Donald Wandrei
Encyclopedia
Donald Albert Wandrei was an American
science fiction
, fantasy
and weird fiction
writer, poet and editor. He wrote as Donald Wandrei. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei
. He had fourteen stories in Weird Tales
, another sixteen in Astounding Stories, plus a few in other magazines including Esquire
.
, Ramsey County
, Minnesota
. All of his grandparents were early Minnesota settlers. Donald's father, Albert Christian Wandrei, became chief editor of West Publishing Company, America's leading publisher of law books. Donald grew up in his parents' house at 1152 Portland Ave, St Paul and lived there most of his life save for a stint in the Army and occasional sojourns in New York and Hollywood. He loved frequent rambles in the woods along the Minnesota River; it was Wandrei who later taught August Derleth
the fine art of morel
hunting.
He attended Central High in St Paul, Minnesota (1921–24), during which period he published short compositions in the school newspaper and avidly read the magazine Science and Invention. In 1923 he began work part-time as a 'page-boy' in the Circulation Room of the Saint Paul Public Library, filling reader's requests for books from the storage stacks; this expanded his access to, and reading of, a wide variety of literature. In 1923 and 1924 he also worked evenings at the Hill Reference Library. He graduated from the University of Minnesota
in 1928, with a BA in English. While there he was a student editor on the student newspaper The Minnesota Daily. At that time he was enormously influenced by a reading of Arthur Machen
's novel The Hill of Dreams
.
Wandrei started writing in 1926 and his writing career took off around 1932. In late 1927 he hitchhiked from Minnesota to Rhode Island to visit H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft conducted him on a grand antiquarian tour of Providence, R.I. and then on to similar tours in Boston
, Salem
and Marblehead
. There was also an excursion to Warren
, R.I., later made famous by Wandrei's reminiscences in the Arkham House volume Marginalia
(1944) during which Wandrei, Lovecraft and James Ferdinand Morton each sampled twenty-eight different flavors of ice cream at Maxfield's ice-cream parlour.
Wandrei was active in pulp magazines until the late 1930s. He was a member of the "Lovecraft Circle," as a friend and protege of H. P. Lovecraft
, corresponding with other members of the circle (Frank Belknap Long
, Clark Ashton Smith
, etc.). Wandrei personally made the case for Weird Tales
to publish Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu
" telling Farnsworth Wright
that unless he published the tale, Lovecraft may look for other magazines to submit stories to.
As an accomplished poet, Wandrei was the first to write a series of sonnets for Weird Tales, “Sonnets of the Midnight Hours.” Lovecraft liked the idea so much, he embarked on his own series, Fungi From Yuggoth
.” Robert E. Howard
also wrote his own series with “Sonnets out of Bedlam.”
Wandrei's only full-length fantastic novel, Dead Titans, Waken!, written in 1932, was rejected successively by three publishers - Harpers, Kendall and John Day, and finally shelved indefinitely by its author. However it was eventually destined to published in a heavily revised version in 1948 by Arkham House as The Web of Easter Island. The original version was scheduled to be published in the late 1990s by Fedogan and Bremer as edited by S.T. Joshi but due to the dormancy of F&B, Joshi's edition was held up. Currently, the book is scheduled for release by Centipede press by spring 2012. The volume will include Wandrei's mainstream novel "Invisible Sun."
During 1933 Wandrei lived in a studio apartment in New York that was within easy walking distance of the offices of Street & Smith
, who published Astounding Stories, so that Wandrei could easily bring in a new story by hand. His story “Colossus” was the first “thought variant” story (stories based on some new or not-yet-overworked idea such as other dimensions or the timetravel paradox), and helped revive the fortunes of Astounding under the editorship of his editorial mentor, F. Orlin Tremaine
.
During the 1930s Wandrei wrote two more (non-fantastic) novels and several plays, one a collaboration with his brother Howard but none were published although they were submitted to various publishers and agents.
He contributed two stories to the Cthulhu Mythos
: "The Fire Vampires
" (1933) and "The Tree-Men of M'Bwa" (1933). Wandrei and August Derleth
later co-founded the publishing house Arkham House
to keep Lovecraft's legacy alive, an action for which Wandrei is perhaps better remembered than for his own fiction. Much of the editorial work on Lovecraft's Selected Letters series as published by Arkham House in five volumes, was performed by Wandrei.
