Fantasy Review #6

FAN TASY REVI F v[/ Yol. I, No. 6 SIXPENCE - DEC. '47. JAN.'48 REYIV E R With this issue FANTASY R,EVInW completes a year of publication within iLs new tease of life. Dudns that time it has gained a staunch following of readers which is still grorv- ing and extending to many parts ol the 'irorld. There is evidence that atl have found it of inestimable value in their pursuance of fantasy-fiction as an abiding interest, or as one which some had neglected for lack of a reliable source of information and guidance in the fleld. To others it has made apparent for the flrst time the full exbent, of the medium and aroused in them an enthusiasm which has been reflected in their letters. FANTASY REVIEW is, manifestly, fulfiUing a unique service, not only to its devotees but to fantasy-fiction itself. T'hrough its critical arttcles and reviews it is performing a desirable function in rnaintaining and improving the stan- dards of the literature it covers. By providing a contacr between writ€rs, editors, publishers and readers it is assisting all concerned towards a better appreciation of their activities and their varying points of view. As a means whereby all may ventilate their opinions, it has already proved itsetf an essential to the healthy developm€nt of the medium on both sides of the Atlantic. For the future, FANTASY REVIEW has many plans for the further expansion of the interests it fosters and cateis for as adequately as it can in these days of austerity. As we proceed we shall introduca new features whenever space allows, and continue to present the best availabje articles to interest our widening circle of readers. Our book reviews, which have brought couniless expressions of appreciation for their discerning and informative character, wiU always be an important feature of each issue. In the series of intef- views with famous fantasy writers, we have many interesting personalities to present, including Dr. Edward E. Smith, creator of the popular "Lensman" stories. If a subscription blank is enclosed, it means that your subscriptio{r has expired with this issue. you would be well advised to renew it without delay, before you run the risk of missing our next or subsequent issues-and please note the new address to which all communications should be sent. We look forward to hearing from any of our readers who have not yet sent us their suggestions or criticisms, and to the letters we invite from all for the new feature we have introduced in this issue-Fantasv Form. THE EDITOR. 2 FANTASY Dr. DAYID H. KELLER on his HALF A CENTU RY OF VVRITING Though he has alrnost disappearetl from tetlay's rn^agauines, the tales of Dr- David H. I(eller linger in the memory .of oltl reatlers of fantasy. At the age of 67 he can look back on 50 years of literary endeavoiur-anrl he is still writing, In this articlex h€ tells his own story of his life as a physician and a writer, and of his effcrts to b€ worthy of the name of author. I feel there is a vast void between the Before men wrobe stories, they told wriier and the author. The writer's stolies, and very early in life I put my- stories are usually pubiished and read self to.sleep with stories in which I was once. The author's work can be judged the hero. At the age of 15 I wrote one, by the number of reprints and its ap- and had it pttblished in a country news- preciation by the discriminating rather paper. It was "Aunt Martha." At the than average reader. I must admit same age, while at high school, I wrote that when the spur of nec€ssity drove my firsb long mystery story, "Lif€ after me, I deliberately assumed the position Death." The manuscript-in longhand of writer, but I abandoned the role as still in my library, having survived soon as I coulC. For I've always wanted -is50 years. of extensive travel. and tlied to be an author. The fall of 1899 fcund me a fresh- I was born in 1880, in PhiladelPhia. man at the University of Pennsylvania When I was six I was diagnosed an iMedical Sihooi-to my regret. Had I idiot for being unable to balk intell! followed my own wishes tr believe I gentty in any language. Three Years would have gone through life as a col- were spent in a private school where I lege professor. But I studied medicine learned English very much as a travel- and was. graduated in 1903. In mY ler from Mars. Thrx words became Iibrary, too, is a bound volume of stories very important a"s a means of