florida