Sun 13 Nov 2016
COLLECTING PULPS: A Memoir, Part 18, by Walker Martin: THE IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDS.
Posted by Steve under Collecting , Columns , Conventions , Pulp Fiction[25] Comments
The Importance of Friends
by Walker Martin
This series has been stressing the joy of collecting pulps and books, but also of great importance is surrounding yourself with like-minded friends. I cannot overstress the importance of this factor in collecting.
The simple fact is that the great majority of the people that we come in contact with are not collectors at all and don’t really have any understanding or sympathy with our love of collecting books and pulps. They are non-collectors pure and simple, and when they see our collections, they may say that the collection is great or of interest, but usually what they are thinking is along the lines of why don’t you sell the books; why don’t you clean up this clutter; why don’t you see a therapist to address this problem of hoarding…
Since they are non-collectors, they just about have to think these things and thus be unsympathetic to your collecting interests. So it is of great importance to have friends that collect also in order to preserve your sanity and keep enjoying your collection. And I’m not talking about just long distance friends that live far away in another city. I’m talking about friends that visit you and talk about book and pulp collecting. I’m just recovering from five days of intense interaction with such friends. The excuse for us gathering together was the Pulp Adventurecon pulp convention which was held in Bordentown NJ on November 5, 2016. This was the 17th year that this annual one-day show was held and I’ve attended all of them. Following is a summary of what happened each of the 5 days as the book collecting friends visited me in Trenton, NJ:
Wednesday, November 2 — Matt Moring of Altus Press and the owner of the rights to Popular Publications and Munsey drove down from the Boston area and spent all five days discussing future plans, pulps, original artwork, and his Altus Press pulp reprints which have now passed the 200 book mark. Several more collections in his Dime Detective Library have just been released and are available at the Altus Press website, Mike Chomko Books, and amazon.com. But the big news was about the second volume of the Race Williams BLACK MASK stories. Titled THE SNARL OF THE BEAST, it will be available at the end of November. It is a big book and looks like a black tombstone which is sort of suitable for a Carrol John Daly hard boiled book.
While having dinner with long time friend and pulp collector Digges La Touche (hereafter referred to as The Major since he retired as a Major in the Air Force and his favorite pulp series is The Major by L. Patrick Greene) Matt showed us an amazing sight, one I never thought I’d see ever again. He is publishing three of the best pulp magazine titles, picking up the volume number where it was when the magazines ceased publication. The titles are BLACK MASK, ARGOSY, and FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES. They are slightly larger than the pulp format and each issue has a new story in addition to reprints. Plans are for later issues to also have articles and interviews. And here I thought the pulps were dead!
Thursday, November 3 — An area collector has decided to reward his long time friends by inviting them to his storage areas (he has several) and letting them take their choice of books, no charge, subject to his final approval since there are some titles he cannot bear to let go. No pulps are included but many hardback and paperback books are available. This is by invitation only and only for his good friends. Sai Shanker, who is one of the very few pulp collectors from India joined Matt and me and we carried out several boxes of books. Now that is what I mean about the importance of friends!
We all had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together while talking about books, pulps, movies, and artwork. I can’t name the non-collectors that I’d want to eat all three meals with during the day. But the passion of collecting books is a great feeling and one you want to share with other collectors. So I ate and drank too much but it was like being at an all day party. But a party unlike the usual parties because everyone was talking about books!
Friday, November 4 — The celebration continued as I hosted a pulp luncheon for around a dozen of my book collecting friends. Fellow collectors started to arrive at 11:00 am and the only non-collector present was my wife. After a few hours of hearing us talk about books, she had to leave because non-collectors can only take so much. Books, books, books…
Among those present were Jack Seabrook, expert on Fred Brown and the TV show ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS; Jack Irwin, long time pulp collector who actually bought the magazines off the newsstands; Ed Hulse, publisher of BLOOD n THUNDER magazine; Paul Herman, art and BLACK MASK collector; Nick Certo, long time pulp dealer and art collector; Scott Hartshorn, another long time collector; and of course Matt Moring, Sai Shanker, and The Major.
After several hours we then went to dinner at an Irish pub where we continued to talk about pulps and books. To a collector, this is like heaven, being with like minded book lovers, talking about that great subject, collecting books. Hell, we even read the things!
