Since I've been concentrating intently on the publication of my ninth book,
Present and Past, I've needed light reading diversion on those days I've waited for a proof copy to arrive or for the file to be approved by Create Space. I found a perfect fit in
Twilight Zone Revisited adapted by Walter B. Gibson, a large hardcover edition with illustrations by Earl E. Mayan. First published in 1964, it contains 13 stories. I recognized five. The teleplay of each of those was written by Rod Serling. I doubt he wrote any of the stories in the collection. Many are long, almost all are over-written. The only entry that rises above average is
Beyond the Rim, which was titled
100 Yards above the Rim when it appeared on the series, and starred Cliff Robertson, whose character leaves his wagon train to search for water, and walks into the 20th century. I was curious about Gibson, so I googled his name. He has quite a history. According to Wiki, he was born in 1897, and graduated from Colgate in 1920. At first he worked as a reporter and creator of crossword puzzles in his native Philadelphia. After submitting pieces for
Detective Story Magazine, he was asked by its publishers, in 1931, to produce the first print adventure of
The Shadow, who at that stage was merely a voice, the mysterious narrator of radio crime dramas. He fleshed out the character and invented the alter ego, Lamont Cranston. It became a sensation. At least 283 of the 336 novels in the series are attributed to Gibson. He also worked on the comic strip, movie and parlor game offshoots. He was a writing machine, churning out 15,000,000 words on
The Shadow alone - in some years 24 books! And he wrote others as well, children's adventure fiction, non-fiction on magic, psychic phenomena, true crime, rope knots, hypnotism and games. When did he sleep? He was the ghost writer for Houdini, Harry Blackstone and other magicians, and performed tricks himself. He did one
Batman comic, DC #500. He is also a character in several works of fiction. Here's a picture of this amazing man, followed by the cover of one of the magazines:
I submitted an updated file of
Present and Past and received approval from Create Space this morning. I downloaded a copy of the interior reviewer and have gone through 75 pages. I have a feeling I will be approving it for publication - finally.
My thanks to the young woman who purchased
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, to the young man who overpaid for a
Webster's Dictionary in only fair condition, and to the middle age woman who asked for something on meditation and bought
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
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