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The PulpFest Organizing Committee has announced the twelve nominees for the 2023 Munsey Award
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Named for Frank A. Munsey, publisher of the first pulp magazine, the award recognizes someone who has contributed to the betterment of the pulp community through disseminating knowledge, publishing, or other efforts to preserve and to foster interest pulp magazines.
The winner of the 2023 Munsey Award will be selected by a committee made up of all the living Lamont, Munsey, and Rusty Award recipients and announced on August 5.
Here are the nominees and the citations that explain why they are up for this honor.
- As the publisher of Wildside Press, John Betancourt has made available hundreds of stories from pulp magazines, digests, and early paperbacks available in print and ebook form, particularly in his Megapack format. John was an assistant editor at Amazing Stories and later helped to revive Weird Tales. The magazine went on to garner a World Fantasy Award in 1992 and a Hugo Award in 2009. In 2015, Betancourt helped the revived Weirdbook get off the ground. Originally published by W. Paul Ganley — for which he won a World Fantasy Award in 1992 — Weirdbook continues to appear on a fairly regular basis from Betancourt and Wildside Press. He also serves as the publisher of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine and the infrequently issued Adventure Tales, which presents classic tales from the pulp magazines. In 2021, John revived Startling Stories, the classic science fiction pulp originally published by Ned Pines’ Standard Magazines. John is also a writer of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery fiction and will be a panelist at this year’s PulpFest.
- The Collections Librarian at the University of Connecticut, Richard Bleiler is a bibliographer and researcher in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. In 2002, he was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction for the second edition of Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror. With his father, Everett Bleiler, Richard compiled Science Fiction: The Early Years and Science Fiction: The Gernsback Years, both published by Kent State University Press. His other work includes The Index to Adventure Magazine, The Annotated Index to The Thrill Book, the second edition of Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, and Reference and Research Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction. Richard’s essay, “Forgotten Giant: A Brief History of Adventure Magazine,” originally published in Extrapolation: A Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy, is considered the finest overview of the classic pulp magazine. He has also written essays on early science fiction, fantasy, and mystery authors for The Dictionary of Literary Biography and other reference works, as well as articles on the writings of Frank Belknap Long and Clark Ashton Smith for Gary Hoppenstand’s Pulp Fiction of the 20s and 30s.
- A researcher of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and adventure fiction for over thirty years, Gene Christie has extensively studied and indexed the magazines of the pulp era, especially those published by the Frank A. Munsey Company. Never too busy or tired to help, Gene has volunteered his time, knowledge, and editorial abilities, contributing to projects published by Adventure House, Off-Trail Publications, Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, and others. He annually volunteers at the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, in addition to proofing their program book, and has been a long-time attendee at other pulp-related conventions. In conjunction with Black Dog Books, he has compiled and edited several rare and previously unreprinted works, including Cornell Woolrich’s The Good Die Young, George Allan England’s The Empire in the Air, Seabury Quinn’s Demons of the Night, Murray Leinster’s The Silver Menace, and the excellent Munsey anthologies The Space Annihilator and The People of the Pit. He also served as the editor for Black Dog Books’ Talbot Mundy Library. At PulpFest 2019, Gene offered convention attendees a wonderful presentation on Robert Hobart Davis, considered by many to be the greatest editor of the pulp magazine era.
- John DeWalt has selflessly aided researchers, sharing his collection and knowledge of popular culture. He is a joy with whom to share his, and our, joy of pulps. He has quietly helped many people, sharing stories and his experience with no thought of anything in return. He is quiet about his generosity, never thinking to remark on it. His self-published Key to Other Doors: Some Lists from a Pulp Collector’s Notebook, is still an excellent source of information about pulp fanzines, pulp reprints, pulp conventions, and the single-character pulps. John has been a member of the Pulp Era Amateur Press Society since 1998.
