The Rusty Archive

Each year, PulpFest recognizes the efforts and ongoing involvement of one person in the improvement, elevation, and continuance of keeping the pulps alive and well for this generation and future generations. In the past, this person, elected by his or her peers, was presented with a framed art print known as The Munsey Award (pictured at left).

As a result of the recent death of one of the organizers and stalwarts of the hobby, PulpFest has decided that henceforth the Munsey will be called The Rusty Hevelin Service Award,  or, in short, The Rusty. Hopefully, this will be accepted as a tribute to a man who was influential in making  PulpFest and its predecessors as successful as they are today.

The first annual Rusty Hevelin Service Award will be presented at PulpFest 2012. Nominations for the award are now being accepted. All members of the pulp community, whether they plan to attend PulpFest 2012 or not, are welcome to nominate a deserving person for this year’s Rusty.

David Saunders, the son of the legendary pulp artist Norman Saunders, has created a limited-edition print to serve as The Rusty. David’s work, pictured above, is a refreshing homage to classic pulp art that honors the entire pulp community and their common love of the purple prose of the bloody pulps.

If you have someone in mind that you feel worthy to receive this year’s Rusty, please let us know. All members of the pulp community, excepting past winners of the Munsey or Lamont awards, are eligible for this prestigious prize. Please send the person’s name and a brief paragraph describing why you feel that person should be honored to Mike Chomko, 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542 or to mike@pulpfest.com. The deadline for nominations is April 30, 2012. The recipient of the Rusty will be selected by a panel of judges consisting of recognized experts in the field of pulp literature. The award will be presented on Saturday evening, August 11th during the convention’s evening programming.

There were twenty-five nominating petitions for the 2011 Munsey Award that met the criteria for the award. In the interest of manageability, the final ballot was pared down to include those individuals who had received the most nominations. Many thanks from the PulpFest organizing committee to all who participated in the nominating process.

The nominee ballot was forwarded to the past winners of the Munsey and Lamont Awards who then selected the person to be honored. The 2011 Munsey Award was presented during Saturday evening’s programming on July 30th.

Congratulations to all the nominees for the 2011 Munsey.

William Contento

Probably best known for the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazine Index (1890-2006) that he compiled with Steve Miller, Bill has assembled other works that have become essential tools of reference. These include his Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections, Index to Crime and Mystery Anthologies (with Martin H. Greenberg), and The Supernatural Index (with Mike Ashley). In the last ten years, he has built up the online FictionMags Index into a research juggernaut. It currently lists the contents of over 44,000 issues of almost 3000 different magazine titles. Pulps are heavily represented, of course, but pulp writers turn up in other magazines, too, and the FictionMags Index allows them to be discovered. A huge endeavor, the FictionMags Index has been a tremendous boon to pulp-magazine research.

Win Scott Eckert

Win is first a writer, mostly of pulp tales. In the last several years he has published stories about Sherlock Holmes, Lance Star, The Green Hornet, The Avenger, Captain Midnight, The Phantom,  Zorro, and Doc Ardan and other French pulp characters. His novel, co-authored with Philip José Farmer, The Evil in Pemberley House, is seeped in pulp traditions. He is also an editor, with Myths for the Modern Age and The Green Hornet Chronicles under his belt so far. Finally, he is a researcher and a historian, particularly in the area of Farmer’s "Wold Newton." His two-volume, 900+ page magnum opus, Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World, ties together hundreds of characters from the pulps, paperbacks, literature, television, and movies. He has also written extensive nonfiction, dealing with all manner of genres. Additionally, his daily blog regularly features pulp and paperback covers as its "pic o’ the day." He is an ambassador for the world of pulp, often correcting misconceptions that exist about pulps and pulp scholarship.

Stephen Haffner

The "Big Poobah" of Haffner Press, Stephen has been returning the work of several highly regarded pulp fiction writers into print for a dozen years. Specializing in science fiction and fantasy, Stephen has brought back the early work of Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, and especially, Jack Williamson in a series of beautifully designed hardcovers. Ed Gorman wrote the following about Haffner Press books: "They’re among the best made and most handsomely illustrated of all the collectibles I’ve ever seen. These are masterpieces in every way.” Additionally, Stephen has been involved in furthering interest in the pulps among both academia and the general public. He has been associated with the annual Williamson Lectureship at Eastern New Mexico University for many years and in 2009 was a co-sponsor with the Kinsman Historical Society of the first Edmond Hamilton Day in the late author’s hometown of Kinsman, Ohio. Stephen has also been a frequent presenter at various pulp conventions.

