Rick Lai has been named the winner of the 2022 Munsey Award. Nominated by the general pulp community, Rick was selected by previous winners of the Lamont, Munsey, and Rusty Awards.
The Munsey is a fine art print created by David Saunders and published by Dan Zimmer of The Illustrated Press. It is presented annually to an individual or institution that has bettered the pulp community. The award was presented by PulpFest Assistant Marketing Director & Afternoon Programming Director William Patrick Maynard, standing in for Rich Harvey, the winner of our 2021 Munsey Award.
Our 2022 Munsey Award winner, Rick Lai has dedicated much of his adult life and disposable income to his passion for collecting pulp fiction (in all its permutations). Rick distinguished himself with the erudite and insightful scholarship that has made him respected among Wold Newtonians and purists alike. Rick’s speculative theories on character and continuity may have been inspired by Philip José Farmer, but were never bound by Farmer or anyone else’s parameters. Rick’s brilliant and provocative flights of fantasy informed, inspired, and even infuriated readers, but kept them coming back for the next article or book. Later in life, Rick made the natural progression from scholar to storyteller as he began creating works that supplement and expand upon his literary speculations. Among his many books are Chronology of Shadows: A Timeline of The Shadow’s Exploits, The Return of Judex, The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze, Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Daring Adventurers, Rick Lai’s Secret Histories: Criminal Masterminds, and Shadows of the Opera: Retribution in Blood. Rick has also presented at PulpFest and written many articles for The Pulp Collector, Pulp Vault, Echoes, Blood ‘n’ Thunder, and other periodicals. To learn more about Rick Lai, read “PulpFest Profile — The Shadow of Rick Lai.”
Congratulations to Rick for this most deserved award.
Others nominated for our 2022 award included Airship 27 Productions, John Betancourt, Richard Bleiler, Gene Christie, Henry G. Franke III, Chris Kalb, William Patrick Maynard, Gary Phillips, Sheila Vanderbeek, Howard Wright, and Dan Zimmer.
Nominations are now being accepted for our 2023 Munsey Award. To make a nomination for this prestigious award, please send a short paragraph or two explaining your reasons for the nomination to PulpFest marketing and programming director Mike Chomko. You can reach Mike at mike@pulpfest.com or via regular mail at 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542.
Previous winners of the Lamont, Munsey, or Rusty Award are not eligible for the award. Click here for a list of our previous winners.
The deadline for nominations is May 31, 2022. Please click here for additional details. Thanks for your help.
Pictured above, the Munsey Award was created in 2009 by artist David Saunders, the son of legendary illustrator Norman Saunders. Dan Zimmer of The Illustrated Press and publisher of Illustration Magazineproduced a limited signed and numbered edition of the award. The PulpFest Organizing Committee is indebted to both David and Dan for their generous support of our community.
