Site icon The Thrilling Detective Web Site

Roger Torrey

kevinburtonsmith

Pseudonyms: Sam Drake, Samuel Drake, John Ryan, R.D. Torrey
(1901-46)

 

Most readers of private detective fiction have probably never heard of pulp writer ROGER DENZEL TORREY.  It‘s understandable, I guess. He wrote only one novel, 42 Days of Murder, and almost everything else he ever wrote has never been reprinted. Yet he was one of the Black Mask Boys, a master  of hard-boiled fiction. Unfortunately, he’s never achieved the recognition in the years since his death in 1946,  that so many of his fellow pulpsters enjoyed.

And yet, over a relatively brief career spanning just thirteen years or so, between drinks, he pounded out over two hundred and eighty short stories and novellas, most of them crime and detective fiction, and was published in most of the top crime pulps of the day, including Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Story, Thrilling Detective, and Detective Fiction Weekly, as well as numerous other crime and detective pulps. Of those, over a hundred were cover stories and his name was prominently featured on over forty more — so somebody must have appreciated his work.

He wrote about bodyguards (Mike O’Dell), cops (Dal Prentice) and even several stories about a regular U.S. Army man (Bryant) working in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the South, but his forté was tough, hard-boiled, mostly Irish-American ex-cops turned private dicks who generally narrated their own tales and weren’t above cutting a few corners to get what they wanted. He created a slew of them, including George Killeen, Pat McCarthy & Marge Chalmers, Shean Connell, John Ryan, Terrance McGowan, Johnny Cass, Sam Drake, Joe Harper, Mike “Mickey” Hanigan and plenty more.

Sure, many of them were one-offs, but as James M. Reasoner points out, “Despite the fact that they all have different names, those narrators are basically the same person: a private detective, often an ex-cop and a lone operative, smart but not infallible, tough but no superman, basically a decent sort but not above a little chicanery and lechery. He’ll get beaten up when the odds are against him, he’ll be fooled by an attractive woman from time to time, and he’ll muddle his way through cases with dogged determination as much as anything else. But in the end, he comes up with the killer every time, of course.”

When Torrey’s first published story, “Police Business”, made the January 1933 issue of Black Mask, he was a contemporary of George Harmon Coxe, Raymond Chandler, Norbert Davis and John K. Butler, to name a few; writers were carrying on — and in many cases, expanding upon the “hard-boiled school” established by Carroll John Daly and Dashiell Hammett in the 1920s.

* * * * *

Born May 5th, 1901 in Cadillac, Michigan, Torrey’s parents divorced and his mother, Rose, moved him and his younger sister, Ellenor, to Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Rose Torrey’s second husband, Harry W. Poole, built and owned theatres in the Klamath Falls area. After high school, a short stint with the Royal Canadian Rifles, and studies at the University of Oregon, Roger put his musical abilities to use in his step-father’s theatres.  Torrey began playing keyboards during the silent film era, then took the  position of Musical Director at the Liberty Theatre in the latter part of 1920, and later managed the Chiloquin Theatre.

1920s Chiloquin was a boom town nicknamed “Little Chicago”, and nineteen year old Roger Torrey explored the pool halls, card rooms, and dance halls. In saloons he could ingratiate himself by playing barrelhouse piano for employees and customers, some of whom were cops. Memories from these days would be a bridge for his fiction and give the narratives authenticity. In one case, saloon patrons were the inspiration for a story.  In the January 1940 issue of Black Mask Torrey recounts the moment for a Marge and McCarthy story titled “Death Calls the Hand”:

“(It) wasn’t so tough to write because the opening was true. Naturally, I don’t go in low barrooms, (oh, my, no!) but a friend did, and saw this happen and told me of it.”

Torrey spent much of the 1920s rambling up and down the west coast from job to job, spending much of the time in Los Angels and San Francisco. Towards the end of the decade he married and became the owner/operator of a confection store. But by 1932 the marriage and business had failed.