Wandrei wrote some outlines for Gang Busters and other comic book
s in the 1940s, and also attempted writing song lyrics in Hollywood. After World War II
he continued writing speculative fiction
stories, although at a greatly reduced rate. Some of his stories were adapted fro the comic book Weird Science - "Divide and Conquer" (issue 6), based on his "A Scientist Divides" and "Monster From the Fourth Dimension" (issue 7) based on "A Monster From Nowhere".
In the 1970s Wandrei commenced a long and tedious process of litigation against Arkham House, the publishing company he had helped to found.
He died in St. Paul in 1987.
In 1976 Philip Rahman met Wandrei at a convention and the two became friends. Three years after Wandrei's death in 1987, Rahman and his mostly silent partner Dennis Weiler founded the publishing firm of Fedogan and Bremer to issue work by Donald and Howard Wandrei as well as other classic pulp writers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and weird fiction
Weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction written in the late 19th and early 20th century. It can be said to encompass the ghost story and other tales of the macabre. Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in that it predates the niche marketing of genre fiction...
writer, poet and editor. He wrote as Donald Wandrei. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei
Howard Wandrei
Howard Elmer Wandrei was a US artist and writer. He wrote over 200 stories that appeared in the magazines Weird Tales. Astounding, Esquire, Black Mask and others. He wrote under his own name and as by Robert Coley and H.W...
. He had fourteen stories in Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
, another sixteen in Astounding Stories, plus a few in other magazines including Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
.
Biography
Wandrei was born in Saint PaulSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, Ramsey County
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. All of his grandparents were early Minnesota settlers. Donald's father, Albert Christian Wandrei, became chief editor of West Publishing Company, America's leading publisher of law books. Donald grew up in his parents' house at 1152 Portland Ave, St Paul and lived there most of his life save for a stint in the Army and occasional sojourns in New York and Hollywood. He loved frequent rambles in the woods along the Minnesota River; it was Wandrei who later taught August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
the fine art of morel
Morel
Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible mushrooms closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them....
hunting.
He attended Central High in St Paul, Minnesota (1921–24), during which period he published short compositions in the school newspaper and avidly read the magazine Science and Invention. In 1923 he began work part-time as a 'page-boy' in the Circulation Room of the Saint Paul Public Library, filling reader's requests for books from the storage stacks; this expanded his access to, and reading of, a wide variety of literature. In 1923 and 1924 he also worked evenings at the Hill Reference Library. He graduated from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in 1928, with a BA in English. While there he was a student editor on the student newspaper The Minnesota Daily. At that time he was enormously influenced by a reading of Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
's novel The Hill of Dreams
The Hill of Dreams
-Plot summary:The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain...
.
Wandrei started writing in 1926 and his writing career took off around 1932. In late 1927 he hitchhiked from Minnesota to Rhode Island to visit H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft conducted him on a grand antiquarian tour of Providence, R.I. and then on to similar tours in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
and Marblehead
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,808 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Devereux Beach...
. There was also an excursion to Warren
Warren, Rhode Island
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,611 at the 2010 census.-History:Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket , and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins...
, R.I., later made famous by Wandrei's reminiscences in the Arkham House volume Marginalia
Marginalia
Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
(1944) during which Wandrei, Lovecraft and James Ferdinand Morton each sampled twenty-eight different flavors of ice cream at Maxfield's ice-cream parlour.
Wandrei was active in pulp magazines until the late 1930s. He was a member of the "Lovecraft Circle," as a friend and protege of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
, corresponding with other members of the circle (Frank Belknap Long
Frank Belknap Long
Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to...
, Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
, etc.). Wandrei personally made the case for Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
to publish Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu
The Call of Cthulhu
The Call of Cthulhu is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, in February 1928.-Inspiration:...
" telling Farnsworth Wright
Farnsworth Wright
Farnsworth Wright was the editor of the pulp magazine Weird Tales during the magazine's heyday.He was born in California, and educated in the University of Nevada and the University of Washington....
that unless he published the tale, Lovecraft may look for other magazines to submit stories to.
