This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Ron Goulart
Goulart in 2009 at the South Street Seaport
Goulart in 2009 at the South Street Seaport
BornRonald Joseph Goulart
(1933-01-13)January 13, 1933
Berkeley, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 14, 2022(2022-01-14) (aged 89)
Ridgefield, Connecticut, U.S.
Pen nameChad Calhoun, R. T. Edwards, Ian R. Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, Joseph Silva
OccupationWriter, historian
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
GenreMystery, fantasy, science fiction

Ronald Joseph Goulart (/ˈɡuːlɑːrt/ )[1] (January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.[2]

He worked on novels and novelizations (and other works) being published under various pseudonyms such as: Kenneth Robeson, Con Steffanson, Chad Calhoun, R. T. Edwards, Ian R. Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, and Joseph Silva.[3]

Life and career

Goulart was born in Berkeley, California, on January 13, 1933.[4][5][6] He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and worked there as an advertising copywriter in San Francisco while beginning to write fiction.[4]

Goulart's first professional publication was a 1952 reprint of the SF story "Letters to the Editor" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction;[7] this parody of a pulp magazine letters column was originally published in the University of California, Berkeley's Pelican. His early career in advertising and marketing influenced most of his work. In the early 1960s, Goulart wrote the text for Chex Press, a newspaper parody published on Ralston Purina cereal boxes (Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex). He then wrote dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres, and using a variety of pennames[8] He contributed to P.S. and other magazines, along with his book review column for Venture Science Fiction Magazine. Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of the Pulp Magazines (1972) is his best known non-fiction book.

Fiction

F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre illustrated Ron Goulart's story "The Robot Who Came to Dinner" in Analog (July–August 2002).

Goulart's fiction is characterized by several themes, including technology gone wrong (usually through incompetence rather than malice) and protagonists with superhuman powers. The characteristic style of his work is satire and anarchic humor. His crime and science fiction works include tales about robots and historical Hollywood figures, such as Groucho Marx. In the 1970s, he wrote several novels based on Lee Falk's The Phantom for Avon Books, using the pseudonym "Frank Shawn" (a play on his wife and son's name. He has also written comic book stories and short stories about The Phantom for Moonstone Books from 2003 to the present. As a commercial freelance writer, Goulart has written novelizations for television programs such as Laverne & Shirley, as well as romance novels using female pseudonyms.

It is widely known that Goulart ghost wrote the TekWar series of books credited to the actor William Shatner[9] (Shatner is said to have written the outlines for the books).[10] He has also ghosted novels featuring the Phantom, Flash Gordon and the pulp character The Avenger.

A collection of his mystery short stories, Adam and Eve on a Raft, was published in 2001 by Crippen & Landru.

Comics

In the early 1970s, Goulart wrote several scripts for Marvel Comics, mostly adaptations of classic science fiction stories. Later in the decade, he collaborated with artist Gil Kane on the Star Hawks newspaper strip. In the early 1990s, he scripted Marvel's TekWar comics series.[11]

Personal life and death

Goulart was married to author Frances Sheridan Goulart and has two sons, Sean-Lucien and Steffan Eamon. He died from respiratory arrest at a nursing home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on January 14, 2022, one day after his 89th birthday.[4][12][13]

Awards

Goulart was nominated twice for the Edgar Award, once for his 1970 science fiction novel After Things Fell Apart.[14] He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1989.[15]

Bibliography

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2020)

Non-fiction

Non-series novels

Novel series

Flash Gordon (Alex Raymond's original story)
The Phantom (writing as Frank S Shawn)
Vampirella
Avenger
Barnum System
Barnum System – Jack Summer
Barnum System – Ben Jolson
Barnum System – Star Hawks
Barnum System – The Exchameleon
Jack Conger
Odd Jobs, Inc.
Fragmented America
Gypsy
Marvel Novel Series (as Joseph Silva; with Len Wein and Marv Wolfman)
Harry Challenge
Groucho Marx

Short fiction

Collections
Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
Black magic for dummies 2000 Goulart, Ron (May 2000). "Black magic for dummies". F&SF. 98 (5): 4–24.
The Katy dialogues 1958 Goulart, Ron (July 1958). "The Katy dialogues". F&SF. 15 (1).

References

  1. ^ "Ron Goulart and Sean Joyce's The Phantom! Promo"
  2. ^ "Ron Goulart - Mysterious Press". mysteriouspress.com. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  3. ^ A preface to the reprint of Goulart's sf story My Pal Clunky in "Year's Best SF 4", by HarperPrism, 1999, ISBN 0-06-105902-1, p.377
  4. ^ a b c Sandomir, Richard (January 28, 2022). "Ron Goulart, Prolific Writer Who Spanned Genres, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Comics Buyer's Guide #1650; February 2009; Page 107
  6. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  7. ^ "SFE: Goulart, Ron". sf-encyclopedia.com.
  8. ^ "Ron Goulart - Mysterious Press". mysteriouspress.com. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  9. ^ Ashley, Mike (1998). The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers. p. 265. ISBN 9780786705337.
  10. ^ Shatner, William; Fisher, David. (2008). Up Till Now: The Autobiography. Thomas Dunne. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-312-37265-1.
  11. ^ "GCD :: Story Search Results".
  12. ^ Evanier, Mark (January 14, 2022). "Ron Goulart, R.I.P."
  13. ^ Degg, D. D. (January 14, 2022). "Ron Goulart – RIP".
  14. ^ "Edgar Awards database". Theedgars.com. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  15. ^ "Inkpot Award". Comic-Con International: San Diego. December 6, 2012.
  16. ^ "Ron Goulart". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved December 6, 2011.

External links

Inkpot Award (1980s)
Authority control databases
Categories