DAYTON, Ohio – Friday evening’s events began with the annual business meeting. Unfortunately (or not), I arrived just as it was ending. So, I can’t provide any details of what occurred. A group of us were delayed by dinner at Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers.
Lohr McKinstry arrived this afternoon and joined us for burgers. It’s been 35 years since he and Robert Weinberg produced their pulp hero index. To celebrate, a new, greatly updated version will be released before the end of the year, McKinstry says. Keep an eye out for it.
Promptly after the business meeting, the first guest of honor Ernest Chiriacka took the stage with his daughter, Athene Westergaard, and David Saunders. Saunders introduced the artist then offered comments during a slideshow of 42 pulp covers Chiriacka painted.
Following the Chiriacka session, Ed Hulse, editor of Blood ’n’ Thunder, moderated a panel discussion on the impact of pulp reprints/replicas on the pulp market. The panel included John Gunnison of Adventure House, Tom Roberts of Black Dog Books, Rich Harvey of Bold Venture Press and Neil Mechem of Girasol Collectibles.
(I’m planning to post the panel discussion as an audio file early next week. The Internet connection at the hotel isn’t quick enough for me to upload the multi-megabyte file. I’ll post a blog entry as soon as it is up.)
Closing out the night, Friday’s auction brought 108 items to the block. Here’s a sampling of items and their sale prices:
• South Sea Stories (10/40) – $50
• Eyes of the Shadow ('32 hardback) – $85
• Dr. Death (no. 1) – $65
• Pebble in the Sky (Asimov, first edition hardback) – $260
• Double Detective (8/41, Green Lama story) – $100
• Wild West Weekly (eight issues) – $85
• Blue Book (six consecutive issues, complete Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Swords of Mars) – $190
• The Spider (12/42, includes a letter from Pvt. Wooda N. Carr) – $40
• Double Detective (10/41, Green Lama story) – $120
• Fantasy Press Inc. stock certificate (signed by Lloyd Eshbach, president) – $60
• Thrilling Mystery (5/37) – $60
• Amazing Quarterly (winter '49) – $80
The Pulpcon suite is currently open and filled with several small group discussions. I didn’t make it to the suite yesterday. Fortunately, I’m able to work on Yellowed Perils while keeping an ear on the various discussions.
Plans for tomorrow include a morning trip to Bookery Fantasy’s store.
– William