Stephen T. Miller

Steve has been indexing the pulps for years. With Michael Cook, he compiled Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Fiction: A Checklist of Fiction in U. S. Pulp Magazines, 1915-1974, an exceptionally useful resource for collectors of not only detective pulps, but also hero and some adventure magazines. With Bill Contento, Steve compiled Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazine Index (1890-2006), a guide to more than 900 different magazines, published on CD-ROM by Locus Press and updated periodically by the publisher. Over the years, Steve has also helped many different people with pulp-related research, sharing his knowledge as well as his collection with them.

Matt Moring

Though Matt is only in his late thirties, he has published more than fifty books dealing with the pulps. He runs Altus Press and in just a few, short years, has published many rare pulp stories as well as non-fiction books dealing with the characters and history of the pulps. To date he has published all of Robert J. Hogan’s Secret Six stories, nearly half of the adventures of Secret Agent X, and collections of lesser known characters such as Johnston McCulley’s The Man in Purple and  Lester Dent’s The Blond Adder. His schedule for 2011 includes books reprinting Les Savage’s Senorita Scorpion stories, Fred Nebel’s Jack Cardigan private eye adventures, and many others. His Dime Detective Companion is a superb reference to one of the leading detective magazines of the pulp era while The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze, written by Rick Lai, dissects the adventures of Doc Savage. The Altus Press website is also an excellent reference source featuring links to The Pulp Superhero Index, The Echoes Index, the Pulp Series Character Reprint Index, and more. Such energy needs to be recognized and rewarded

Laurie Powers

The granddaughter of pulp author Paul S. Powers, Laurie was introduced to the pulp community in 2007 through the publication of Pulp Writer: Twenty Years in the American Grub Street, an autobiography and appreciation of her grandfather. Later that same year, she started Laurie’s Wild West, an Internet blog site that has become a favorite destination for those interested in the pulps. She has published articles on “Who Read the Pulps?,” female pulp writers, a series of articles put together by various pulp fans entitled “My Favorite Pulps,” and more. Although relatively new to the world of pulps, Laurie has shown tremendous support for the community by spreading the word about pulp fiction and publicizing the conventions that salute our wonderful hobby.

Garyn Roberts

Professor Roberts teaches for the Communications/English Discipline at Northwestern Michigan College. He is also an unabashed fan of the pulps. Garyn has written extensively about the pulps, both professionally and as a fan. He has edited or co-edited some of the best collections from the pulps including A Cent a Story: The Best from Ten Detective Aces, More Tales of the Defective Detective in the Pulps, The Compleat Adventures of the Moon Man, The Magical Mysteries of the Green Ghost and The Compleat Great Merlini. His insightful essays in these books and elsewhere have led to a greater understanding of the pulps both inside and outside of the pulp community. His collection, The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a college level textbook, is notable for the attention paid to the pulp magazines. Additionally, Garyn has helped other researchers with various pulp-related projects, working to increase our knowledge of the field.

Phil Stephensen-Payne

Phil is a prolific bibliographer and pulp researcher based in the United Kingdom. For many years, he has been compiling extremely useful "working bibliographies," (often in collaboration with the late Gordon Benson, Jr.) of speculative fiction writers, many of whom got their start writing for the pulps. These bibliographies, numbering about sixty, are some of the best reference resources available today in the area of science fiction and fantasy. Additionally, his Galactic Central website contains an online checklist of pulp magazines that is attempting to include the cover to every pulp ever published. Phil is also a significant contributor to the FictionMags Index and co-author (with Stephen T. Miller and William G. Contento) of the forthcoming Crime, Mystery and Gangster Fiction Magazine Index.

Anthony Tollin (2011 winner)

It was Tony Tollin who had the fortitude to convince Conde Nast to authorize reprints of Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Avenger, and The Whisperer. Tony’s regularly issued Sanctum Books are the most popular reprints in the field today. Every month, we can enjoy a double dose of some of the pulp era’s greatest heroes, coupled with informative articles about the authors and artists, the sources for the stories and the pop culture that they inspired. These books continue to serve as a major gateway for new people to enter the pulp-collecting hobby. Additionally, Tony was the co-author with Walter Gibson of The Shadow Scrapbook and helped to put together and introduce numerous recorded collections of pulp-related radio programs during his association with Radio Spirits. He was also involved with several comic book interpretations of the great pulp heroes.

George Vanderburgh

Through his Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, George has published nearly 400 books, many of them directly related to the pulps. He was largely responsible for finally getting all of Fred Davis’ classic Moon Man stories back into print. And what about his Peter the Brazen series, his five volumes featuring the work of Seabury Quinn, The Compleat Adventures of the Park Avenue Hunt Club, his Green Ghost set, The Compleat Saga of John Solomon, and the just completed The Adventures of the Golden Amazon? He has also given us numerous collections of detective fiction, including volumes featuring the Thinking Machine, Dr. Thorndyke and Martin Hewitt. Looking at his website, his future plans include several books reprinting pulp authors who have been unjustly forgotten. Along with Robert Weinberg, George was recently named the co-editor of Arkham House Books. A regular attendee of pulp conventions, George has helped both longtime and new fans to collect the tales of some of the most fantastic heroes from the pulps.

