THE PULPSTER celebrates both the 90th anniversary of THE SHADOW and the 100th anniversary of the romance pulps — as well as the pulps in general — in its upcoming issue.
The Shadow at 90 package includes a look by Craig McDonald at how The Shadow changed from his first appearance in “The Living Shadow” in 1931 to “The Whispering Eyes” in 1949. David Saunders profiles actor James La Curto, the first voice and face of The Shadow. Will Murray reveals the secrets of The Shadow’s mysterious girasol ring. Fictioneer Walter B. Gibson recalls how he wrote, “a million words a year for 10 straight years.” Rounding out the section are a pair of interviews with cover artists for THE SHADOW MAGAZINE. Al Tonik interviews Jerome Rozen, while Terry Klasek and Kenn Thomas interview Graves Gladney.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the romance pulps, “Selling Glamour for a Dime,” by Thomas H. Uzzell, looks at how the love pulps were “escape literature for three million maidens.”
Also coming in THE PULPSTER, Sai Shankar traces the transition of EVERBODY’S from a slick magazine to a pulp. Tony Davis writes the lead piece in a pack of articles on Dorothy McIlwraith, the editor at both SHORT STORIES and WEIRD TALES. And, fictioneer Hugh B. Cave discusses his long pulp career with Darrell Schweitzer.
Rounding out the issue, are columns by editor Bill Lampkin and publisher Michael Chomko, and “Final Chapters,” in which editor emeritus Tony Davis remembers those of the pulp community who have passed away during the past year.
A longstanding tradition cherished by attendees of summer pulp cons, THE PULPSTER #30 will be released at PulpFest 2021. Every member of PulpFest — including supporting members — will receive a complimentary copy of THE PULPSTER.
PulpFest 2021 begins on Thursday, August 19, and runs through Sunday, August 22 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. We’ll be celebrating the anniversaries of two trend-setting Street & Smith rough-paper magazines. Both LOVE STORY and THE SHADOW: A DETECTIVE MAGAZINE played significant roles in the evolution of American popular culture and genre fiction.
The convention will also host ERBFest 2021, this summer’s gathering for the fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his work. We’ll have presentations on the author and his work on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And bringing both conventions to a close, Henry G. Franke III — the editor of THE BURROUGHS BULLETIN journal and THE GRIDLEY WAVE newsletter — will host a “Barsoomian Bull Session” in the hotel lounge area on Saturday, August 21, beginning at 11 PM.
As ERBFest is part of PulpFest 2021, there is no extra cost to attend any ERBFest activities.
PulpFest 2021 will also have author readings and interviews, an auction on Saturday night, and a dealers’ room filled with pulps, digests, men’s adventure magazines, collectible paintings and illustrations, rare first editions, vintage paperbacks, comic books, unique films and more.
You can learn additional details about all of our programming by clicking the button found at the top of our website. Or click here to link to our 2021 mobile schedule. Each event on the schedule is linked to a post that provides further information on that event. Just click on the event’s title. Watch for the “panels” banner to find our programming area at the convention.
The general public is very much welcome to attend our evening programming free of charge. However, to enter our dealers’ room, you must be registered for the convention. You can learn how to join both PulpFest 2021 and ERBFest 2021 by clicking the registration button found at the top of our homepage.
The cover art for THE PULPSTER #30 was originally painted by Graves Gladney for the June 1, 1940, issue of THE SHADOW.
Following the convention, a limited number of copies of our program book will be available for purchase through Mike Chomko, Books. Please write to Mike — who also serves as the marketing and programming director for PulpFest — at mike@pulpfest.com or 2217 W. Fairview St., Allentown, PA 18104-6542 to reserve your copy. Mike also has copies of THE PULPSTER #29 available. Click here to learn the highlights of last year’s issue.
For questions about submissions to THE PULPSTER or comments about the issue, please write to Bill Lampkin at bill@pulpfest.com. For any questions about advertising in future issues of THE PULPSTER, back issues, or ordering issue #30 of THE PULPSTER, please write to Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com.
