fbpx
Wikipedia

Basil Copper

Basil Frederick Albert Copper (5 February 1924 – 3 April 2013) was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor.[1][2][3][4] He became a full-time writer in 1970. In addition to horror and detective fiction, Copper was perhaps best known for his series of Solar Pons stories continuing the character created as a tribute to Sherlock Holmes by August Derleth. [4]

Basil Copper
Born(1924-02-05)5 February 1924
London, United Kingdom
Died3 April 2013(2013-04-03) (aged 89)[1][2]
Occupationnovelist, short story writer
NationalityUK
Genrefantasy, horror, Detective fiction

Copper's interests included swimming, gardening, travel, sailing and historic film material. One of England's leading film collectors, his private archive contained almost one thousand titles (at 1977). He founded the Tunbridge Wells Vintage Film Society and often gave talks at various film organisations in London.[5] He was a member of the British Film Society and the Vintage Film Circle of London.[4] Copper was a longtime resident of Sevenoaks in Kent, and was survived by his French-born wife Annie (née Guerin) to whom he had been married since 1960.[2]

Career edit

Copper had his very first short story, "The Curse", published when he was 14 years old; however his first professionally published short story was "The Spider" in the Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories (1964).[3] His first book was the Mike Faraday novel The Dark Mirror (1966).[4]

The first of Copper's stories published by editor August Derleth was "The House by the Tarn" in Dark Things (1971). Copper went on to have a long-lived relationship with Derleth's Arkham House, which published his collections From Evil's Pillow (1973) and And Afterward, the Dark (1977) and his novels Necropolis (1980) and The House of the Wolf. His work drew praise from Donald Wandrei who said of him: "He beguiles the mind as he lures the imagination beyond the outposts of reality."[6] Copper's work was also championed by editor Peter Haining.

Copper's best-known macabre tales include: "The Academy of Pain", "Amber Print", "The Recompensing of Albano Pizar" (dramatised by BBC Radio 4) "The Candle in the Skull' (read over Hallowe'en on BBC Radio 4), "Better Dead", the acclaimed Lovecraftian novella "Beyond the Reef", "Bright Blades Gleaming" and "Ill Met by Daylight".

Copper's novel The Great White Space (1975) describes an expedition into a remote part of Asia to discover the location of the mysterious Old Ones. The Great White Space was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft and includes elements of the latter author's Cthulhu Mythos stories.[3] The novel also features a character called Clark Ashton Scarsdale who appears to be an affectionate tribute to Clark Ashton Smith.

Copper is also noted for his Cthulhu Mythos short story "Shaft Number 247" in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1980).

Though his important work was in the domain of the macabre, he also wrote a long-running novel series featuring hard-boiled Los Angeles private detective Mike Faraday (58 novels from 1966 to 1988). Copper had not visited Los Angeles when he wrote the earliest Faraday novels. Instead, he used maps of the city and films based there to supply background detail for the series. [4]

Copper also ghostwrote two novels about the comics hero the Phantom for Lee Falk.[4]

Copper's work has been translated into many languages, reprinted in leading anthologies and filmed for television by Universal Pictures.[7] The TV adaptation was of his well-known macabre story "Camera Obscura", filmed as an episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1971.

His novels Necropolis (a crossover between a Victorian Gothic and a detective story) and The House of the Wolf (a novel of lycanthropy) were both illustrated by Stephen Fabian.[3] Necropolis received a 1981 nomination for the Locus Award Best Fantasy novel category.

Copper edited a 1982 two-volume omnibus collection of Derleth's stories of the 'Pontine' canon, published by Arkham House; in that edition, Copper "edited" most of the tales in ways that many Solar Pons aficionados found objectionable.[citation needed] A later omnibus, The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition, was issued in 2000 under the imprint of Mycroft & Moran.

In early 2008, a bio-bibliography was published on him: Basil Copper: A Life in Books, compiled and edited by Stephen Jones. The volume received the 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction.

In March 2010, Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper was launched at the Brighton World Horror Convention as a two-volume set by PS Publishing.