- Henry G Franke III is the editor of The Burroughs Bulletin, the journal of The Burroughs Bibliophiles, the nonprofit literary society devoted to the life and works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He also edits The Gridley Wave newsletter for the organization and during the pandemic, began organizing a monthly Zoom meeting for the Bibliophiles. He is also a member of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Amateur Press Association. Henry has presented several times at PulpFest and has organized art shows for the convention. He has also contributed to The Pulpster. In 2021, Henry — along with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and the PulpFest organizing committee, organized the first ERBFest, a summertime convention for Burroughs fans. He was a contributing editor and penned the introductions for IDW Publishing’s Library of American Comics archival series reprinting Russ Manning’s Tarzan newspaper comic strips. The first volume of the series won the 2014 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection – Strips. Henry also wrote introductions for IDW’s Library of American Comics reprint of the 1929 daily Tarzan strips by Hal Foster and Rex Maxon, and for Tarzan and the Adventurers, the fifth volume in Titan Books’ “Complete Burne Hogarth Comic Strip Library.”Additionally, he contributed the foreword to Tarzan the Untamed, the seventh volume in the “Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library,” published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and is currently writing the afterwords for the Authorized Library books. Specializing in art inspired by Burroughs’ stories, Franke is currently working on an illustrated biography of Russ Manning. At this year’s PulpFest, Henry will be discussing jungle adventures found in the pulps with Ed Hulse.
- Chris Kalb is known in pulp circles for his hero pulp websites, like The 86th Floor and The Spider Returns, ventures that have helped to attract people who are new to the pulps. There isn’t anyone out there making better use of all the new technology while still preserving the “oldness” of pulps and popular culture. He has become the person to go to for publishers who want a retro-design for their books or website, including Ed Hulse’s Murania Press. He is also the lead designer for Age of Aces Books, a pulp reprint house that specializes in air war fiction. In 2010, Age of Aces received two National Indie Excellence Awards for Chris’s work on the bestselling The Spider vs. The Empire State. Chris was the designer of PulpFest‘s original website and for many years, put together the convention’s print advertisements. Additionally, he has been one of the leading members of New York’s Gotham Pulp Collectors Club, welcoming new members into a group of humorous, knowledgable, and engaging personalities. A freelance designer and illustrator, he was formerly the Art Director of Sci Fi Magazine. With Will Murray and Gary Phillips, Chris will be saluting The Spider at PulpFest 2023.
- William Patrick Maynard was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. An avid reader of vintage thriller fiction and a keen student of film and comic art, he has been writing fiction since childhood. Since 2009, he has been authorized by the Sax Rohmer literary estate to continue the Fu Manchu series. The Terror of Fu Manchu was released in 2009 and The Destiny of Fu Manchu in 2011. In addition to his novels, Bill also writes mystery and science fiction short fiction and screenplays. His recent fiction has appeared in George Mann’s Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes, Flinch Books’ Occupied Pulp, Bold Venture’s Zorro: The Daring Escapades, and other anthologies. Bill has also authored nearly 300 pop culture articles and has contributed DVD commentaries for classic films of the last century. Bill has published articles in Blood and Thunder, The Cimmerian, The Pulpster, and Windy City Pulp Stories, among others. He has also penned a substantial number of pulp fiction columns for The Black Gate website. He was co-guest of honor — with Will Murray — at PulpFest 2013. In late 2018, Bill joined the PulpFest marketing department as a writer. Since then, he has contributed significantly to our website and our convention. Until recently, Bill served as PulpFest’s assistant director of marketing and the director of the convention’s afternoon programming.
- From the beginning of his very varied career, writer Gary Phillips has always tipped his cap to those who came before and has been a living, breathing homage to pulp culture and aesthetics. From his graphic novels — Peepland and Angeltown — to his short stories — “L. A. Noir” and “Treacherous” — and his novels — including a pulp version of Matthew Henson, the first black explorer to reach the North Pole, his ethos has remained steadfast. A long-time native of Los Angeles who lives close to where he was born and raised, Phillips writes some of the most realistic crime fiction in the genre, filling his stories with characters that fit right into the context of their times. He particularly admires Dashiell Hammett for his plotting and ability to keep his stories “grounded in reality.” Phillips’ restless devotion to bettering his craft shows as he is still publishing some of his best work even after twenty-three years of being a professional author. Chantelle Aimée Osman, his editor at Agora Books, has written, “Knowing him for a decade before acting as his editor, I can’t think back to a single conversation where Gary didn’t refer me to some (usually obscure) pulp author or series. To me, and to many in the industry, Gary basically serves as the pulp ‘North Star,’ pointing the way for those who come after and making sure we remember those who came before.” In addition to his Doc Savage-inspired novel, Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, and his Hammett-inspired detective novels, Gary has contributed stories to Asian Pulp, The Avenger Chronicles, Bass Reeves, Frontier Marshall, Black Pulp, The Darker Mass: Heroes from the Shadows, Echoes of Sherlock Holmes, The Green Hornet Casefiles, Jewish Noir, Los Angeles Noir, The Spider: Extreme Prejudice, and similar pulp-inspired anthologies. To learn more about Gary, read “PulpFest Profile — Gary Phillips — To the North Pole and Beyond by Way of the Moon.” At PulpFest 2023, Gary will serve on panels saluting both The Spider and Doc Savage.