Dan Zimmer

For nearly ten years, Dan has been working to promote greater awareness of pulp artists by producing and distributing Illustration Magazine. He has tirelessly contributed his time, expertise and his personal wealth to promote a more respectful awareness of the artistic accomplishments of pulp artists through the deluxe publication of the many biographical articles on pulp artists that have appeared in his magazine, distributed around the globe. He has done this despite the overwhelming fact that his creative vision is far beyond receiving any reasonable economic return for his efforts. Dan’s devotion to classic American illustrators is manifest in the elegant presentation of his magazine and has helped to turn the tide in our culture’s growing appreciation of pulp art. Additionally, he has supported the pulp community by drawing his readers’ attention to various pulp conventions, including the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Pulpcon, and PulpFest. Dan has also served as the sponsor of Windy City’s annual pulp art exhibit and created the limited edition print of David Saunder’s Munsey Award painting without cost to the PulpFest organizing committee.

Other Nominees

Also nominated were Gene Christie of Black Dog Books, John DeWalt, author of Keys to Other Doors, Mark Ellis, author of Cryptozoica, Ron Fortier of Airship 27, Adam Lance Garcia, author of Green Lama–Unbound, Rich Harvey of Bold Venture Press, Ron Hanna of Wild Cat Books, Don Herron, creator of San Francisco’s Dashiell Hammett tour and Rpbert E. Howard scholar, web designer and PulpFest’s own Chris Kalb, Curt Phillips of PulpMags, Dave Reeder of PulpScans, Wayne Reinagel, author of Pulp Heroes–Khan Dynasty, Mike Taylor, writer and researcher for Pulpdom, and Howard Wright, editor and publisher of The Bronze Gazette. Again, congratulations to all of the nominees.

To learn more about PulpFest’s annual service award, please visit The Rusty page of our website.

Munsey Award Winners

PulpFest 2011 in Columbus Ohio– Anthony Tollin, publisher, writer, and researcher, is best know for the authorized reprints of Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Avenger, and The Whisperer that he regularly issues under the Sanctum Books imprint. These books serve as a source of entertainment and knowledge for veteran pulp fans as well as a major gateway for new people to enter the pulp-collecting hobby. Additionally, Tony was the co-author with Walter Gibson of The Shadow Scrapbook and helped to put together and introduce numerous recorded collections of pulp-related radio programs during his association with Radio Spirits. He was also involved with several comic book interpretations of the great pulp heroes.

PulpFest 2010 in Columbus, Ohio– Michael Chomko, researcher, writer, publisher, and convention volunteer who, along with Jack Cullers, Ed Hulse, and Barry Traylor, works to organize the annual PulpFest, summer’s pulp con. In the late eighties, Mike published his first article in Echoes and later published the well-regarded Purple Prose, a fanzine devoted to pulp history. He is also known as one of the leading distributors of pulp-related publications.

PulpFest 2009 in Columbus, Ohio– William Thom, the designer of the Coming Attractions website where just about every pulp fan with computer access goes to learn about the latest news and book releases in the world of pulps and pulp reprints. Bill also maintains the Pulp Series Character Reprint Index that can be accessed through the Altus Press website as well as the Robert E. Howard bibliography available through the Howard Works website. He has also helped many researchers over the years through his knowledge and collection.

Lamont Award Winners

Like the Munsey Award, the Lamont was awarded to a deserving person who had given of himself or herself for the betterment of the pulp community. The first Lamont was awarded in 1977 at Pulpcon 6. It was awarded annually from 1983 through 2008, the last year that Pulpcon was held.

