The following posts cover the planning and organization of PulpFest 2013, held at the Hyatt Regency Columbus in downtown Columbus, Ohio, from July 25 – 28, 2013. However, we’ve left out posts about “housekeeping chores,” such as registering for the convention, solicitations for Pulpster advertising, and the like.
PulpFest 2013 Plans Are Underway
Sept. 27, 2012 – The PulpFest committee is delighted to announce that our 2013 convention will once again be held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Our 2013 confab will take place from Thursday, July 25 through Sunday, July 28. It will boast the same combination of product and programming that has made PulpFest the must-attend annual event for fans, scholars, and collectors of pulp fiction.
Two very important anniversaries will figure prominently in PulpFest’s 2013 programming. First and foremost, we are celebrating the hero pulp revolution that began 80 years ago in 1933, with the debuts of such popular figures as Doc Savage, The Spider, Nick Carter, Pete Rice, The Lone Eagle, The Phantom Detective, and G-8 and His Battle Aces. The success of Street & Smith’s Shadow pulp, launched two years earlier, spurred this revival of single-character magazines, a dime-novel-era phenomenon. The hero pulps revitalized an industry laid low by the Great Depression, and they dominated the rough-paper field for the rest of the decade. They remain the most avidly collected and frequently reprinted periodicals in the hobby.
We’ll also acknowledge the centennial of Sax Rohmer’s Dr. Fu Manchu, who made his American bow in a February 1913 issue of Collier’s Magazine. In 1933, the initial cycle of short stories was published in hardcover as The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Rohmer’s “Devil Doctor,” the first and greatest “Yellow Peril” villain, was widely imitated in American pop culture; rough-paper knockoffs included The Mysterious Wu Fang and Dr. Yen Sin, two short-lived pulps from Popular Publications.
With so many possibilities for panels and presentations, the PulpFest committee once again plans to offer a full night of programming on Thursday, before the convention’s “official” opening on Friday, so attendees are urged to make early arrival a part of their PulpFest travel plans.
Although the 2013 convention is still ten months away, you can rest assured that the committee is already hard at work on planning and promotion. Ideas for panels and presentations have already been proposed and, as always, we remain open to programming suggestions and volunteer presenters. Most importantly, though, we wanted to let you know that our venue is confirmed. So start saving for the next PulpFest right away and check back periodically for updates.
Chris Kalb adapted our lead image from Walter Baumhofer’s cover art for the March 1933 issue of Doc Savage Magazine. Our featured image is excerpted from Baumhofer’s original cover painting.
Happy Holidays from PulpFest
Dec. 22, 2012 – Here’s wishing everyone the happiest of holiday seasons. As we near 2013 and the eightieth anniversary of the “hero pulp explosion,” when characters such as Doc Savage, G-8, The Spider, and The Phantom Detective were introduced to the reading public, let’s hope there’s a copy of your favorite pulp magazine tucked into Santa’s sack to help tide you over until April 12th, when the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention will begin in the Chicago area.
After you’ve finished celebrating the winter holidays, please stop back at the PulpFest website as we gear up for next “Summer’s Great Pulp Con.” Better still, sign up for our email updates by filling in the little gray box titled “E-Mail List” right here on our home page. And while you’re at it, why not “like” our Facebook page like more than 500 others have. You can also follow PulpFest on Twitter.
Celebrating the Pulp Heroes of 1933
Jan. 23, 2013 – Eighty years ago, following the great success of The Shadow, the pulp industry exploded with eight new single-character magazines. The Phantom Detective, Doc Savage, Nick Carter, The Lone Eagle, G-8 and His Battle Aces, The Spider, and Pete Rice all debuted in their own magazines in the glorious year of 1933. Join PulpFest on Thursday, July 25, to celebrate “The Pulp Heroes of 1933.”
Spring Training for PulpFest
Feb. 23, 2013 – With spring comes baseball, pulp cons, and paperback shows.
Leading off is the 34th annual Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Show. This one-day show will feature appearances by over forty writers … It will take place on Sunday, April 7th, at the Valley Inn and Conference Center in Mission Hills, California.
The Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention is on deck. Now in its 13th year, this Chicago-area event will celebrate ninety years of science-fiction and fantasy magazines with salutes to Weird Tales and the “Scientific Fiction Number” of Hugo Gernsback’s Science and Invention. The convention will be held at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center from April 12 – 14.
