Back in 2001, Mr. Art Scott became the celebrated author of the still-celebrated book The Paperback Art of Robert McGinnis. Well, he's at it again, with the soon-to-be-released volume pictured here.
To mark the occasion, Mr. J. Kingston Pierce penned a fine piece for the Kirkus website (HERE), and a much, much longer, amazingly indepth interview with Art on The Rap Sheet (HERE). I consider both to be required reading, so I expect you to scoot to one or the other right after perusing this post.
The Rap Sheet article offers tantalizing glimpses of a good many samples of McGinnis covers and movie posters, and also features a sketch Mr. McG did of Art himself. But there are no photos of Mr. Scott, and a quick search of Google Images turned up squat. The truth is, surprisingly few photos exist, because Art has always been the man behind the camera, snapping pics of everyone else while escaping the lens himself.
Thankfully, the Almanack has obtained several rare images of Art in the flesh, and we present them here for posterity. On seeing these, he'll probably wish he'd chosen to be photographed in better company, but it's way too late for regrets. These photos are from Mr. Scott's own collection, and were likely taken with his own camera. While it seems unlikely he took them himself, he is an extremely enterprising fellow, and I wouldn't put it past him.
With yours truly (left) and Cap'n Bob Napier, 1982
And yeah, we were all Rex Stout fans.
1982
With fellow Bay Area Icon Bruce Taylor, 1995
1996
With Lance Casebeer, The King of Paperbacks, 1996
With unidentified friend, 2003
There you have it. I suggest you book on over to The Rap Sheet and read that interview NOW!
And I'm sure you'll want to pre-order The Art of Robert E. McGinnis HERE.
Great photos, even if I'm in a few. But are you sure that's Art with Lance? It looks more like Big Hoss from Pawn Stars.
ReplyDeleteAs for the book, I pre-ordered it and expect it in the mail any day now.
Great photos! I miss the old days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words about my work.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jeff
There's a letter from his attorney in the mail. Copyright and all that, you know. It's funny you never see a picture of this guy READING any of those books.
ReplyDeleteWe had a chance to visit with him last Spring on the way from Left Coast Crime, and the collections, and especially the original artworks are amazing.
When I said, "FEEL FREE to ... use a modest selection of photos ...for public display on your personal blog or website." I didn't anticipate this, no indeed. Law of unintended consequences. My attorney, Nathaniel Parker, is working up a lawsuit, and you can expect Saul Panzer, part-time process server, at your doorstep any day now.
ReplyDeleteMy unidentified friend in the last photo is also named Lance.
Art