Created by Stewart Sterling
Pseudonym of Prentice Winchell
Other pseudonyms include Spencer Dean, Jay de Bekker, Giles Norcroft, Robert Wallace
(1895-1976)
A rare Native American private eye, JIM BIG-KNIFE checked off all the stereotype boxes of the 1930s.
He was a “full-blooded Indian” straight out of Hollywood casting (actually, purportedly the last of the Kwanee Blackfoot).
But just in case that clunker of a name didn’t clue you in, he was also, of course, tall, black-haired and bronze-skinned, had high broad cheekbones and was generally stoic, impassive, and sentiment-free.
But he was quick to action, and excelled in javelin and football while attending Haskell Indian Nations College in Lawrence, Kansas. He later went into the detective biz, much to the dismay of Homicide Deputy Chief Inspector Vansitter. That dismay, however, only lasted two stories, both of which appeared in Dime Mystery Magazine in 1939.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spencer Dean (whose real name was Prentice Winchell) wrote under a slew of pseudonyms, but whatever name he used, he really was the “King of the Specialty Detectives.” Although they sure acted like private eyes, their official occupations ranged from upscale house dick Gil Vine and department store Don Cadee to Fire Marshall Ben Pedley and Harbour Detective Lieutenant Steve Koski. Before turning to novels, he was responsible for numerous stories in the pulps, featuring such diverse characters as Native-American private eye Jim Big-Knife, undercover cop Johnny Hi Gear, Don Marko (an early version of Don Cadee), Royal Canadian Mountie Eric Lewis, racetrack sleuth Vince Mallie, and NYPD hard-asses The Special Squad. He also worked as a journalist, a screenwriter and a writer of radio scripts.
SHORT STORIES
- “The Forty-Nine Frankensteins” (April 1939, Dime Mystery Magazine)
- “For Every House–A Corpse” (June 1939, Dime Mystery Magazine)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Native American Eyes & Faithful Indian Companions
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. - Stewart Sterling: King Of The Specialty Detectives
Richard Moore clues us in. (December 2003, Mystery*File 40)
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
