L. Ron Hubbard was very a prolific author from an early age. His earliest stories date from the summer of 1934, drawn from personal experience such as travels to the Far East, his initiation as a blood brother of the Blackfoot Indian society and other such adventures.
"Pulp fiction is back as entertainment, according to box office and publishing reports," says the blog of the Working Writer, i.e the Working Writers Newsletter.
You can read the full blog post that explains why pulp fiction is back in the mainstream, here:
John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press is also quoted due to the success of the Stories from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction series which was launched by Galaxy Press just over a year ago.
Orders Is Orders & Wind-Gone-Mad by L. Ron Hubbard
Mystery Scene Magazine reviewed these two titles that were recently released as part of the Stories from the Golden Age by L. Ron Hubbard of whom the magazine says, "...he was a highly versatile and competent writer whose early work brims with energy and excitement."
Here is the full review by Jon L. Breen, Mystery Scene Magazine:
"Many millions of words of fiction are disintegrating in the fragile, browning pages of the old pulp magazines, a primary source of entertainment that flourished in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s before dying out in the 1950s. Much, perhaps most of their contents are not worth preserving, but given the talented writers that contributed to the pulps, there must be plenty of worthwhile stories that deserve revival. If an author is commercially successful or important enough—Hammett, Chandler, Woolrich, Lovecraft, L'Amour, Heinlein, Bradbury, Max Brand, Fredric Brown, John D. MacDonald—at least some and sometimes all of the work is likely to be reprinted in more permanent form. One subject of such a reclamation project is L. Ron Hubbard, best known for science fiction but prolific and accomplished in a variety of popular genres—mystery, fantasy, western, air and sea adventure, and espionage. If Hubbard's continued life in print is due mainly to his fame as the author of Dianetics and founder of the Church of Scientology, he was a highly versatile and competent writer whose early work brims with energy and excitement.
Drawing on a seemingly endless supply of previously out of print novellas, Galaxy Press intends to reissue over 150 Hubbard stories in a series of 80 volumes, which are also made available in dramatized form as audiobooks. The reasonably priced trade paperbacks could not be more handsomely produced, with colorful pulp-style covers, interior black-and-white illustrations, and good quality paper. Most consist of one short novel, of a length that could be published in a single issue of a pulp magazine. Each book includes the same foreword by Kevin J. Anderson and concluding biographical piece, illustrated with photographs, both highly laudatory, even hagiographic, as befits a religious prophet. Still, there's not a word about Scientology in the biography, just a statement that Hubbard left pulp writing after his World War II service to devote himself to "his serious research."
Unique to each volume is a glossary, defining specialized terms and allusions and sometimes addressing the inevitable political incorrectness, such as the following on Kipling's 1899 coinage "white man's burden": "Subject to different interpretations, it was latched onto by imperialists to justify colonialism as a noble enterprise. Much of Kipling's other writings suggested that he genuinely believed in the benevolent role that the introduction of Western ideas could play in lifting non-Western peoples out of 'poverty and ignorance.'"
Orders Is Orders, from the December 1937 issue of Argosy, is an excellent introduction to Hubbard's writing. As war between Japan and China rages, the United States is officially neutral. Those stranded in the American embassy at Shunkien, a city under siege, face diminishing food supplies and a threat of cholera. From a naval vessel anchored offshore, an alcoholic Marine gunnery sergeant and a lifer Private First Class are dispatched on an impossible mission: to traverse two hundred miles through warring armies in five days to deliver the contents of a keg, known to the reader (but not to the couriers) to contain money and serum. Along the way, the pair encounter a beautiful woman telling an unlikely story and the sergeant's missionary father, an uninspiring representative of organized religion—and an interesting depiction given the author's later career. Vivid action writing, exotic background, suspenseful situations, and general storytelling expertise carry the reader on a fast ride. Attitudes and language are reflective of the time: the offensive term "Chinaman" is used casually throughout, and there's a hint of Yellow Peril in the Asian characters.