Pulpcon 37, 2008, Dayton, Ohio—Tom Roberts
Pulpcon 36, 2007, Dayton, Ohio—Ed Hulse
Pulpcon 35, 2006, Dayton, Ohio—John Wooley
Pulpcon 34, 2005, Dayton, Ohio—Neil and Leigh Mechem
Pulpcon 33, 2004, Dayton, Ohio—John Locke
Pulpcon 32, 2003, Dayton, Ohio—Jim Steranko
Pulpcon 31, 2002, Dayton, Ohio—Bob Gorton
Pulpcon 30, 2001, Dayton, Ohio—Sheldon Jaffrey
Pulpcon 29, 2000, Dayton, Ohio—Frank Robinson
Pulpcon 28, 1999, Dayton, Ohio—Tony Davis
Pulpcon 27, 1998, Bowling Green, Ohio—Earl Kussman
Pulpcon 26, 1997, Bowling Green, Ohio—Walker Martin
Pulpcon 25, 1996, San Jose, California—Doug Ellis
Pulpcon 24, 1995, Bowling Green, Ohio—John Gunnison
Pulpcon 23, 1994, Bowling Green, Ohio—Don and Mary Ramlow
Pulpcon A, 1994, Tucson, Arizona—Albert Tonik
Pulpcon 22, 1993, Dayton, Ohio—Ryerson Johnson and Richard Minter
Pulpcon 21, 1992, Dayton, Ohio—Lynn Hickman and Leonard Robbins
Pulpcon 20, 1991, Dayton, Ohio—Tom and Ginger Johnson
Pulpcon 19, 1990, Wayne, New Jersey—Don Hutchison
Pulpcon 18, 1989, Dayton, Ohio—Jack Deveny
Pulpcon 17, 1988, Dayton, Ohio—Richard Clear
Pulpcon 16, 1987, Dayton , Ohio—Gordon Huber
Pulpcon 15, 1986, Dayton, Ohio—Fred Cook and Rusty Hevelin
Pulpcon 14, 1985, Dayton, Ohio—John Roy and Darrell Richardson
Pulpcon 13, 1984, Cherry Hill, New Jersey—Frank Hamilton
Pulpcon 12, 1983, Dayton, Ohio—Robert Weinberg
Pulpcon 8, 1979, Dayton, Ohio—Will Murray
Pulpcon 7, 1978, St. Louis, Missouri—Robert Sampson and Wooda "Nick" Carr
Pulpcon 6, 1977, Akron, Ohio—Nils Hardin

The Rusty Hevelin Service Award is named after James "Rusty" Hevelin. This pillar of the pulp community passed away on December 27, 2011. An active science fiction fan since the thirties, Rusty was the guiding light behind Pulpcon, the convention that helped to keep the memory of the pulps alive for many years. This task has now been entrusted to PulpFest.

Originally called The Munsey Award, this prestigious prize had been named after Frank A. Munsey, the man who published the first all-fiction pulp magazine in December 1896. It was with The Argosy that the pulp magazine was born. Three Munsey Awards were presented from 2009-11.

As a result of the recent death of Mr. Hevelin, PulpFest has decided that henceforth the Munsey will be called The Rusty Hevelin Service Award,  or, in short, The Rusty. This decision was made as a tribute to a man who was very influential in making  PulpFest and its predecessors as successful as they are today.

David Saunders, the son of the legendary pulp artist Norman Saunders, has created a sensational, limited-edition print, one copy of which will be offered annually as The Rusty at PulpFest. David’s work is a refreshing homage to classic pulp art that honors the entire pulp community and their common love of the purple prose of the bloody pulps. We are sure that Norman would be proud of his son’s wonderful painting. Dan Zimmer of the Illustrated Press has produced a deluxe, limited edition of thirty-six numbered and signed prints. The PulpFest Committee is indebted to both David and Dan for their generous support of our convention.

A New York artist whose work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum and at other museums and in public buildings throughout the United States and other countries, David Saunders has taught art at Yale, Oberlin and many other colleges worldwide, including schools in Paris, London and Tokyo. He is an expert on pulp art and has spoken on the subject at conferences and has served as the guest of honor at various pulp conventions. David has also written numerous articles on pulp artists for Illustration Magazine and is the author of Norman Saunders, a biography and appreciation of his father’s work. For further information on David and for a look at his work, please visit The David Saunders Museum.

"The Rusty,"  by David Saunders, 2009

The Rusty is awarded annually to a deserving person who has given of himself or herself for the betterment of the pulp community, be it through disseminating knowledge about the pulps or through publishing or other efforts to preserve and to foster interest in the pulp magazines we all love and enjoy. Nominations for the award are welcome and can be made by anyone. Except for previous winners of the Lamont Award or the Munsey Award, all members of the general pulp community can be nominated. The winner of the award will be selected from these nominees by a panel of judges consisting of recognized experts in the pulp field.

In order to nominate a person, please send the person’s name and a brief paragraph describing why you feel that person should be honored to Mike Chomko, 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542 or to mike@pulpfest.com. The deadline for nominations is April 30 of this year.

For a list of the winners of the Lamont and Munsey Awards and a biographical sketch of Anthony Tollin, the winner of the 2011 Munsey, please visit the Past Award Winners page of our website.

For questions about the Rusty Hevelin Service Award or to nominate someone for this prestigious award, please write to Mike Chomko at 2217 W. Fairview St., Allentown, PA18104 or via email at mike@pulpfest.com.