Theodore Roscoe (February 20, 1906 – May 29, 1992) was an American biographer and writer of

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novels and stories.

Biography

Roscoe was born in Rochester, New York, the son of missionaries. He wrote for newspapers and later pulp magazines.

Lee Server Lee Server (May 27, 1953 – December 28, 2021) was an American writer. He was a graduate of New York University Film School. Server wrote several books about Hollywood cinema and pulp fiction. His book on Ava Gardner, ''Love is Nothing'' (2006) ...

, ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers'' New York : Facts on File, 2002 (p. 226–27) Roscoe's stories appeared in pulp magazines including '' Argosy'', ''Wings'', ''Flying Stories'', ''Far East Adventure Stories'', ''

Fight Stories ''Fight Stories'' was a pulp magazine devoted to stories of boxing. Published by Fiction House, it ran 47 issues cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of ...

'', '' Action Stories'', ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'', and ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

''. Roscoe travelled widely, included trips to Haiti and North Africa. During a visit to Casablanca, Roscoe befriended a member of the French Foreign Legion. Roscoe later used this man as a model for his fictional Foreign Legion narrator, Thibaut Corday. Roscoe also wrote non-fiction for ''The American Weekly''.Audrey Parente, "Theodore Roscoe: High Class Pulp Fiction" ''Pulp Adventures'' Magazine, #23, Fall 2016. Bold Venture Press. (pp. 39-41) Roscoe's work was praised by

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

in a 1929 profile in the ''Rochester Democrat Chronicle''. Mencken said "Many of the so-called literati could learn a lot from Mr. Roscoe. He gets things down with amazing facility". Roscoe was commissioned by the

United States Naval Institute The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds se ...

to write the detailed and massive histories '' United States Submarine Operations in World War II'' (1949) and ''United States Destroyer Operations in World War II'' (1953), as well as a 737-page book detailing United States history with a focus on the role of the US Navy (titled ''This Is Your Navy'' (1950) and given to navy recruits at boot camp). He subsequently wrote several other books on naval history including ''The Trent Affair, November, 1861: U.S. detainment of a British ship nearly brings war with England'' (1972). A collection of his stories, '' The Wonderful Lips of Thibong Linh'', was published by

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is a fantasy and science fiction small press publisher in New Hampshire that was founded in 1964. It is notable for publishing fantasy and horror novels with lavish illustrations, most notably Stephen King's Th ...

in 1981.

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 ...

published a three volume collection of his "Thibaut Corday and the Foreign Legion" stories. The biography ''Pulpmaster: The Theodore Roscoe Story'', by Audrey Parente, published by Starmont House (Mercer Island, WA, 1992) was reprinted by Altus in 2012.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roscoe, Theodore 1906 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Novelists from New York (state) American male short story writers 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Pulp fiction writers American male biographers