Wed 2 Mar 2011
LOU CAMERON: A Crime Fiction Bibliography & Cover Gallery.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Crime Films[18] Comments
According to his entry in Wikipedia, before he became a writer, the multi-talented Lou Cameron was a comic book illustrator, a fact that I did not know before putting this page together, with his work for Classics Illustrated being perhaps the most well known.
Listed below are his crime fiction titles (only) as included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, along with as many covers as I have been able to come up.
He also wrote many westerns, both in the traditional vein and for several of the “adult” sexy western series. He created the “Longarm” series, for example, as Tabor Evans; wrote most if not all of the Stringer series; and as Ramsey Thorne, the “Renegade” novels.
In 1976, Cameron won a WWA Spur award in 1976 for his novel The Spirit Horses.
More? He has written war novels, adventure novels, science fiction, movie novelizations and more, most of which you can find listed on the Wikipedia page (see above).
When James Reasoner reviewed Cameron’s western novel The Buntline Special on his blog last year about this same time, he filled in some the details of Cameron’s career and spoke highly of his very effective and distinctive writing style.
Lou Cameron didn’t write for the pulp magazines, but throughout his writing career, he has been a Grand Master of pulp fiction, no doubt about it.
LOU CAMERON. 1924- . Pseudonyms: Julie Cameron & Dagmar.
Angel’s Flight (n.) Gold Medal 1960
The Empty Quarter (n.) Gold Medal 1962 [Saudi Arabia]
The Sky Divers (n.) Gold Medal 1962
The Block Busters (n.) McKay 1964 [New York City, NY]
The Dragon’s Spine (n.) Avon 1968 [Viet Nam]
File on a Missing Redhead (n.) Gold Medal 1968 [Las Vegas, NV]
The Outsider (n.) Popular Library 1969 [Los Angeles, CA]
The Amphorae Pirates (n.) Random 1970 [Italy]
Before It’s Too Late (n.) Gold Medal 1970
Behind the Scarlet Door (n.) Gold Medal 1971
The Girl with the Dynamite Bangs (n.) Lancer 1973 [Brazil]
Barca (n.) Berkley 1974 [New Jersey]
The Closing Circle (n.) Berkley 1974 [New York City, NY]
Tancredi (n.) Berkley 1975 [New Jersey]
Dekker (n.) Berkley 1976
The Sky Riders (n.) Gold Medal 1976 [Greece]
Code Seven (n.) Berkley 1977
The Subway Stalker (n.) Dell 1980
The Hot Car (n.) Avon 1981 [Los Angeles, CA]
JULIE CAMERON. Pseudonym of Lou Cameron.
The Darklings (Berkley, 1975, pb)
Devil in the Pines (Berkley, 1975, pb)
DAGMAR. Pseudonym of Lou Cameron.
The Spy with the Blue Kazoo (Lancer, 1967, pb) [Regina; Central America]
The Spy Who Came In from the Copa (Lancer, 1967, pb) [Regina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]
[UPDATE] 03-04-11. Bill Crider’s nostalgic review of File on a Missing Redhead appears today on his blog, complete with details of what was happening on the same day that he read it the first time, January 27, 1969.
March 2nd, 2011 at 11:11 pm
It’s safe to say that I would be a lot poorer, both as a reader and a writer, if not for Lou Cameron. In Longarm he created a great character that I enjoyed as a reader for more than ten years before I ever started writing them. And for the past nineteen years as one of the writers, I thoroughly enjoyed chronicling some of the adventures of Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long.
Years before that, though, I picked up Cameron’s tie-in novel for the short-lived private eye series THE OUTSIDER, read it, and knew that I’d found another good author. I read many a Lou Cameron novel after that and enjoyed them all. My favorites of his Western novels are DOC TRAVIS and NORTH TO DURANGO, both about the same character.
March 2nd, 2011 at 11:46 pm
James –
I’m glad you mentioned THE OUTSIDER. Starring Darren McGavin as private eye David Ross for one short season on NBC, 1968-69, and created by Roy Huggins, I remember it as the best loner PI show ever produced. As I recall, it was canceled when a furor arose over too much violence on television, but it was McGavin’s tough but vulnerable portrayal of a PI — sensitive even? — a guy that success had turned its back on — that made the program a success.
When Cameron’s tie-in novel came out, I grabbed it up immediately. Although I haven’t read it since then, I thought it caught the tone of the series perfectly.
