BEHIND THE PEN & MASK by Sarge Portera
An Introduction
When Bob Blesco, a close FB friend of mine, saw my ALL PULP 7 snapshot he instantly spotted my full Windsor knot! That’s what I call observant!! I don’t like doing anything half-way & although we live in the Deep Fried South I consider my neckties to be Florida scarves that ward off chilly weather!!! Truth is I’d feel naked without a necktie. Just ask my wonderful wife, Marci, or our daughter.
When Tommy Hancock introduced my “Weapons of Choice” column he explained how I speak in “living pulp’ on my FaceBook pages!
When I was asked to describe myself at ALL PULP I explained that “with me darlin’ daughter’s able assist” we’ve created & maintained 5 pulp-related FB Groups that I’d like to briefly describe in this column’s 1st outing so that you have a better idea of who is BEHIND THE PEN & MASK!
BRONZE PASTICHES
A pastiche is usually an imitation of a copyrighted character, which would include noncanonical exploits of a character not sanctioned by the copyright holder.
Most of the “Doc Savage” 181 published adventures from 1933 to 1949 were written by Lester Dent under the house name of Kenneth Robeson. Will Murray successfully wrote seven more using remaining notes and outlines left by Lester Dent. In 1973 Philip Jose Farmer wrote “Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life” and in 1991 he wrote a prequel to “The Man of Bronze.” The Farmer and Murray publications were authorized by the copyright holder, Conde Nast. It is the hope of this group to learn more about the high adventure heroes who follow in Doc Savage’s footsteps!
It’s on this FB Group that I have around 50 ongoing Discussion Boards dedicated to the growing number of fictional characters inspired by the Man of Bronze.
PURPLE PROSE PULP PARADE
PURPLE PROSE PULP PARADE FB Group is dedicated to the preservation & promotion of high adventure, potboilers, pulps & purple prose as a legitimate literary genre!
It’s here that we invite reviews of pulps, pulp authors’ bibliographies and host an on-going & open-ended pulp adventure entitled “The Purple Rose of Pulpdom!”
Any & all pulp writers are invited to post their own bibliography on a Discussion Board of their making &/or add a paragraph or a page to “The Purple Rose of Pulpdom.”
Pulp Artists are encouraged to join the growing ranks of the Royal Mounted Artists of Pulpdom (RMAP) and post their pulp art, too!
SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON FAN CLUB
This FB Group is dedicated to all the Mounties in the Movies and most especially to Dick Simmons and his convincingly compelling portrayal of “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon ” on CBS TV in the fifties!
SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON FAN CLUB was co-created by my daughter & myself when we challenged one another to a rollicking day long round of Yukon Challenge on the internet!
“Sergeant Preston of the Yukon ” ran from September 25th, 1955, to September 29th, 1958, on CBS TV. “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon ” Week is a 5-day countdown from the show’s last episode (9/29/58) to its eventful launch date (9/29/55)! How are you commemorating this moment in television history?
SILHOUETTE PASTICHES
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The answer may be known by more than “The Shadow!” Although, the Shadow’s voice haunted the airwaves and Walter Gibson’s stories graced the news stands this spectral detective wasn’t alone in his battle against darkness!! SILHOUETTE PASTICHES FB Group is dedicated to exploring the fictional lives of the masked detectives that walk in the shadow of the pulp hero who could cloud men’s’ minds!!!
It’s in SILHOUETTE PASTICHES, which was created by my daughter, Alanna, that group members discuss Shadowy calling cards, Shadowy epithets, Shadowy locales, Shadowy miniatures, Shadowy proclamations, Shadowy publishers, Obscure Shadows and Shadoweapons!
WORLDS OF DOC DIAMOND
WORLDS OF DOC DIAMOND is another FB Group creation of my daughter, Alanna. Just read her description below and you’ll see why we want ta keep this pulp hero in the family!
“My grandfather, Albert, and my great grandfather, August, created an adventure hero back in the late forties. They named him Doc Diamond and copyrighted him under the name of A.J. Portera which is my name, too! Doc Diamond’s mysteries were published by their little Christian publishing house, The Olive Press. The purpose of this FaceBook Group is to relive the adventures & mysteries of yesteryears’ action hero, Justus Diamond!”
THAT’S ALL FOLKS! ALL PULP, that is!
I hope the above 5 FB Group summaries give you a better insight behind the pen & mask of 1 of the bespectacled ALL PULP 7!
BEHIND THE PEN & MASK is my ALL PULP column that will look up & into the lives of the many pulp writers who wrote under a house name & pseudonym. My hope is to shed some light on those who have contributed to pulp literature & popular culture over the years. I also hope to learn the where-abouts of pulp writers who have went missing in recent years & will rely on our readership’s able assistance! Does Lance Curry, Steve Mitchell or Thomas Victor Powers ring a bell?