- While some nominees are like Doc Savage — out front and known to most — others are like The Shadow — hidden from view for most of the time, yet still there and appearing when needed. A pulp collector since a teenager, Sheila Vanderbeek began attending pulp conventions in 1975. She has attended nearly all of the major pulp conventions since her first. She helped with all the radio recreations that were performed at Pulpcon. A member of the Battered Silicon Press pulp advisory committee, Sheila has helped with many books for the publisher. In addition to recommending authors and series, she has supplied all or most of the stories included in Battered Silicon’s Great Merlini, John Solomon, Needle Mike, Park Ave Hunt Club, Satan Hall, and Suicide Squad collections, as well as others. She has also provided copies of stories to Steeger Books and other pulp-related publishers. Owning one of the largest and wide-ranging pulp collections in existence, Sheila also provided content information to Leonard Robbins for his groundbreaking pulp magazine indices. She has also helped with countless other research projects in the pulp field. Sheila has been a member of the Pulp Era Amateur Press Society since 1997.
- Although some may believe he is old enough to have purchased pulps off the newsstand, Chuck Welch is a mere whippersnapper. As one of the original Internet Fans of Bronze, Chuck started attending Pulpcon in the late 1990s. After meeting his future wife at one of those conventions, Chuck took some time off to start a family. At the behest of Bill Mann, he returned to attend PulpFest. As was his wont, Chuck immediately started volunteering and making suggestions to the organizing committee. Having enough of his puppy-dog eyes, he was asked to join the team. Chuck served as the convention’s technology director, helping to update the convention’s website. When the Internet began to take off, Chuck began Flearun, a Doc Savage group now at Facebook. He is also the creator of the Hidalgo Trading Company — perhaps the closest anyone has come to presenting an online Doc fanzine — and the current editor of the Doc Savage fan magazine The Bronze Gazette. He actively supports both the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention and PulpFest through his online activities.
- For twenty-five years, Howard Wright was the publisher of the Doc Savage fan magazine The Bronze Gazette. He created his magazine when there was no real Internet and very little information readily available about Lester Dent’s “Man of Bronze.” His main reason for starting the publication was to gather information about Doc Savage, disseminate this news to the “Fans of Bronze,” and keep Doc fans going during the “lean” years when Doc was, for the most part, a mere memory. Through Howard’s sustained efforts, interest in Doc was maintained and his return to the limelight assured. His final issue of the Gazette was published at the beginning of 2016. The magazine is being continued by Terry Allen, Kez Wilson, and Chuck Welch, creator of the Hidalgo Trading Company and a former member of the PulpFest organizing committee. It takes three people to duplicate Howard’s superb work on the Gazette. Howard continues to write for The Bronze Gazette.
- Dan Zimmer has been working to promote greater awareness of pulp artists by producing and distributing Illustration Magazine since 2001. He has published nearly eighty issues of the magazine. Dan has tirelessly contributed his time, expertise, and personal wealth to promote a more respectful awareness of the artistic accomplishments of pulp artists through the deluxe publication of the many biographical articles on such artists that have appeared in his magazine. He has done this despite the overwhelming fact that his creative vision is far beyond receiving any reasonable economic return for his efforts. His devotion to classic American illustrators is manifest in the elegant presentation of his magazine and has helped to turn the tide in our culture’s growing appreciation of pulp art. Dan has also published illustrated biographies of pulp artists Walter Baumhofer, Rafael DeSoto, Tom Lovell, Norman Saunders, and H. J. Ward through his book-publishing arm, The Illustrated Press. Additionally, he has supported the pulp community by drawing his readers’ attention to various pulp conventions, including the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Pulpcon, and PulpFest. He’s also helped them by sharing scans of original pulp art for advertising the convention and illustrating publications. Dan has also served as the sponsor of Windy City’s annual pulp art exhibit and created the limited edition print of David Saunder’s Munsey Award painting without cost to the PulpFest organizing committee.
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That’s a great list of nominees. I have met several of these people! 🙂