Saturday, November 5 — The Major picked me up at 7:30 am and by 8:00 am we were at the Bordentown convention which always is held at a Ramada Inn on route 206. The official opening time is 10:00, but dealers started to set up at 7:00 am. I had a table next to my good friends Scott Hartshorn and Mike Chomko. Sai, Matt, and The Major did not have tables but they were always nearby and ready to discuss literary subjects. Also close by with tables were Ed Hulse, Paul Herman, and Nick Certo.
There were almost 50 dealers’ tables crammed into the room and all sorts of books and magazines were represented. Each Pulp Adventurecon gets better and better and this 17th edition was the largest yet. Well over 100 attendees and the room was busy until 4:00 when we started to pack up. I price things to sell and I sold several SF pulps which were all priced at only $5.00 each. Same with some DVDs, many still in shrink wrap. I also had nine SHADOW digests which I priced at only $10 each, maybe the bargain of the show. I sold seven of them, and then someone wanted a discount on the final two, like the 2 for $15 I guess. I told him they were priced at rock bottom and he walked away. Collectors!
I found some bargains: 22 issues of my favorite SF fanzine, FANTASY COMMENTATOR. Price around $3.00 each. I have many of them already but at that price I might as well get them all. The same thing with SCREAM FACTORY, a great magazine which I have some copies of, but I don’t remember which ones. I bought a stack of them for $3.00 each. I also found a big bound copy of CHUMS, the British boy’s magazine. Unreadable crap of course, but the artwork was interesting and the price even more interesting at only $5.00.
After the show closed, we all drove to the near-by Mastoris Diner, which is a famous landmark restaurant known for its large portions and baked pastry. About a dozen of us devoured as much as we could, but even then they give you so much it is difficult to finish.
As usual I noticed I was the only one drinking. Only beer, true, but I’m a firm believer in the Mediterranean diet which consists of plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish, and not much meat. Also wine and beer each day. So far it’s working for me…
Sunday, November 6 — The fifth and final day. Several of us were invited back to the free book storage area, and we met for breakfast before devouring more books. Food may finally kill your appetite but my appetite for books never ends.
So ends five intense days of friends discussing all sorts of bookish topics. Now I have to catch up on my reading!
A SPECIAL NOTE OF THANKS to Sai Shankar for the use of the photos you see above.
November 14th, 2016 at 11:10 am
Walker, I wish I could have gone this year. It sounds better than Pulpfest.
Excellent report. I may go to Windy City this year, it got me so charged up for pulps and good conversation.
November 14th, 2016 at 11:16 am
Lohr, for a one day convention Pulp Adventurecon is quite impressive. It started out so small 17 years ago but now is a major one day show that pulp collectors look forward to after Windy City and Pulpfest.
You are so right about good conversation. Without it, we might lose interest.
November 14th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
Unfortunately, due to circumstances not under my control, I wasn’t able to attend any of the pulp and paperbacks shows this year. Your reports on all three have told me just how much I missed out on, Walker, as if I didn’t already know.
Next year has to be better. I hope so!
November 14th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
Steve, you were missed and hopefully you will be once again attending the conventions. What’s more fun than a room full of books and pulps? Please don’t answer that!
November 14th, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Believe it or not, there are some of us non-collectors out here who admire and respect what you do. I don’t consider it hoarding, but preservation. I understand why you love these things, and would never have the sorts of thoughts that you mention about selling the clutter or seeing a shrink about your problem. And I think old pulps smell good, too.
I love reading anything you write on the subject, even though I am not a collector. Lots of the things I enjoy reading are direct descendants of the stories in the magazines that you and your friends collect. Lots of the things I have enjoyed reading actually were originally published in pulps. Keep it up, man!
November 14th, 2016 at 6:22 pm
Thanks for your support Howard. I try and write these memoirs with a sense of humor but sometimes I may get carried away. I include readers like you as people I respect a lot. I once had a good friend, Steve Kennedy, a pulp art dealer, who used to say without collectors and readers, we would not be able to preserve the old magazines and save them for history.
November 14th, 2016 at 7:46 pm
What a great report! Thanks for inviting me this year.
November 14th, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Walker, every time you write one of these reports, I go look at my calendar and try to figure out why I’m always somewhere else pre-committed. Maybe Windy City 2017! … it feels like ten years since I’ve been there. Thanks for telling these tales!
November 14th, 2016 at 11:26 pm
Jack I’m glad to have met you. I’ve always liked Fred Brown’s SF and crime fiction and I’m looking forward to reading your introduction in the big collection of Brown’s mystery fiction being published by Haffner Press. Hopefully by next year we will be able to hold the book in our hands and say, “Here it is!”