Wind-Gone-Mad, from the October 1935 issue of Top-Notch, is also set in China, where heroic pilot Feng-Feng (a.k.a. Wind-Gone-Mad) battles an evil leader known as The Butcher. This air-war tale has some typically fine action writing, but a surprise twist that is easily foreseeable. It is accompanied by two shorter tales: "Tah," an untypical vignette about a Chinese child soldier, serious and moving but marred by the decision to render the dialogue of the children in a kind of pidgin English: and "Yellow Loot," an effective pure action story also set in China, the title referring to a cache of amber.
If the Wind-Gone-Mad collection is for the Hubbard completist, Orders Is Orders can be more generally recommended as a litmus test for the prospective reader. There's plenty more where these came from.—Jon L. Breen
The Stories from the Golden Age Express with Martin Kove (Karate Kid), Michelle Tapp, Phil Proctor (Rugrats, Big Brother, Finding Nemo) and Kristin Proctor as shown on MyNetworkTV.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade will be shown again on December 24th, Christmas Eve at 8.00 pm on the same channel.
Here is an excerpt of it (to read the full review, click on the link above):
"Pulp fiction fans rejoice, because there's a "new" voice on the block that deserves to be noticed. Galaxy Press is reprinting all 150 of the stories Hubbard wrote for the pulp magazines of the 1930s and '40s, and giving the series the evocative title Stories from the Golden Age.
The recordings I've tried so far are just terrific. They are a professionally produced combination of traditional narrated audiobooks (with narration deftly handled by R.F. Daley) and old-time radio, with actors playing the characters (often multiple roles) and genre-specific music and sound effects rounding out the experience."
The Hollywood Christmas Parade 2009 features the Golden Age Stories parade float with actors Martin Kove (Karate Kid, Wyatt Earp, Rambo II) and Phil Proctor (Big Brother, Rugrats, Finding Nemo, and Princess and the Frog) on the Golden Age Express.
Galaxy Press, book publishers for the Golden Age Stories pulp fiction series by bestselling author L. Ron Hubbard, took part in the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade with actors Martin Kove and Phil Proctor on the L. Ron Hubbard Stories from the Golden Age parade float, along with dancers and pulp fiction characters from the Golden Age Stories books.
A record crowd of over 90,000 well-wishers greeted Hollywood actors Martin Kove and Phil Proctor, along with two dozen costumed actors riding aboard the colorful, glittering 32-foot long L. Ron Hubbard Stories from the Golden Age float—named the Golden Age Express—and Santa’s Jumpin’ Jive Swingers dancing alongside the float for the entire 2 ½ mile route Sunday night (29 November 2009) as part of the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.
“It’s great to see the joy in people’s faces along the parade route,” said Kove, who was riding along with his fiancé, Michelle Tabb. “Hollywood’s past and current success is based a lot on pulp fiction stories, so Stories from the Golden Age make a perfect fit for the parade.”
Proctor, accompanied by his actor-daughter Kristin, stated, “The crowd was wowed!” He continued, “Everyone was here to see Santa and hear the musical bands, but our Golden Age Express and the wonderful original music, swing dancers and costumed characters made everyone smile.”
Audiences were treated to cowboys, detectives, maidens, and pirates showcasing characters from 8 different story genres found in the Stories from the Golden Age pulp fiction series (Galaxy Press, www.goldenagestories.com), along with Santa’s Jumpin’ Jive Swingers, comprised of swing couples from all over Southern California led by top swing dancer Benny Reese and partner Jennifer Netzel and choreographed by Bonita Wilson and Liz Baybak of Dancemakers, Inc. (http://dancemakers.wordpress.com)
Watch the video of the Hollywood Christmas Parade:
Stories from the Golden Age is an 80-novel, 150-story series of trade paperback and multi-cast, unabridged audio books showcasing author L. Ron Hubbard’s pulp fiction masterpieces from the 1930s and 1940s in multiple genres, including romance, drama, mystery, western, action adventure, and science fiction, among others. The book collection is one of the largest known releases of pulp fiction novels ever published by a single author and publisher.
In addition to their float appearance, Kove and Proctor regularly take part in live theatrical performances of the Stories from the Golden Age pulp fiction stories. The performances take place every Saturday at the 150-seat Golden Age Hollywood Theater located at Hollywood & Sycamore, just one block west of the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
