There's this great annual book sale in Williamsburg, Virginia. Last year I got a lot of great stuff for almost nothing and I went to it today and did the
same. I won't bother listing all the bargains I got, but I wanted to talk about one item I got.
It is Moonchasers and Other Stories, by Ed Gorman. That in itself is a good find. I, for one, never seem to see copies of it anywhere. But what is inside the book is what makes it special.
It's rare, but not uncommon, for people to find used books with signed inscriptions in them. Not uncommon for people like us anyway. People that live, breathe and eat books. The inscription in Moonchasers is:
"To Stephen Marlowe, whose work has entertained and taught me for many years, Ed Gorman".
I know the name, Stephen Marlowe, and I wish I could be really cool and say that I've read a lot of books by him. But I can't. As far as I know, I've never read a word by the man. I checked up on him and I learned that he mainly wrote mysteries and some science fiction early in his career. And I learned that he lived about thirty miles from me, in Williamsburg. I also learned that he died there in February of this year.
There were a lot of mystery books at the book sale and presumably many of them were from Marlowe's personal collection. I find that to be almost unbearably sad. I also find it sad that I never heard anything about his death. A man who carved out a life in words and who probably was pretty damned good at it. Gone, all but forgotten, and his books given away to a library sale.
After this small connection to Stephen Marlowe, I intend to look up some of his books and read them. If anyone here at Shocklines is familiar with his work, maybe you could point to a good place to start. Thanks.
Oh, if there is any bright side to this, it's that Williamsburg is a very affluent town. There are few poor or even lower middle class citizens there. This indicates that Marlowe was at least in comfortable circumstances for the last parts of his life. One hopes so anyway.
It is Moonchasers and Other Stories, by Ed Gorman. That in itself is a good find. I, for one, never seem to see copies of it anywhere. But what is inside the book is what makes it special.
It's rare, but not uncommon, for people to find used books with signed inscriptions in them. Not uncommon for people like us anyway. People that live, breathe and eat books. The inscription in Moonchasers is:
"To Stephen Marlowe, whose work has entertained and taught me for many years, Ed Gorman".
I know the name, Stephen Marlowe, and I wish I could be really cool and say that I've read a lot of books by him. But I can't. As far as I know, I've never read a word by the man. I checked up on him and I learned that he mainly wrote mysteries and some science fiction early in his career. And I learned that he lived about thirty miles from me, in Williamsburg. I also learned that he died there in February of this year.
There were a lot of mystery books at the book sale and presumably many of them were from Marlowe's personal collection. I find that to be almost unbearably sad. I also find it sad that I never heard anything about his death. A man who carved out a life in words and who probably was pretty damned good at it. Gone, all but forgotten, and his books given away to a library sale.
After this small connection to Stephen Marlowe, I intend to look up some of his books and read them. If anyone here at Shocklines is familiar with his work, maybe you could point to a good place to start. Thanks.
Oh, if there is any bright side to this, it's that Williamsburg is a very affluent town. There are few poor or even lower middle class citizens there. This indicates that Marlowe was at least in comfortable circumstances for the last parts of his life. One hopes so anyway.
