Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Yet another of Erle Stanley Gardner's countless pulp heroes, private eye JERRY MARR surprisingly only made one appearance, as far as I can tell, in the December 9, 1939 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly. He may be worth checking out, though, because in a Gardner collection in which the story … Continue reading Jerry Marr
Tag: Erle Stanley Gardner
Jerry Bane
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Yet another of the many characters Erle Stanley Gardner created for the pulps, JERRY BANE was a relatively late arrival, popping up in the late forties. A returned vet and the heir to a vast fortune, his parents soon realized their fun-loving son had no "prediliction for gainful employment" and … Continue reading Jerry Bane
Ed Jenkins (“The Phantom Crook”)
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) "I'm my own law... my own judge, jury and executioner, and if a fellow starts after my scalp... well, I'm still wearing it." Erle Stanley Gardner, who went on to create the world's most famous lawyer, Perry Mason, actually cut his teeth in the pulps, literally writing millions of … Continue reading Ed Jenkins (“The Phantom Crook”)
Ken Corning
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason, was one of the leading writers for Black Mask, the legendary hard-boiled crime fiction magazine. Although Mason never actually made it into its pages, in the early 1930s the pulp published a string of six short stories starring a slick, crusading … Continue reading Ken Corning
Paul Drake
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Appearing in books, in movies, and television, he's one of the most enduring hard-boiled private eyes of all time, yet he has never been the lead, always playing second fiddle to his famous client. That detective is, of course, PAUL DRAKE, the preferred investigator for none other than Erle … Continue reading Paul Drake
Perry Mason
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) PERRY MASON is Raymond Burr as a Defense Attorney, right? Not a P.I., right? Well, sorta. In the first ten or so books by pulpmeister Erle Stanley Gardner, Perry comes off as a particularly hard-boiled lawyer/detective, throwing his weight around, breaking and entering, and other private eye shenanigans, not above … Continue reading Perry Mason
Lester Leith
Created By Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) "Do you know, Scuttle, an impartial observer hearing Sergeant Ackley's theories might come to the conclusion I was guilty of some crime or another..." He's not really a private eye, in that he doesn't really take on paying customers, but he certainly gets paid (and paid well) for his, … Continue reading Lester Leith
Paul Pry
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Yet another of the many colourful characters Erle Stanley Gardner created for the pulps, PAUL PRY (aka "The Crime Juggler") was one of Gardner's many wealthy, eccentric con artist/detectives who made a living scamming other criminals. Pry bore clear similarities to several of Gardner's other, more popular characters, from … Continue reading Paul Pry
Erle Stanley Gardner
Pseudonyms include A.A. Fair, Grant Holiday, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenney, Charles M. Green, Kyle Corning, Les Tillray and Robert Parr (1889-1970) Although critics sneered and many felt that he was not a very good writer (Rex Stout, for example, once claimed that the Perry Mason books weren't even novels), by the time of his death ERLE … Continue reading Erle Stanley Gardner
Rogues’ Gallery
Erle Stanley Gardner's Other Series Characters Long before he hit it really big with Perry Mason (and moderately big with Bertha Cool and Donald Lam), the endlessly inventive Erle Stanley Gardner created dozens and dozens of colourful and sometimes downright odd characters for the pulps of the twenties and thirties, before turning towards the more lucrative … Continue reading Rogues’ Gallery