November 14th, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Mike, I remember when you were last at Windy City. It does seem like ten years but hopefully you can make it next year. We have to support these pulp conventions or we might wake up one day like the dime novel collectors and find it’s all gone! I know how committed you are to fiction magazines and the shows revive our interest.
November 16th, 2016 at 6:07 am
As always Walker you did an information packed and fun to read article. Keep up the good work.
November 16th, 2016 at 7:47 am
Thanks Barry. I enjoy the pulp conventions so much and I guess it shows in the reports. Bibliomania has to be the greatest vice and addiction.
November 16th, 2016 at 1:53 pm
By the way, Sai Shanker, who provided the photos for this article, also has a blog called PULPFLAKES. He has also done a report of the Pulp Adventurecon show and it has many nice photos. Check it out at http://pulpflakes.blogspot.com
November 16th, 2016 at 10:05 pm
>> What’s more fun than a room full of books and pulps? Please don’t answer that!
That’s easy, Walker. It’s a house full of books pulps, art and friends to discuss them all with.
Thanks again for hosting us all; it was a great break from work. As for Pulp Adventurecon, it just keeps getting better each year. And i’ll try to post more stuff this holiday season.
November 17th, 2016 at 3:31 am
Thanks for the report. I’ve been enjoying this site’s pulpcon reports for a while now. In fact, they’ve started me on the bug — my wife sarcastically thanks you for the new and expensive hobby.
I’ve been taken with some of the art in particular. Would anyone know of a good resource to identify who the cover artist for such-and-such magazine was? I have this Spring 1952 issue of 5 Detective Novels and there’s no info in the magazine as to who painted the cover (a common problem, I gather).
November 17th, 2016 at 7:38 am
Keith, I know what you are talking about because my wife has had to put up with me slowly taking over the entire house. I’m now in all 5 bedrooms with books, pulps, and original art.
I took a look at 5 DETECTIVE NOVELS for Spring 1952 but I don’t recognize the cover artist. The best source for pulp artists is pulpartist.com which is a website created by David Saunders, the son of the great pulp artist, Norman Saunders. It is full of information on the lives and careers of the artists. But it often is a hard task to identify a specific cover.
November 17th, 2016 at 6:57 pm
Keith, Cover artist information can often be found at the wonderful Galactic Central site which has many magazine indexes.
In this particular case, however, there is no attribution in the magazine, no visible signature on the cover, and no information in the FictionMags index. So no luck with that.
November 17th, 2016 at 11:05 pm
Thank you both very much for your time.
November 17th, 2016 at 11:11 pm
I actually just received a mail from Mr. Saunders, who I contacted for help, and he tells me that it was painted by Rudolph Belarski. So that solves that at least.
Again, all the best.
November 17th, 2016 at 11:47 pm
I’m glad you contacted David Saunders on the Pulpartist.com site. He’s a real expert on figuring out cover artists. As Sai indicates, Galactic Central and The FictionMags Index are great resources. I’m always checking information and finding answers by looking at them.
November 18th, 2016 at 12:10 am
Walker,
Great report as always. As you said we all had a great time. Since the Bordentown show ran for 5 days (for us) it is actually longer then either Chicago or Columbus. Your paean to friends is completely correct. You and I have been friends for over 40 years and life would be dull without you. The great thing about the hobby is meeting new friends like Sai and Matt.
November 18th, 2016 at 12:16 am
Digges is right about meeting new friends like Sai and Matt Moring. Only in the pulp and book collecting field could you be good friends with guys who are 30 years younger! Digges and I are in our 70’s and Sai and Matt are in their 40’s. Despite the age difference we all love pulps and books and our shared passion for collecting brings us together.
November 18th, 2016 at 12:04 pm
Of course, the show wouldn’t have been possible without my darling Audrey Parente. She is the co-sponsor of the show, as well as editor of Bold Venture Press. Pulp Adventurecon would be just a memory without her.
November 18th, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Rich
Congratulations to both you and Audrey for what sounds like another great show. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to put on shows like yours, even one-day only ones. I wich could have been there, but hopefully things will work out better for me next year.
November 18th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
Rich, you and Audrey have done an impressive job with this convention. 17 annual shows without missing a year is quite an achievement. Congratulations to both of you. I’ve attended every one of the shows and they all have been very enjoyable.