As an accomplished poet, Wandrei was the first to write a series of sonnets for Weird Tales, “Sonnets of the Midnight Hours.” Lovecraft liked the idea so much, he embarked on his own series, Fungi From Yuggoth
Fungi from Yuggoth
Fungi from Yuggoth is a sequence of 36 sonnets by cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Most of the sonnets were written between 27 December 1929 – 4 January 1930; thereafter individual sonnets appeared in Weird Tales and other genre magazines...
.” Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
also wrote his own series with “Sonnets out of Bedlam.”
Wandrei's only full-length fantastic novel, Dead Titans, Waken!, written in 1932, was rejected successively by three publishers - Harpers, Kendall and John Day, and finally shelved indefinitely by its author. However it was eventually destined to published in a heavily revised version in 1948 by Arkham House as The Web of Easter Island. The original version was scheduled to be published in the late 1990s by Fedogan and Bremer as edited by S.T. Joshi but due to the dormancy of F&B, Joshi's edition was held up. Currently, the book is scheduled for release by Centipede press by spring 2012. The volume will include Wandrei's mainstream novel "Invisible Sun."
During 1933 Wandrei lived in a studio apartment in New York that was within easy walking distance of the offices of Street & Smith
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as pulp fiction and dime novels. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks...
, who published Astounding Stories, so that Wandrei could easily bring in a new story by hand. His story “Colossus” was the first “thought variant” story (stories based on some new or not-yet-overworked idea such as other dimensions or the timetravel paradox), and helped revive the fortunes of Astounding under the editorship of his editorial mentor, F. Orlin Tremaine
F. Orlin Tremaine
F. Orlin Tremaine was an American science fiction editor.Tremaine became the second editor of Astounding Science Fiction in 1933 following the magazine's purchase by Street and Smith when William Clayton went bankrupt. Tremaine remained editor until 1937, when he was succeeded by John W....
.
During the 1930s Wandrei wrote two more (non-fantastic) novels and several plays, one a collaboration with his brother Howard but none were published although they were submitted to various publishers and agents.
He contributed two stories to the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
: "The Fire Vampires
Fire vampire
Fire vampires are fictional characters in the Cthulhu Mythos. The term refers to two distinct types of beings: the Flame Creatures of Cthugha, created by August Derleth, and the Fire Vampires of Fthaggua, created by Donald Wandrei....
" (1933) and "The Tree-Men of M'Bwa" (1933). Wandrei and August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
later co-founded the publishing house Arkham House
Arkham House
Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
to keep Lovecraft's legacy alive, an action for which Wandrei is perhaps better remembered than for his own fiction. Much of the editorial work on Lovecraft's Selected Letters series as published by Arkham House in five volumes, was performed by Wandrei.
Wandrei wrote some outlines for Gang Busters and other comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s in the 1940s, and also attempted writing song lyrics in Hollywood. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he continued writing speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
stories, although at a greatly reduced rate. Some of his stories were adapted fro the comic book Weird Science - "Divide and Conquer" (issue 6), based on his "A Scientist Divides" and "Monster From the Fourth Dimension" (issue 7) based on "A Monster From Nowhere".
In the 1970s Wandrei commenced a long and tedious process of litigation against Arkham House, the publishing company he had helped to found.
He died in St. Paul in 1987.
In 1976 Philip Rahman met Wandrei at a convention and the two became friends. Three years after Wandrei's death in 1987, Rahman and his mostly silent partner Dennis Weiler founded the publishing firm of Fedogan and Bremer to issue work by Donald and Howard Wandrei as well as other classic pulp writers.
Poetry
- Ecstasy & Other Poems (The Recluse Press, 1928; ltd to 322 copies)
- Dark Odyssey (Webb Publishing Co, 1931; ltd to 400 copies) - poems, with five illustrations by Howard WandreiHoward WandreiHoward Elmer Wandrei was a US artist and writer. He wrote over 200 stories that appeared in the magazines Weird Tales. Astounding, Esquire, Black Mask and others. He wrote under his own name and as by Robert Coley and H.W...
- Poems for MidnightPoems for MidnightPoems for Midnight is an illustrated collection of poems by Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1964 by Arkham House in an edition of 742 copies...
