Ronald Joseph Goulart (/ˈɡuːlɑːrt/;[1] (January 13, 1933 - January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.[2]
He worked on novels and novelizations (and other works) being published under various pseudonyms such as: Kenneth Robeson, Con Steffanson, Chad Calhoun, R. T. Edwards, Ian R. Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, and Joseph Silva.[3]
Goulart's first professional publication was a 1952 reprint of the SF story "Letters to the Editor" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction;[7] this parody of a pulp magazine letters column was originally published in the University of California, Berkeley's Pelican. His early career in advertising and marketing influenced most of his work. In the early 1960s, Goulart wrote the text for Chex Press, a newspaper parody published on Ralston Purina cereal boxes (Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex). He then wrote dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres, and using a variety of pennames[8] He contributed to P.S. and other magazines, along with his book review column for Venture Science Fiction Magazine. Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of the Pulp Magazines (1972) is his best known non-fiction book.
Fictionedit
Goulart's fiction is characterized by several themes, including technology gone wrong (usually through incompetence rather than malice) and protagonists with superhuman powers. The characteristic style of his work is satire and anarchic humor. His crime and science fiction works include tales about robots and historical Hollywood figures, such as Groucho Marx. In the 1970s, he wrote several novels based on Lee Falk's The Phantom for Avon Books, using the pseudonym "Frank Shawn" (a play on his wife and son's name. He has also written comic book stories and short stories about The Phantom for Moonstone Books from 2003 to the present. As a commercial freelance writer, Goulart has written novelizations for television programs such as Laverne & Shirley, as well as romance novels using female pseudonyms.
A collection of his mystery short stories, Adam and Eve on a Raft, was published in 2001 by Crippen & Landru.
Comicsedit
In the early 1970s, Goulart wrote several scripts for Marvel Comics, mostly adaptations of classic science fiction stories. Later in the decade, he collaborated with artist Gil Kane on the Star Hawks newspaper strip. In the early 1990s, he scripted Marvel's TekWar comics series.[11]
Personal life and deathedit
Goulart was married to author Frances Sheridan Goulart and has two sons, Sean-Lucien and Steffan Eamon. He died from respiratory arrest at a nursing home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on January 14, 2022, one day after his 89th birthday.[4][12][13]
Awardsedit
Goulart was nominated twice for the Edgar Award, once for his 1970 science fiction novel After Things Fell Apart.[14] He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1989.[15]
Bibliographyedit
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2020)
Non-fictionedit
The Hardboiled Dicks: An Anthology and Study of Pulp Detective Fiction (1967)
Assault on Childhood (1970)
Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of the Pulp Magazines (1972)
The Adventurous Decade: Comic Strips In the Thirties (Crown Publishers, 1975) ISBN 9780870002526
Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History (1980)
The Dime Detectives (1982)
The Great Comic Book Artists (St. Martin's Press, 1986) ISBN 978-0312345570
Focus on Jack Cole (1986)
Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books: the Definitive Illustrated History from the 1890s to the 1980s (Contemporary Books, 1986) ISBN 978-0809250455
(editor) The Encyclopedia of American Comics: From 1897 to the Present (Facts on File, 1991) ISBN 978-0816018529
The Comic Book Reader's Companion: an A-Z Guide to Everyone's Favorite Art Form (Harper Perennial, 1993) ISBN 9780062731173
Masked Marvels and Jungle Queens: Great Comic Book Covers of the '40s (1993)
The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips (Adams Media Corp, 1995) ISBN 9781558505391
Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe (Harper Collins, 2004) ISBN 978-0060538163
Good Girl Art (2006)
Good Girl Art Around the World (2008)
Alex Raymond: An Artistic Journey: Adventure, Intrigue, and Romance (2016)
Non-series novelsedit
Ghost Breaker (1971)
Wildsmith (1972)
The Tin Angel (1973)
The Hellhound Project (1975)
When the Waker Sleeps (1975)
Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975)
The Enormous Hourglass (1976)
The Emperor of the Last Days (1977)
Nemo (1977)
Challengers of the Unknown (1977)
The Island of Dr Moreau (1977) (writing as Joseph Silva)
Capricorn One (1978)
Cowboy Heaven (1979)
Holocaust for Hire (1979) (writing as Joseph Silva)
"Subject to Change" Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1960
Harry Challenge Series
The Secret of the Black Chateau – Espionage Magazine, February 1985
Monster of the Maze – Espionage Magazine, February 1986
The Phantom Highwayman – The Ultimate Halloween, edited by Marvin Kaye (2001)
The Woman in the Mist – The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December, 2002
The Incredible Steam Man – The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May, 2003
The Secret of the Scarab – The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April, 2005
The Problem of the Missing Werewolf – H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror #4, (Spring / Summer 2007)
The Mystery of the Missing Automaton – Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #1, (Winter 2008)
The Mystery of the Flying Man – Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #2, (Spring 2009)
The Secret of the City of Gold – The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January / February 2012
The Somerset Wonder –
Title
Year
First published
Reprinted/collected
Notes
Black magic for dummies
2000
Goulart, Ron (May 2000). "Black magic for dummies". F&SF. 98 (5): 4–24.
The Katy dialogues
1958
Goulart, Ron (July 1958). "The Katy dialogues". F&SF. 15 (1).
Referencesedit
^"Ron Goulart and Sean Joyce's The Phantom! Promo"
^"Ron Goulart - Mysterious Press". mysteriouspress.com. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^A preface to the reprint of Goulart's sf story My Pal Clunky in "Year's Best SF 4", by HarperPrism, 1999, ISBN 0-06-105902-1, p. 377
^ abcSandomir, Richard (January 28, 2022). "Ron Goulart, Prolific Writer Who Spanned Genres, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2022.