The #3 hole features the South’s leading “pulp culture” convention, PulpArk. A writers’ conference and pulp convention, it focuses on the methodology of pulp fiction, storytelling involving “action, adventure, larger-than-life heroes and villains, and a strong focus on both plot and characterization.” … PulpArk will take place April 26 – 28 at the Holiday Inn Springdale Hotel and Convention Center in Springdale, Arkansas.
Batting clean-up on May 11 is Canada’s premier pulp event, the 17th annual Fantastic Pulps Show & Sale at the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library in Toronto, Ontario.
Batting fifth, May 17 – 19, is the 2013 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering, hosted by the Chicago Muckers, the regional chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. It will be held at the Quality Inn in Morris, Illinois, and feature artist Mike Hoffman as its guest of honor.
Cinevent 45 is slotted in at number six and will take place over Memorial Day weekend, May 24 – 27. In addition to 170 tables of movie-related collectibles such as posters, lobby cards, press kits, DVDs, and 16 mm films, Cinevent features an extensive schedule of classic sound and silent films and one of the country’s largest live auctions of vintage posters. It will be held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Robert E. Howard Days is installed at number seven on June 7 – 8 at the Robert E. Howard House & Museum in Cross Plains, Texas. This annual gathering of fans of Two-Gun Bob is presented by Project Pride of Cross Plains and sponsored by the Robert E. Howard Foundation, with help from the members of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association. Tim Truman, artist and writer for Dark Horse Comics, will be guest of honor.
Later this spring and batting eighth is Classicon 43, one of the first pulp and paperback shows ever established. Featuring 35 tables and thousands of collectible pulp magazines, paperbacks, vintage comic books, original artwork, and more, it is held twice a year in Lansing, Michigan, and organized by the Curious Book Shop.
At the bottom of the line-up is the best pulp event of all, the summertime destination for fans and collectors of vintage popular fiction and related materials, PulpFest 2013. Join us July 25 – 28 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus for summer’s great pulp con.
The 2013 Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention saluted ninety years of science fiction and fantasy magazines, including the August 1923 issue of Hugo Gernsback’s Science and Invention magazine, its “Scientific Fiction Number,” with front cover art by Howard V. Brown.
Buying & Selling at PulpFest 2013
June 16, 2013 – Every great pulp con is centered around its dealers’ room, and this year, PulpFest will be hosting about fifty sellers of pulp magazines and related materials, vintage paperbacks, digests, men’s adventure and true crime magazines, first edition hardcovers, series books, dime novels, original art, Big Little Books, Golden and Silver Age comic books, vintage films and radio programs, and other pop culture collectibles. Over 100 tables of material will be available.
The PulpFest dealers’ room will be in the Regency Ballroom, a 15,800-square-foot gathering space with wide aisles and spacious work areas for our sellers. Located on the third floor of the Hyatt Regency Columbus, the ballroom can accommodate up to 1600 people at any given moment.
The PulpFest dealers’ room will be open to all registered attendees from 9 AM to 5 PM on July 26 and 27, and from 9 AM until 2 PM on Sunday, July 28.
The 2013 Munsey Award Nominees
June 16, 2013 – The PulpFest Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that thirteen individuals were nominated by their peers for the 2013 Munsey Award. This year, no one was nominated for the elite Rusty Hevelin Service Award.
The following nominees will be forwarded to a committee of all living Lamont, Munsey, and Rusty Award winners, who will select the recipient of the 2013 Munsey Award.
These individuals include Charles Ardai, William G. Contento, Randy Cox, Chris Kalb, Steve Miller, Laurie Powers, Garyn Roberts, Phil Stephensen-Payne, Celina Summers, J. Barry Traylor, George Vanderburgh, Howard Wright, and Dan Zimmer.
The recipient of the 2013 Munsey Award, a limited edition print designed by artist and pulp enthusiast David Saunders, will be announced on July 27 as part of the Saturday evening programming, open to all PulpFest 2013 registrants.
Tonik Auction Continues!
July 12, 2013 – One of PulpFest’s many highlights is its Saturday night auction. Organized by J. Barry Traylor and a gaggle of enthusiastic volunteers, the auction is always the final programming event of summer’s great pulp con. Any registered convention member may submit items for auction as long as they meet PulpFest’s guidelines.