That was the first time I’d seen Lou Cameron’s name on a book, but it wasn’t the last. I have most of his crime fiction books and some of his westerns, but what doing a brief tribute to an author like this does the most is to shame me into realizing how many of his books I still haven’t read!
— Steve
March 3rd, 2011 at 7:12 am
Lou Cameron aside from being a writer whose work I have always enjoyed (if I spot a book with his name on it or a pseudonym that I know is his work I automatically grab it), was also a great comic book artist, and his adaptations of WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, and THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE among the best and most collectible of all CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comics (all three have been reprinted and available in deluxe formats).
He did other good work in the comics, but those three, and especially the two H.G. Wells adaptations are held in high regard. His vision of both works are how I see them when I reread the novels.
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:26 am
Cameron’s pb original WWII novels — particularly THE BLACK CAMP from Gold Medal and THE FIRST BLOOD from Lancer — were outstanding. Two of the protagonists from the war novels meet up in the 1960s Saudi Arabian oil fields in THE EMPTY QUARTER.
March 3rd, 2011 at 3:21 pm
The Dagmar book covers say “Top TV and stage star.” Were these ghost written for the singer/actress of the same name?
I remember an old Merv Griffin novelty tune called “23 Starlets and Me” that had a chorus that started “With Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Betty Hutton, Betty Grable…” and ended with Merv shouting ecstatically, “DAGMAR!” I may have seen a movie or two with her in my decades of old movie watching, but that song will always be my memory of Dagmar.
The covers are bizarre considering that the spy is apparently a woman: “…a super heroine who struggles to save the world from a dangerous love disease.” HA! Were they marketed to women?
March 3rd, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Fred
I’ve never read one of Cameron’s war novels, but that’s no discredit to him. I’ve read very few war novels by anyone, with a few exceptions that everyone’s heard of.
On your recommendation though, next time I see any of the ones you mention, I’ll be sure to pick them up.
To see many the covers that I didn’t post, including his westerns and war novels, here’s the webpage you should visit:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/lou-cameron/
John
I’ve always assumed it’s the same Dagmar who was supposed to be the author. I don’t suppose many people have heard of her today, unless you’re of a certain age, but how many Dagmar’s could there be in show business known by only one name?
On the other hand, the real life Dagmar’s TV career was mostly over by the early 1950s, and the books were published in 1967. If it was she who was supposed to have written the books, she must have attained celebrity status by then, and was famous for being famous.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_%28American_actress%29
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0196785/
As to your second question, I have always meant to read one of the Dagmar books, but while I’ve always admired the covers, I’ve never delved inside.
Lancer did a lot of sexy spy stuff at the time, though, a la the Ted Mark books, and I always got the impression that was how they were marketed. Not to women, by any means.
But I could be wrong!
— Steve
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Steve
Re Dagmar she hung on well into the late fifties and early sixties — at least as long as the TONIGHT SHOW was out of New York and Steve Allen and Merv Griffin had shows. She was a regular on Jack Paar’s Tonight Show until he self destructed.
Certainly her fame had faded, but then I would have said she was best known for the appearances with Jack Paar which lingered into the sixties in one form or another.
It was still a marketable name by the time these books appeared though.
And yes, I would agree the entire soft core spy school of Ted Mark, Troy Conway, etc. was aimed at males — though there were any number of female series like the Baroness, Lady from L.U.S.T., and such. There was even a satirical gay series — but again aimed at men.
I wonder if The Man From ORGY, Coxeman, 0008, of any of those soft core series of the era had much of a female audience? I wouldn’t think so. They were mostly written by men too — Michael Avallone, Gardner Fox, William Knowles to name a few of the better known names behind the pseudonyms.
March 4th, 2011 at 2:48 am
And as with Wellen, I’ll pipe up with a reference (superfluous after the Fantastic FIction citation, probably) to something not quite as sfnal as it might first look, the first Cameron I came across, my father’s copy of the sf/cf crossover CYBERNIA.
May 16th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Great post and comments. I married to Lou’s daughter,artist Laura cameron. She has recounted some childhood memories of sitting on her dad’s knee while he scribbled off drawings of knights and cowboys and horses on a stack of paper he kept on the table.
Oddly, he wasn’t particularly proud of his pre-code comic work saying he needed to feed his family and that’s it. Of course writing and drawing comicsin those days was akin to being a creepy trench coat wearing perv.
We have a binder of illustration work Lou put together back then in an attempt to get legit work. Plan drawings of houses for the real estate business, and one thing that actually made him some cash. A two drawing set of Elvis and James Dean.