One can speculate why Torrey made the move to New York City. Perhaps, after selling a few stories, an agent or editor encouraged him to come, reasoning that writing assignments would increase. Maybe that and a change of scenery was all he needed. But once there he not only made a good living, but developed friendships with fellow writers such as Steve Fisher and Frank Gruber, became acquainted with other authors like Cornell Woolrich, Lester Dent and Carrol John Daly, and met the woman who would spend the rest of his life with at an American Fiction Guild meeting.

Helen A. had appeared in pulp magazines, especially Romance titles, since 1929, and had one novel published with another in the works. They both liked to drink, so after moving in together an understanding was reached:  no drinking until the day’s page count was met.  Torrey worked quickly and once finished would pour a drink, then goad her for being slow.

* * * * *

Was the drinking begin to affect his work? Some editors began to be asked by the business offices not to accept stories by him due to his demands for money, although much this had to do with his alcohol consumption is hard to guage.  He did attend the first meeting of The Mystery Writer’s of America which was organized to look after the interests of MWA members.  At that first meeting the group decided on a slogan, “Crime Does Not Pay… Enough”.  Perhaps Roger took this to heart and felt emboldened when dealing with office people. Daisy Bacon, who was editing Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine, took the view that a story by Roger Torrey was worth the trouble and stuck with him.

Torrey could write both first and third person narratives, and often dipped into present tense. Tom Roberts of Black Dog Books likens Torrey’s style to sitting on a bar stool and the fellow next to you is telling a story.  The quality of his fiction would vary from magazine to magazine, but Torrey always made sure he got paid. When detective pulps switched to stories with a more noir-minded narrative, as popularized by Woolrich, Fisher, and others, Torrey stuck with the “hard-boiled” style that had made him popular.

Editors began turning down these stories. In one known instance, a story he submitted to Black Mask got turned down and was also rejected by Harry Widmer, editor of Ten Detective Aces.  Torrey ripped the manuscript in half out of frustration and left, seething. Widmer thought it was just an act, suspecting Torrey had a carbon of the story. But later Widmer was informed that Torrey did not make copies.

Perhaps it was his reluctance to meet editor’s demands, but Torrey deciding to write predominantly for the decidely less prestigious Trojan/Culture line of pulps, which included Hollywood Detective, Super Detective, Private Detective and Speed Detective.  There he could deliver formulaic stories for higher than average rates with no interference from their editors, and not have to alter his style.

In Frank Gruber’s The Pulp Jungle he recalled meeting a very drunk Torrey one morning on the street and could not tell if he got an early start drinking, or was carrying on from the evening before.  Gruber added, “Personally, Roger Torrey was a tough little guy, as hard as the characters he portrayed so well in his stories.“ This was when New York bars stayed open until 4 a.m. Occasionally, Torrey and friends would cab over to New Jersey where the bars remained open until 6 a.m.

On a visit to a doctor Torrey was told to quit drinking alcohol, the damage to his liver was severe.  He abstained for a month, then picked his old habit back up.  This decision cost his life.

Sometime in 1945 Roger and Helen left New York and headed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  According to Steve Fisher, who would write about his old friend years later, these were happy times for the two, but they came to an abrupt end.

On January 11th, 1946 Roger told Helen he did not feel well,  asked for a cup of tea, and lay down on the couch.  After sipping the tea, according to Fisher, he turned to her and said: “Hold my hand, Mommy, because I’m going to die.”

She held his hand until the end.  Cause of death: acute alcoholism.

* * * * *

At the time of Torrey’s death the pulp market was shrinking and paperbacks were going to take over.  Had he lived, Torrey might have had no choice but to write novels.  His realistic portrayals of crime and mayhem might have struck the same chord with the reading public that made Mickey Spillane a sensation in the 1950s.

But we’ll never know.

UNDER OATH

SHORT STORIES

COLLECTIONS & CHAPBOOKS

NOVELS

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Respectfully submitted by Joel Lyczak, with assistance by Richard Moore, John Locke (editor, Off Trail Press), Will Murray, Tom Roberts” (Black Dog Books) and Keith Alan Deutsch (Black Mask Magazine), as well as the reminiscences of Steve Fisher, and Don Torrey, Roger’s step-brother. Bibliography compiled and formatted by Kevin Burton Smith.

 

Exit mobile version