My Scrapbook "It's about my wife. I need you to find out what she thinks I did wrong." By Jon Adams (The New Yorker) Private eyes are so ubitquious in pop culture by now that they pop up everywhere; a well-established meme that almost everyone instantly recognizes, and thus a frequent inclusion in humor. Here, … Continue reading My Scrapbook: “It’s about my wife. I need you to find out what she thinks I did wrong.”
Category: Artist/Illustrator
My Scrapbook: “Why, thanks. You’re looking very film-noir-ish tonight yourself.”
My Scrapbook "Why, thanks. You're looking very film-noir-ish tonight yourself." By Mort Gerberg (The New Yorker) The term "film noir" has become so pretentious, so compromised, so misunderstood and so misappropriated, used to sell everything from perfume and jewelry to yogurt and Yoyos, and its definition so sloppily applied to novels, films and television to … Continue reading My Scrapbook: “Why, thanks. You’re looking very film-noir-ish tonight yourself.”
They Also Served: Bayre Phillips
Illustrator (1924–69) One of the 20th century's most prolific book cover illustrators from the forties through to the sixties, BARYE WINCHELL PHILLIPS was born in September 1905 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and attended the National Academy of Design and The Art Students League of New York. Not even twenty, he began working as a … Continue reading They Also Served: Bayre Phillips
They Also Served: Robert E. McGinnis
Illustrator (1926-2025) "I wish I looked half as good as his painting of me!” — Raquel Welch One of the all-time greats and one of the most influential and prolific illustrators of the 20th century and a relatively late starter (he was born in 1926), Ohio born-and-bred ROBERT E.MCGINNIS painted well over 1,500 paperback covers since … Continue reading They Also Served: Robert E. McGinnis
Art for Art’s Sake
Artists Inspired by Noir Noir is everywhere these days, used to flog everything from over-priced coffee and cheap lingerie to high-end make-up and mediocre crime films that mistake ill-fitting fedoras and second-hand cigarette smoke for style. But real fans know that noir is more than just a few visual effects and a cool marketing tool. … Continue reading Art for Art’s Sake
My Scrapbook: “I’ll Be Waiting”
My Scrapbook Chandler Cracks The Saturday Evening Post Illustrations by Hy Rubin Chandler's short story “I’ll Be Waiting” marked the first—and only—appearance of pudgy house dick Tony Reseck. It appeared in the October 14, 1939 issue, and was Chandler's first—and only—sale to the “slicks.” Afterward, Chandler claimed he did it for the money, and at his agent's insistence, … Continue reading My Scrapbook: “I’ll Be Waiting”
They Also Served: Harry Bennett
Illustrator (1919-2012) It's a bit of a mystery, at least to me, why HARRY BENNETT isn't better known among fans of vintage crime and detective paperbacks. His distinctive cover work has appeared on works by Dashiell Hammett, Frank Kane, Dolores Hitchens, Talmage Powell, Don Tracy, Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Roy Huggins, Thomas B. … Continue reading They Also Served: Harry Bennett
They Also Served: Mitchell Hooks
Illustrator (1923-2013) One of my favorite artists, MITCHELL HOOKS' covers for Bantam's late-seventies reissues of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels acted as the visual counterpoint to my descent into this literary obsession of mine. Imagine my glee to discover that, years later, Hooks illustrated (in a completely different style) another of my favorite … Continue reading They Also Served: Mitchell Hooks