PulpFest is proud that this year’s auction will include 115 lots of approximately 250 books from collector and scholar Al Tonik’s huge library of hardcovers, paperbacks, pulps, dime novels, comic books, fanzines, and reference books. At its 2012 convention, PulpFest sold about seventy percent of the Tonik collection, with more than $15,000 in bids on a wide range of items. The remaining lots are hard-to-find reference books and author biographies. Over many years, Albert Tonik was a leading scholar of pulp history. The winner of the 1994 Lamont Award, Al researched aspects of pulp history previously covered sketchily and loved sharing his knowledge with our community.
In addition to the Tonik material, PulpFest will accept about 100 lots from registered PulpFest 2013 members. However, because of the substantial number of Tonik lots, we may limit the number of lots each consignee can offer.
PulpFest‘s annual Saturday night auction will start at approximately 9:30 PM on July 27, following the conclusion of Chris Kalb’s presentation, “Hero Pulp Premiums and Promotions. “Remember to bring your convention badge. We’ll use your badge number when buying and/or selling during the auction. Our auctioneers will be Adventure House‘s John Gunnison and Joseph Saine, a full-time proprietor of an antique toy shop and licensed auctioneer from northwest Ohio.
Why PulpFest?
The following is a guest post, written by longtime pulp fan, Walker Martin.
July 23, 2013 – Readers and Collectors! We are down to the final minutes now. It’s time to separate the non-collectors from the collectors. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Pulpfest 2013 begins this Thursday, July 25, and continues through Sunday, July 28 in Columbus, Ohio. The complete details are at pulpcon.com.
Will you be one of the millions of poor souls that do NOT attend PulpFest? Or will you be among the elite of old magazine collectors, those that DO attend? I’m talking about the 400 or so pulp, digest, paperback, book, and original art collectors who will be swarming to the pulp collecting center of the universe. In April it was Chicago for Windy City, and now in July, it is Columbus, Ohio.
I’ve heard all the reasons for not attending this pulp convention, and there is no acceptable excuse! Illness? Hell, I knew a collector who attended knowing he had a terminal illness and would be dead in a few months. I once attended with a busted back, wrapped up like a mummy, not able to sit down for the entire convention. Every 40 minutes I had to stop the car and get out to stretch and walk around. For awhile I was almost positive that I wasn’t going to make it and I started stopping near hotels in case I had to give up and just lay in a bed for a couple weeks.
But the thought of my collection kept me going. The visions of more SF magazines, more detective and adventure pulps, more westerns. The artwork, the original cover paintings, the interior illustrations. The stacks of digest magazines, the vintage paperbacks. The friends and old pals that I enjoyed talking to and seeing once again. Some of the best friendships in my life are now stretching beyond the 40-year mark. I just had lunch with a collector that I’ve know since 1970 and we talked about books for 3 hours straight. How could I not attend the pulp convention? When I returned home, I took 4 weeks off from work to recuperate from my back problems. Let’s face it, our collections are more important than some job that just pays the bills.
Speaking of money, I’ve heard the excuse about not having the cash to attend the convention. I never let this stop me. Sometimes I borrowed the money from the bank or the credit union. I even borrowed money from my wife. You know you have to be desperate to ask for help from a non-collector! I’ve used my credit cards, pension money, money set aside for bills. I mean we are talking about a serious addiction here!
To be a serious book or old magazine collector, is a calling of the highest order. You are not just some wage slave like the other millions of non-collectors. No, you are a Collector with a capital C. You don’t just eat, work, watch TV, and sleep. And then repeat it day after day like most poor bastards. YOU READ! You Collect valuable and rare artifacts.
In this era of electronic gadgets, you actually collect non-electronic books and pulps. I mean how cool is that? No computer geek can stand up to that. E-books look pitiful next to a beautiful real, hard-copy book. You can’t collect E-books like pulps. A stack of pulps is a thing of beauty. The smell, the look, the feel. And they are worth money!
I’ve tried many addictions and they can’t compare to collecting books and pulps. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, all can destroy your health and finances. I won’t even get into sex. Sexual habits can ruin you just like any addiction or at the very least, you will find yourself married to a non-collector!
So there is still time to say to hell with your job and personal responsibilities. Your family can do without you for a few days. Your book addiction needs to be fed. Your Collection must be extended and made larger. You need more books!
PulpFest awaits …
From July 24 – 27, 2013, several reports cover the trip to PulpFest 2013 and what awaits you day by day. Afterward, the following report appeared.
And the Winner Is . . .
July 27, 2013 – Garyn G. Roberts has been named the winner of the 2013 Munsey Award. Nominated by the general pulp community, Garyn was selected by a vote of all living Lamont, Munsey, and Rusty Award winners. The award is a fine art print by Dan Zimmer of a painting by David Saunders, presented annually to someone who has worked for the betterment of the pulp community.
