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Variant, v. 1, issue 3, September 1947

Page 40

[[illustration text]]
WIDEWHERE
ULTIMA THULE

The Eternal Wanderer

by

Oswald Train

The worst thing about doing any sort of a regular column is meeting the Editor's deadline. The editors of VARIANT wanted this copy by Monday a week ago, and it is pretty hard to get down to the business of putting things down on paper. But, like O. Henry, I have a great deal of it already written--but not yet on paper.
A recent trip to New York, partly pleasure and partly business was mighty interesting in many ways. First of all a visit to Mr. Jack Bechdolt, author of The Torch and a writer from way back. He had not seen a copy of the story for many years and was greatly pleased to see it again. He has agreed to make a number of changes in the story, both to make it smoother and to bring it more up to date. Mr. Bechdolt told about many of his experiences in the past, and of his contacts with authors and editors. He was in San Francisco at the time of the great fire and earthquake, as a young student.He never saw a bombed out city, but the ruined city compared well with photographs of some of the European cities that had been hit hard by the war. For years he worked as a newspaper reporter, then began writing fiction. He took a job at the Munsey Company under the late great editor, Robert H.Davis. It was while working there that he met many of the famous authors of the times. George Allan England, celebrated author of Darkness and Dawn, was a frequent caller, and he knew him quite well. England had a glass eye, a fact that is not generally known among his fans. Ray Cummings and Jack Bechdolt are still friends and have been since way back before Cummings wrote his first story. While Cummings was writing The Girl in the Golden Atom, he frequently asked Bechdolt questions concerning the structure of the short story. At the time Bechdolt thought the Golden Atom was a pretty poor story, and could not understand why the other members of the staff at Munsey's raved about it. When the story was finally published, and Ray Cummings was launched on his long career as a writer, it was a sensation. Frederick R. Bechdolt, the well known and popular writer of western stories is Jack's brother. He is still writing. He and his wife, Decie Merwin, have written a number of childrens books in collaboration, and they are very popular among the members of the younger set. He, himself, has evidently lost none of his popularity, either. Dutton and Co. is publishing another of his books this fall, and on the strength of the dust wrapper alone, which is the only part of it that has been printed, advance orders for more than fifteen hundred copies have come in. Which is quite all right.
There have been rumors that the next book of novelist James M. Cain will be a fantasy, dealing with what might have happened if the Sought had won the Civil War.
Word from my old friend Paul Skeeters has it that he is hard at work on his new book of fantasy, witchcraft, etc. Paul has quite a rugged schedule, for he is [[?]]

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[[illustration text]] WIDEWHERE ULTIMA THULE The Eternal Wanderer by Oswald Train The worst thing about doing any sort of a regular column is meeting the Editor's deadline. The editors of VARIANT wanted this copy by Monday a week ago, and it is pretty hard to get down to the business of putting things down on paper. But, like O. Henry, I have a great deal of it already written--but not yet on paper. A recent trip to New York, partly pleasure and partly business was mighty interesting in many ways. First of all a visit to Mr. Jack Bechdolt, author of The Torch and a writer from way back. He had not seen a copy of the story for many years and was greatly pleased to see it again. He has agreed to make a number of changes in the story, both to make it smoother and to bring it more up to date. Mr. Bechdolt told about many of his experiences in the past, and of his contacts with authors and editors. He was in San Francisco at the time of the great fire and earthquake, as a young student.He never saw a bombed out city, but the ruined city compared well with photographs of some of the European cities that had been hit hard by the war. For years he worked as a newspaper reporter, then began writing fiction. He took a job at the Munsey Company under the late great editor, Robert H.Davis. It was while working there that he met many of the famous authors of the times. George Allan England, celebrated author of Darkness and Dawn, was a frequent caller, and he knew him quite well. England had a glass eye, a fact that is not generally known among his fans. Ray Cummings and Jack Bechdolt are still friends and have been since way back before Cummings wrote his first story. While Cummings was writing The Girl in the Golden Atom, he frequently asked Bechdolt questions concerning the structure of the short story. At the time Bechdolt thought the Golden Atom was a pretty poor story, and could not understand why the other members of the staff at Munsey's raved about it. When the story was finally published, and Ray Cummings was launched on his long career as a writer, it was a sensation. Frederick R. Bechdolt, the well known and popular writer of western stories is Jack's brother. He is still writing. He and his wife, Decie Merwin, have written a number of childrens books in collaboration, and they are very popular among the members of the younger set. He, himself, has evidently lost none of his popularity, either. Dutton and Co. is publishing another of his books this fall, and on the strength of the dust wrapper alone, which is the only part of it that has been printed, advance orders for more than fifteen hundred copies have come in. Which is quite all right. There have been rumors that the next book of novelist James M. Cain will be a fantasy, dealing with what might have happened if the Sought had won the Civil War. Word from my old friend Paul Skeeters has it that he is hard at work on his new book of fantasy, witchcraft, etc. Paul has quite a rugged schedule, for he is [[?]] (40)