convey- written and published while I was at ing thought. Psychologists would say college. An unpublished short novel I had a "block." Much of this back- shows the influence of Marvel on mY ground you wiII flnd in my story, "The style. Frank R,. Stockton was another Lost Language." of my favourite authors, and we were beginning to hear of the de Maupassant short story and the O. Henry ending. REVIEW In 1901 I feil in with a group of Uter- FANTASY ary optimists who believed they could (fncorporating SCIENTIFICTION start a new magazine. We named our and TO-MORROW-Magazine of the Future) venture The White Owl. It lasted seven issues-long enough to print flve of my A Journal for Readers, Writers and pen-narne Fiction stories, for which I used the Coltectors of Imaginative of Henrv Cecil. BI-IIIONTHLY: SIXPENCE Eventirallv I began the great adven- Editorial, Advertising and Pub- tule of being a horse-and-buggy doctor lishing office: 115 Wanstead Park in a Pennsylvania small town. There Road, Ilford, Essex. are two marruscript novels in mY Subscription rates: In Great library which tell how and why I'trent Britain and Dominions (except During per year. Single cop- there and what I accomplished. canada) 3/6 those eight years of country practise I ies. ?d.. post free. fn Canada and great U.S.A., ?5c. per year. Single copies. wrote very little but read a deaJ. 15c., post free. I could never find time enough to read t48 all I v/anted to; this desire has been Vol. 1, No. 6 Dec. '47-Jan. bofh a beneflt and curse to me all mY Erlitor: Walter Gillings. 1ife. Associate Dditors: John Carnell, year as phYsician in J. Michael Rosenblum, D. R. Smith' Fouowing a a Arthur I'. Hillman. Fred C. Brown, New Jersey, I joined the staff of the Nigel Lindsay, Frank Edward Ar- Sfate Hospital of Iilinois. There I nold, J. O. Newman. *Condensed from Fantasy Commen- A m eri c an Correspondents: tator, 19 East 235th St., New York David Kishi (New York), f'orrest 66, U.S.A. Copyright bY A. Lang (Hollywood). City, J. Ackerman ley Searles, 194?. REVIEW 3 Henry Cecil pseudonym for this book of poems some of which were, I confess, foisLed on readers as being "translated from the Chinese." A11 these and later writings were written for pure self-expression and the satisfaction of seeing them in prinb. Then, Iate in '26, my wife showed me a copy of Amazing Stories and sug- gested I try to sell some work. So I wrote "Tl:e Revolt of the Pedestrians" and submitted it; Gernsback promptly accepted it and ofiered to take a dozen mole of my stories. I accepted, though at the time I had no idea that I couid wlite more and was not certa.in that Gernsback thought I could, either. He told me later he felt every writer had only one good story in him. That story appeared in Amazlng in February '28. During the rest of that year it prinied six more of my stories. "The Menace" initiated a series about Taine of San Francisco, my favourite detective. He has appeared in print DR. DAVID H. KELLEIT frequently since, working in his quiet, unassumrng way. wrote stories about the abnormals. Some of my experiences with Gerns- Then came World War I, when I served back were happy; some were not. In in the Medical Corps. On my discharge the fall of '28 I visited him in New I went to Pineville, Louisiana, to spend York and met his brother Sidney, who ten years in the State.Hospital there. was starting a new magaaine along When Huey Long came in, I resigned. popular medical lines and asked me for It was while there that I became ob- a series of ei,rticles on psycho-analysls. sessed with the idea of writing the Thus began my writing of medical great American novel. I wrote prodigi- articles that could be understood by ously-over 5,000 pages of manuscript. the common man. In the course of Two of these noveis were later consoli- several years I produced nearly ?00 of dated as "The Devil and the Doctor," them, a Len-volume set of books, and published in 1940. It received favour- thousands of letters. During s, period able reviews, but was quickly dropped of 49 consecutive days I wrote some as though it contained T.N.T.-why, I 300,000 words. don't know. Possibly applied pressure About this time I found myself turn- by orthodox religious groups stopped ing out some flction that did not nt into distribution of ihe book. I think it de- any category at which I had previously served a better fate.

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