Lou also wrote pulp and did illustrations for a couple of pre-Playboy Gentlemen’s magazines call long and thin, I think. One was “High” and another called “Top Hat”. Very funny stuff, see-through baby doll nighties with titles like “the Fanciful Frauline”.
He also had a couple of syndicated funny pages comic strips. One called “The Good Life”,I think. Classic husband, wife, kids and dog humor.
He had some success in England with a few early novels but felt he had made it as a serious writer when “Blockbusters” made the NYT Best Sellers list.
You guys know the rest.
Oh The Dagmar pen name is a combo of two family members.
Lou also wrote two romance novels on a challenge from a female romance writer friend. He often claimed Romance was harder to write than anything else he put his hand to because you had to be way over the top and stay believable. Plus Romance novels have a language all their own and the fans are brutal. A tough sell, in his words.
Of all the westerns “The Big Lonely” is my favorite and a down right chilling tale of the early sod busters. I’ve always admired the amount of research Lou did to get the flavor and details right.
I’ve been working on a biography so any info or insights you can send my way would be most appreciated. dc.limited@yahoo.com
Great blog Steve.
September 1st, 2011 at 4:42 pm
I found Lou Cameron’s books The Block Busters and the Tipping Point, not only enjoyable to read but incredibly informative about what was behind some of the key social changes of the early 60’s.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
I’m confused by the remarks that “Dagmar” was one of Lou’s pseudonyms. I’m looking at the back cover of “The Spy Who Came In From The Copa” and see a photo of Dagmar (Virginia Ruth Egnor) and blurb about the story. Dagmar, Lou Cameron, and Lancer Books, Inc. are listed on the copyright page as the authors. Neither Dagmar’s nor Lou’s Wikipedia articles admit to either having authored the book or its predecessor, “The Spy With The Blue Kazoo”, so did the real Dagmar contribute to them or not? Dick (#9, above) indicates no.
November 20th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
I’ll email Dick Cameron for some clarification on his Dagmar statement, and report back here after I hear back.
April 2nd, 2012 at 12:29 pm
I’M SORRY TO SAY THAT LOU CAMERON DIED IN 2010
HIS DAUGHTER IS MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.
THANKS FOR YOUR ARTICLE
April 2nd, 2012 at 3:42 pm
David
You have confirmed what has generally been known for some time. Thank you. Lou Cameron was a man of many talents. I’m sure he is missed by all who knew him or were aware of his many accomplishments.
I appreciate your stopping by.
— Steve
June 11th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
I am Lou Cameron’s oldest daughter and I know the Dagmar story…I was also touched by the info posted by Laura’s husband it brought back such memories. I am 10 years older and remember the art days well.
Dagmar…the actress was a great friend of Dads and also Claude Thornhill the band leader and my grandmother Lou’s mother Ruth Thornhill. Now I was a little girl at the time and not privy to everything but I believe that there was some dating between him and Dagmar…I remember him talking about her antics at some party or at dinner etc. and I was very impressed since I knew who she was. I am sure the Dagmar books were done as a homage to her or as a friendship perhaps even humorously…I can hear him in my mind calling her up and asking her if she wanted to be a spy.
For the life of me I can’t think of anybody being named Dag or Mar in our family…but who knows. There is much I missed. I was the child that ran away in the 60s to be a hippy artist. I am still an artist not so much a hippy…
Kay Cameron Allen…check me out on facebook.
December 23rd, 2014 at 5:45 pm
I am Lou Cameron’s eldest son. I would just like to inform anyone that cares that his youngest son Dave Cameron (a musician) passed away the week ending December 20th 2014 in Bergen New Jersey. He was 62. Just Kay and I are left from his first marriage. I was the middle child and am now a retired photographer living in Washington D.C., I barely knew Laura before I left for Vietnam and pursued by own life. But I know that my father was very fond of her.
May 12th, 2021 at 12:54 pm
I am a serious reader and just recently read two of Lou’s Longarm books (#1,#22) Instant fan! He’s got the whole package as a writer. So many books, where to begin? Looking forward to the ride!
August 26th, 2021 at 4:52 pm
I corresponded with Lou Cameron back in 2003 doing biographical research. I have what I think is some great historical info, but I need to reach a family member heir so I can publish. I’ve been trying to track down family members with no luck. If a family member sees this, please contact me via my website at https://www.robgreer.com. Thanks!