Tuesday, August 25, 2020

A Lost Nero Wolfe Novel? You be the judge.


Back when the '80s were young I was a member in relatively good standing of the legendary mystery apa, DAPA-EM (a fiendishly clever acronym for Elementary, My Dear Amateur Press Association). The way it worked was that every couple of months thirty-odd (or thirty odd) people would print thirty-odd copies of their own fanzines and mail them off to the Official Editor, in this case Art Scott, (aka the Emperor of the Universe). Art would collate the zines, staple them into two or three volumes and mail them back to the members. Think of it as an extremely low-tech, and extremely slow, form of blogging. A wise-guy member once defined DAPA-EM as "sort of a cross between a religion and a disease." He was right.

Anyway, my contribution to the 45th mailing, in March of '82, was this 6-page zine called Fast One, in which I discuss the possibility of a lost adventure of Nero Wolfe. Incredible? Read it and see. This piece was also reprinted in the July/August (Vol. 6 No. 4) issue of The Mystery Fancier, which, to my utter astonishment, is now available as a POD book from Wildside Press. Hey Wildside, where are my royalties?






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25 comments:

  1. Cap'n BobAugust 29, 2013 at 11:05 PM

    This was in Daps-Em? I admit I don't remember it at all. Did anyone ever confirm or deny it was a Stout book?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ray GarratyAugust 29, 2013 at 11:07 PM

    Evan,
    my link here is last week's. I have a fresh one:
    http://longwalkwithbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/hill-girl.html

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Evan LewisAugust 29, 2013 at 11:26 PM

    Thanks Ray.

    I believe Jud Sapp looked into the matter, Cap'n.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)August 29, 2013 at 11:59 PM

    Thanks for including me in the meme roundup Evan - and itterly fascinating to read about this potential new Stout - it's the sort of thing I always imagine is an April Fool, but I'm pretty convinced! Thanks.


    Sergio

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)August 30, 2013 at 4:08 AM

    Ta for the link, sir. I've got a review up today which might be more suitable than The Outfit, but it's up to you. (I doubt I'll be posting anything at all next week, so maybe Patti can link today's review in next week's FFB.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kevin R. TippleAugust 30, 2013 at 4:32 AM

    Thank you for including Barry's effort on my blog. Appreciate it.


    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kelly RobinsonAugust 30, 2013 at 6:11 AM

    I have one here: http://bookdirtblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/book-review-no-blade-of-grass.html

    I'll read and remark on your post after I've had caffeine!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gerard SaylorAugust 30, 2013 at 7:25 AM

    I got one, GROUCHO MARX, MASTER DETECTIVE by Ron Goulart.

    http://booksareforsquares.blogspot.com/2013/08/done-groucho-marx-master-detective-by.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Randy JohnsonAugust 30, 2013 at 7:37 AM

    I have one as well. Evan.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jerry HouseAugust 30, 2013 at 7:48 AM

    Mine is finally up, Evan.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Evan LewisAugust 30, 2013 at 8:30 AM

    Jeez, I didn't come back from the dead until 8am (Pacific). My apologies to all you earlier risers.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kelly RobinsonAugust 30, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    This really takes me back. My sister and I used to have a 'zine of weird Victoriana -- anything from Conan Doyle to Jack the Ripper. (We had a "Sexiest Man Alive" feature that would usually be some Boer War luminary.)

    I miss 'zines so much. Blogs are just not quite the same.

    ReplyDelete
  13. GerardAugust 30, 2013 at 8:54 AM

    "Boer War luminary" Ha!

    You'll have to scan those pages and post'em up.

    ReplyDelete
  14. mybillcriderAugust 30, 2013 at 9:52 AM

    Ah, DAPA-Em. I miss the old days.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Todd MasonAugust 30, 2013 at 10:21 AM

    I'm up...and happily showing as a linking site. (No apologies needed on my usual late-running account.)

    ReplyDelete
  16. pattinase (abbott)August 30, 2013 at 3:41 PM

    Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  17. GeorgeAugust 30, 2013 at 6:17 PM

    Thanks for hosting FFB, Evan! We all appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Rick RobinsonAugust 31, 2013 at 10:39 AM

    I miss DAPA-Em too. Dang.

    ReplyDelete
  19. ShayAugust 31, 2013 at 3:31 PM

    So now you have me prowling the usual websites (unz.org, pulpgen and pulpmags.org) looking for yet another author! Curse you, Jack Dalton...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Cap'n BobAugust 31, 2013 at 9:03 PM

    Alas, Judd died way before his time. Did he come up with anything before his death? I kind of doubt it. What about the Wolfe pack?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bryan FoSeptember 1, 2013 at 3:00 PM

    This cover should look familiar:
    http://philsp.com/data/images/p/private_detective_stories_194406.jpg
    According to FictionMags Index George A. McDonald was active from 1933 to 1946 in various detective magazines. Would be interesting to see if there are any other 'Titus Lyon' stories in "Private Detective Stories".

    ReplyDelete
  22. Evan LewisSeptember 1, 2013 at 4:44 PM

    Good catch, Bryan.

    ReplyDelete
  23. jurinummelinSeptember 15, 2013 at 10:26 AM

    The link to Todd's posting leads to a wrong site.

    ReplyDelete
  24. UnknownMay 17, 2020 at 2:35 AM

    That cover was a fake, isn't it ?

    https://adventurehouse.com/shop/product/private-detective-stories-06-44/

    ReplyDelete
  25. Evan LewisJune 18, 2020 at 11:06 AM

    Well, yeah.

    ReplyDelete