Garyn has worked in higher education for many years, teaching English and popular culture studies. He is also an unabashed fan of the pulps. Garyn has written extensively about the pulps, both professionally and as a fan. He has edited or co-edited some of the best collections from the pulps, including A Cent a Story: The Best from Ten Detective Aces, More Tales of the Defective Detective in the Pulps, The Compleat Adventures of the Moon Man, The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo, and The Compleat Great Merlini Saga. His insightful essays in these books and elsewhere have deepened understanding of the pulps both inside and outside the pulp community. His anthology, The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a college-level textbook, is notable for its attention to pulp magazines. Additionally, Garyn has helped other researchers with various pulp-related projects and regularly attends pulp conventions, where he often serves as a presenter and panelist. Last year’s Munsey Award winner, Matt Moring, publisher of Altus Press, recently said about Garyn: “He’s been nothing but helpful and outgoing with anything I’ve ever asked of him.” That pretty much describes how Professor Roberts responds to all the requests the pulp community makes of him.
Other nominees for this year’s award included Charles Ardai, J. Randolph Cox, Stephen T. Miller, Laurie Powers, J. Barry Traylor, George Vanderburgh, Dan Zimmer, William G. Contento, Chris Kalb, Phil Stephensen-Payne, Celina Summers, and Howard Wright. John DeWalt also received votes.
On August 5, 2013, PulpFest received a lengthy thank you note from Garyn Roberts. Click here for a pdf. Garyn’s note is followed by a comment from Walker Martin, dated August 15, 2013.
Many Thanks
Aug. 1, 2013 – Year after year, countless individuals and organizations help make PulpFest an enjoyable experience for those who choose to attend “Summer’s Great Pulp Con.” The PulpFest Organizing Committee thanks the following people and organizations for their invaluable assistance in making PulpFest 2013 a wonderful weekend. We could not have done it without you:
Our all-volunteer front desk staff: Maura Childers, Sam Childers, Aaron Cullers, Jack Cullers, Sally Cullers, Samantha Cullers, and Tess Massey; our panelists, presenters, and auctioneers: Jim Beard, Christopher Paul Carey, Nick Carr, Gene Christie, Win Scott Eckert, Ron Fortier, John Gunnison, Ed Hulse, Don Hutchison, Chris Kalb, Rick Lai, Nathan Madison, William Patrick Maynard, Matt Moring, Will Murray, Van Allen Plexico, Roger Price, Garyn Roberts, Joseph Saine, David Saunders, Frank Schildiner, Art Sippo, and John Allen Small; our behind-the-scenes help: Mike Chomko, Mike Croteau of FarmerCon, Ohio State’s Eric Johnson, Chris Kalb, Lohr McKinstry, Rick and Renee Thomas, Barry Traylor, Chuck Welch, Dan Zimmer, and the staff of the Hyatt Regency Columbus.
The Organizing Committee would also like to thank the people who helped to create The Pulpster #22: editor and designer Bill Lampkin and proofreader Peter Chomko, plus contributors Michael Chomko, Tony Davis, Monte Herridge, Tom Johnson, John Locke, Nathan Vernon Madison, William Patrick Maynard, Vella Munn, Will Murray, Laurie Powers, William Preston, David Rajchel, George Vanderburgh; the magazine’s sponsors: Baen Books, The Comic Book Shop in Spokane, Washington, Doug Frizzle, Richard Halegua, Heartwood Auctions, Larry Latham and Lovecraft is Missing, Murania Press, Pro Se Productions, The Pulp Factory, Radio Archives (who also provided the door prizes for PulpFest 2013), Stark House Press, Alfred R. Taylor, Titan Books, and Weird Tales.
Many thanks as well to the nominators and the Lamont Award, Munsey Award, and Rusty Hevelin Service Award winners who helped select this year’s Munsey winner, Garyn G. Roberts. Congratulations to Garyn and to all of the nominees for our 2013 awards.
Again, we’d like to thank the following organizations for the books and similar items that were donated to PulpFest for distribution to our members: John Huckans and Book Source Magazine, Engle Publishing and The Paper & Advertising Collectors’ Marketplace, the Estate of Rusty Hevelin, Gordon Van Gelder and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tom Brown and Radio Archives, Greg Shepard and Stark House Press, and Charles F. Millhouse and Stormgate Publishing.