(Arkham HouseArkham HouseArkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
, 1964) - poems - Collected Poems (Necronomicon PressNecronomicon PressNecronomicon Press is an American small press publishing house specialising in fiction, poetry and literary criticism relating to the horror and fantasy genres. It is run by Marc A. Michaud....
, 1988) - edited by S.T. Joshi; illustrated by Howard WandreiHoward WandreiHoward Elmer Wandrei was a US artist and writer. He wrote over 200 stories that appeared in the magazines Weird Tales. Astounding, Esquire, Black Mask and others. He wrote under his own name and as by Robert Coley and H.W...
- Sanctity and Sin: The Collected Poetry and Prose-Poems of Donald Wandrei (edited by S.T. Joshi, with illustrations by Howard WandreiHoward WandreiHoward Elmer Wandrei was a US artist and writer. He wrote over 200 stories that appeared in the magazines Weird Tales. Astounding, Esquire, Black Mask and others. He wrote under his own name and as by Robert Coley and H.W...
). Hippocampus PressHippocampus PressHippocampus Press is an American publisher of fantasy, horror and science fiction, and specializes in reprints or first editions of work by authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. One of its major projects is the 5-volume set of Lovecraft's Collected Essays...
, 2008. ISBN 0-9771734-9-6.
Fiction
- The Eye and the FingerThe Eye and the FingerThe Eye and the Finger is a collection of Fantasy, Horror and Science fiction short stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1944 and was his first book published by Arkham House. 1,617 copies were printed....
(Arkham HouseArkham HouseArkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
, 1944) - Strange HarvestStrange Harvest"Strange Harvest" is a collection of stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1965 and was the author's fourth book published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 2,000 copies...
(Arkham HouseArkham HouseArkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
, 1965) - ColossusColossus (collection)Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei is a collection of science fiction stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1989 by Fedogan & Bremer in an edition of 1,000 copies.Many of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, The...
(Philip J Rahman & Dennis E Weiler, eds. Fedogan & BremerFedogan & BremerFedogan & Bremer is a weird fiction specialty publishing house founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1985 by Philip Rahman and Dennis Weiler. The name comes from the nicknames of the two founders when they were in college....
, 1989) ISBN 1878252003 An expanded 2nd ed. was issued in 1999, adding two stories ("A Stranger Passes" & "If"), plus an updated biographical intro by Richard L. TierneyRichard L. TierneyRichard L. Tierney is an American writer, poet and scholar of H. P. Lovecraft. He is the coauthor of a series of Red Sonja novels, featuring cover art by Boris Vallejo. Some of his standalone novels utilize the mythology of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.-Youth:Tierney was born in Spencer, Iowa...
& photo gallery ISBN 1878252453 - Don't Dream: The Collected Fantasy and Horror of Donald WandreiDon't DreamDon't Dream is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 1997 by Fedogan & Bremer in an edition of 2,000 copies. The collection also includes a number of Wandrei's essays and prose poems...
(Philip J Rahman & Dennis E Weiler, eds. Fedogan & BremerFedogan & BremerFedogan & Bremer is a weird fiction specialty publishing house founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1985 by Philip Rahman and Dennis Weiler. The name comes from the nicknames of the two founders when they were in college....
, 1997) ISBN 1878252275 - FrostFrost (collection)Frost is a collection of mystery stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 2000 by F & B Mystery in an edition of 1,100 copies of which 100 were signed by the editor and artist and released in a slipcase with Wandrei's Three Mysteries. The stories features Wandrei's scientist detective...
(F & B Mystery, 2000) ISBN 1878252429 - Three MysteriesThree MysteriesThree Mysteries is a collection of mystery stories by author Donald Wandrei. It was released in 2000 by F & B Mystery in an edition of 125 copies of which 100 were released in a slipcase with the limited edition of Wandrei's Frost....
(F & B Mystery, 2000)
Letters
- Mysteries of Time & Spirit: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft & Donald Wandrei (S. T. Joshi & David E Schultz, eds.;Night Shade BooksNight Shade BooksNight Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was started in 1997 by Jason Williams, with Jeremy Lassen coming on board as a partner shortly after the company's founding...
, 2002) ISBN 1892389495
External links
- Donald Wandrei: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
- Don Herron. "Collecting Donald Wandrei". http://www.donherron.com/collecting_donald_wandrei.html