From: Kershed@aol.com Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 17:56:25 EST To: rwyatt@menagerie.net Subject: Re: Ellison/Kersh X-Mailer: Windows AOL sub 170 Dear Rick, Here is the first newsletter. I'll put you on the mailing list for future ones. If you want to tell people on the site that this is available, please do. Or, if you want, you could have it as a space on the Ellison Webderland site, if you think people are interested. - paul Kershed: Newsletter 1: 27 Nov 98 Welcome. This is the first in an occasional series of newsletters about author Gerald Kersh. I have been researching the life and work of Gerald Kersh for 6 years or so, and plan to publish a biography. During this time I have contacted a large number of people and thought that I’d let you all know what was happening by publishing this newsletter. I don’t know how often this will appear, but eventually it’ll contain details of how to order your copy of the biography. Who Is Gerald Kersh? For those who don’t know, Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a great storyteller. He had 19 novels and 20 short story collections published - 20 of these books were never published in the US. What Did He Write? Novels, short stories and articles about mystery, SF, war, horror, history and virtually any subject you care to mention. Most of his writing during World War Two was published under various pseudonyms. Will I Know Anything He Wrote? Well, his first big success was the novel Night And The City (1938), filmed in 1950 by Jules Dassin, starring Richard Widmark. This is now considered one of the great film noirs, although it must be said that it bore little relation to the book. The 1992 version of Night And The City, directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Robert De Niro basically copied the Dassin film and not the book. Is It Hip To Read Kersh? It sure is. Harlan Ellison is a big fan, as is David J Schow, James Sallis, Michael Moorcock, Bill Pronzini, Mark McShane, Andrew Vachss, Jane Fonda and many more. Where Can I Find Out More About Kersh? Firstly, you can e-mail me, and I’ll send you an article about Kersh’s life and work. Secondly, I have written various articles which have just been, or about to be, published. The latest are: · Night And The City, which compares the novel with the two films is in The Big Book Of Noir, ed Lee Server and Ed Gorman, published in America. · Night And The City (1938), an examination of the novel, is to appear in Crime Time 2.3, published Feb 1999 in the UK. What Is In The Biography? I have conducted interviews with: Bernard Miller, Gerald’s cousin, they went to school together; Willie Bloom, brother-in-law, who Gerald used to tell his stories to before they were published; Richard Bloom, nephew, who has supplied me with a great deal of information about the family, photos, his reminiscences in America etc.; Major Norman Kark, who took Kersh on as Assistant Editor on The Courier magazine in 1937; Wensley and Tom Clarkson, sons of Tony Clarkson, Kersh’s editor and friend at the Daily Mirror; and Flossie Kersh, Gerald’s third wife and widow. On the bibliographic side, as well as visiting libraries (British Newspaper Library, British Museum Library, BBC Written Archives, BFI Film Library, and central libraries of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds), I have relied on the research and collections of people like Bob Adey and Jack Adrian. The book will contain a full life story and examination of the work of Kersh, and will be backed up with detailed listings of the books, short stories, articles, film and radio scripts, and the critical reception of his work at the time of publication. Where Can I Get Copies Of Kersh’s Books? You can look on the internet bookshops of course. Or you could ask me for a list of books/magazines for sale and I’ll send you one. All the money I make from selling these helps finance my research, so if you buy from me you can feel doubly blessed. What Does The Future Hold? Harlan Ellison, who has done much to help me promote Kersh in recent months, is guest of honour at Readercon 11 (in Waltham, just outside Boston, Massachusetts, July 9-11 1999) and he has nominated Kersh as the Memorial Guest Of Honour. This means the program will contain a Kersh section with an article, a short story and a bibliography. The organisers also hope to put together a talk about Kersh. I hope to attend and will let you know either way in a future newsletter. For more information about Readercon their address is PO Box 381246, Cambridge, MA 02238, USA. Their web site is www.mit.edu/~zeno/readercon.html. The Most Reprinted Short Stories Below is a list of some of Kersh’s most reprinted (and best) short stories, with their first appearances. I’ve found around 400 short stories so far, or which over a hundred have never been collected. 1 Men Without Bones (15) Esquire, August 1954 2= The Crewel Needle (11) Lilliput, May-June 1953 2= The Oxoxoco Bottle (11) Saturday Evening Post, December 7 1957, as ‘The Secret Of The Bottle’ 4 The Brighton Monster (9) Saturday Evening Post, February 21 1948, as ‘The Monster’ 5= The Ape And The Mystery (8) Saturday Evening Post, June 26 1948, as ‘The Mysterious Smile Of Mona Lisa’ 5= Crooked Bone (8) Saturday Evening Post, August 10 1968 5= River Of Riches (8) Saturday Evening Post, March 8 1958 5= Voices In The Dust Of Annan (8) Sad Road To The Sea (Heinemann 1947) 9= Comrade Death (7) Courier, Summer 1938 9= A Lucky Day For The Boar (7) Playboy, October 1962 9= The Thief Who Played Dead (7) Saturday Evening Post, February 13 1954 9= The Unsafe Deposit Box (7) Saturday Evening Post, April 14 1962 Stop Press! My big news is that I have just returned from a trip to look over Kersh’s papers and found out so much new information that I had to dictate 24 hours of tape to get it all down. More info next time. Who Are You? I am Paul Duncan. Write to me via e-mail (kershed@aol.com) or snail-mail (17 Tregullan Road, Exhall, Coventry CV7 9NG, UK) with your comments and opinions.