Finally, thanks to all of the conventions, book and paper fairs, bookstores, comic and collectible shops, websites, magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets that helped to promote our show as well as the dealers, attending members, and supporting members of PulpFest 2013. Your encouragement and support made our convention a success. We hope to see you all back next summer along with a good many newcomers for PulpFest 2014. Details will follow in the coming months. Please subscribe to our PulpFest email list through the small gray box found along the right side of our home page. You’ll also find information on our Facebook page and our Twitter account.
If you’d like to volunteer for PulpFest 2014, please email Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com, or Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com.
Meet Chuck Welch
On this day when we salute the American worker, PulpFest is pleased to welcome its newest “laborer,” Chuck Welch, to its organizing committee. A Wisconsin resident, Chuck began attending pulp cons in the late nineties. After starting a family, he rejoined PulpFest several years back and has been a devoted attendee ever since. Here’s what Chuck has to say about himself:
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 the summer pulp convention in the late 1990s. After meeting his future wife at one of those conventions, Chuck took some time off to start a family. At Bill Mann’s behest, he returned to attend PulpFest.
As is his wont, Chuck immediately started volunteering and making suggestions to Jack, Barry, Ed, and Mike. Fed up with his puppy-dog eyes, the fearsome foursome asked Chuck to join the team. Recently moved and having foisted off his old businesses, Chuck accepted. His goal for PulpFest 2014 is to not have any other members call for his head.
Chuck lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with his wife and daughter. Though the youngest Welch has access to three complete collections of Doc Savage novels, she hasn’t yet found her parents’ love for the character. A generalist at heart, Chuck won’t claim an expert’s knowledge in any area of pulps or pulp collecting. However, he brings technical expertise in social media, new and dinosaur journalism, and organization.
Please welcome Chuck as one of the planners of PulpFest, “The Summer’s Great Pulp Con!”
Emmett Watson contributed the cover for the April 1937 issue of Railroad Stories, published by the Frank A. Munsey Company.
Autumn Leaves and Pulp Cons
With fall just two weeks away, our thoughts are turning to autumn’s vibrant colors and the bevy of conventions coming up.
Running from September 19 – 21, 2013, the annual Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention will take place at the Wyndham Hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The brainchild of PulpFest dealer Martin Grams and his wife, Michelle, the convention is a three-day festival designed to stimulate interest in nostalgia. During the event, you can watch screenings of vintage movies and television shows, world premiere documentaries, Hollywood celebrities posing for photos and signing autographs for fans, slide show seminars from authors and historians, and visit over 200 vendor tables featuring retro merchandise, antiques, and collectibles. It’s a lot of fun.
For the last 25 years, Gary Lovisi has hosted the New York City Collectible Paperback & Pulp Fiction Expo. This one-day show centers on a dealers’ room featuring tens of thousands of vintage and collectible paperbacks, pulps, digests, and men’s adventure magazines, videos and DVDs, original art, hardcovers, and much more. The guest list is always substantial, and this year’s convention is no exception … Gary’s expo will happen on Sunday, October 13, at the Holiday Inn at 440 West 57th Street in the Big Apple.
On October 18, Doc Con 16 will take place at the Comfort Suites in Glendale, Arizona. Dedicated to the fans of bronze and the eightieth anniversary of America’s first superhero, Doc Savage, the convention will run through Sunday, October 20. The convention promises to be fast-paced and entertaining.
Bordentown’s Ramada Inn, just off exit 7 of the New Jersey Turnpike, will become a pulp-collecting Mecca on Saturday, November 2nd, when Rich Harvey’s Pulp Adventurecon moves into its banquet area. “There’s something for everyone, whether you collect H. P. Lovecraft or Dashiell Hammett, The Shadow or Doc Savage, Argosy or Black Mask … the list could, quite possibly, be endless.” This one-day event is always a lot of fun.
On the same day, many miles to the north, Classicon 44 comes to the University Quality Inn, located in Lansing, Michigan. One of the first-established pulp and paperback shows, Classicon offers thousands of collectible pulp magazines, digests, and paperbacks for sale or trade. Also available are vintage comic books, pin-ups and calendars, original paperback art from the fifties and sixties, and much more. PulpFest dealer Ray Walsh and his Curious Book Shop host it.
So while you await PulpFest 2014, why not try one of these fine shows? If you do, please tell them that PulpFest sent you. See you next summer in Columbus, Ohio.
The original posts reproduced above were all written by Mike Chomko and/or Ed Hulse unless noted otherwise.
