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Saturday 30 September 2017

Adventures in Editing - Donald A. Kennicott, article on editing Blue Book magazine for 42 years

On the occasion of the 136th birthday of Donald A. Kennicott, the long-time editor of Blue Book magazine, I'm happy to present to you this article written by him in the November 1954 issue of Blue  Book magazine, 2 years after he had stopped editing the magazine. It's a great companion to Mike Ashley's article about Blue Book which covers the magazine during Kennicott's tenure.



ADVENTURES IN EDITING
DONALD A. KENNICOTT

The gentleman and scholar who was a Bluebook editor during 42 of this magazine's 50 years looks back on an exciting and distinguished career.



First issue of the magazine that became Blue Book
First issue of the magazine that became Blue Book


After a long experience in magazine editing, Burgess Johnson wrote an autobiography which he called “As Much as I Dare, ” taking his title from Montaigne: “I speak the truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little more as I grow older. ” Ellery Sedgwick, recalling his 30 years of “adventuring in human nature” as editor of the Atlantic, chose “The Happy Profession” as the title for a memoir of those years. After my 42 years with Bluebook, I am inclined to think that Burgess Johnson chose the better title.

Saturday 9 September 2017

Jay Paul Jackson - Artist (1905-1954)

Jay Jackson was the name he gave as an artist for the pulp magazines in Chicago. I came across his work when i was reading an issue of Golden Fleece magazine which had illustrations by him. Not finding much about him on the web, I did a little research and found this article on him which I thought was worth sharing for the picture it painted of a struggling African American artist in the days of the Great Depression.

Cover for Golden Fleece, December 1938 jointly credited to Jay Jackson and Harold S. DeLay
Cover for Golden Fleece, December 1938 jointly credited to Jay Jackson and Harold S. DeLay
(Image courtesy the FictionMags Index)

This autobiographical article appeared in the October 1941 issue of Fantastic Adventures. The only other article about him that i could find on the web was this one: https://www.artslant.com/la/articles/show/40444

Jay Paul Jackson aka Jay Jackson (1905-1954)
Jay Paul Jackson aka Jay Jackson (1905-1954)