Works edit

  • Not After Nightfall (Four Square Books, 1967)
  • From Evil's Pillow (Arkham House, 1973)
  • The Vampire: In Legend, Fact and Art (Robert Hale, 1973)
  • The Great White Space (Robert Hale, 1974)
  • When Footsteps Echo (Robert Hale, 1975)
  • The Curse of the Fleers (Harwood-Smart, 1976)
  • And Afterward, the Dark (Arkham House, 1977)
  • The Werewolf: In Legend, Fact and Art (Robert Hale, 1977)
  • Here Be Daemons (Robert Hale, 1978)
  • Voices of Doom (Robert Hale, 1980)
  • Necropolis (Arkham House, 1980)
  • Into the Silence (Sphere Books, 1983)
  • The House of the Wolf (Arkham House, 1983)
  • The Black Death (Fedogan & Bremer, 1991). Illustrations by Stefanie Kate Hawks.
  • Whispers in the Night: Stories of the Mysterious & Macabre (Fedogan & Bremer, 1999)
  • Cold Hand on My Shoulder (Sarob Press, 2002). Nine stories, four previously unpublished. Limited ed of 352 copies comprising 300 trade hardcovers and 52 signed lettered copies in slipcase.
  • Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (PS Publishing, 2010)

Solar Pons edit

  • The Dossier of Solar Pons (Pinnacle, 1979)
  • The Further Adventures of Solar Pons (Pinnacle, 1979)
  • The Secret Files of Solar Pons (Pinnacle, 1979)
  • The Uncollected Cases of Solar Pons (Pinnacle, 1979)
  • The Exploits of Solar Pons (Fedogan & Bremer, 1993)
  • The Adventure of the Singular Sandwich (Fedogan & Bremer, 1995)
  • The Recollections of Solar Pons (Fedogan & Bremer, 1995)
  • Solar Pons Versus The Devil’s Claw (Sarob Press, 2004)
  • Solar Pons: The Final Cases (Sarob Press, 2005)

Mike Faraday edit

  1. The Dark Mirror (1966)
  2. Night Frost (1966)
  3. No Flowers for the General (1967)
  4. Scratch on the Dark (1967)
  5. Die Now, Live Later (1968)
  6. Don't Bleed on Me (1968)
  7. The Marble Orchard (1969)
  8. Dead File (1970)
  9. No Letters from the Grave (1971)
  10. The Big Chill (1972)
  11. Strong-Arm (1972)
  12. A Great Year for Dying (1973)
  13. Shock-Wave (1973)
  14. The Breaking Point (1973)
  15. A Voice from the Dead (1974)
  16. Feedback (1974)
  17. Ricochet (1974)
  18. The High Wall (1975)
  19. Impact (1975)
  20. A Good Place to Die (1975)
  21. The Lonely Place (1976)
  22. Crack in the Sidewalk (1976)
  23. Tight Corner (1976)
  24. The Year of the Dragon (1977)
  25. Death Squad (1977)
  26. Murder One (1978)
  27. A Quiet Room in Hell (1979)
  28. The Big Rip-Off (1979)
  29. The Caligari Complex (1980)
  30. Flip-Side (1980)
  31. The Long Rest (1981)
  32. The Empty Silence (1981)
  33. Dark Entry (1981)
  34. Hang Loose (1982)
  35. Shoot-Out (1982)
  36. The Far Horizon (1982)
  37. Trigger-Man (1983)
  38. Pressure-Point (1983)
  39. Hard Contract (1983)
  40. The Narrow Corner (1983)
  41. The Hook (1984)
  42. You Only Die Once (1984)
  43. Tuxedo Park (1985)
  44. The Far Side of Fear (1985)
  45. Snow-Job (1986)
  46. Jet-Lag (1986)
  47. Blood on the Moon (1986)
  48. Heavy Iron (1987)
  49. Turn Down an Empty Glass (1987)
  50. Bad Scene (1988)
  51. House-Dick (1988)
  52. Print-Out (1988)


The Phantom edit

  • The Slave Market of Mucar (Avon, 1972; as Lee Falk)
  • The Scorpia Menace (Avon, 1972; as Lee Falk)

Honours edit

Copper has received many honours in recent years. In 1979, the Mark Twain Society of America elected him a Knight of Mark Twain for his outstanding "contribution to modern fiction", while the Praed Street Irregulars have twice honoured him for his work on the Solar Pons series. He has been a member of the Crime Writer's Association for over thirty years, serving as chairman in 1981/82 and on its committee for a total of seven years. At the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton, he was awarded the first WHC Lifetime Achievement Award.[2][8]

See also edit

  • Copper, Basil (1977). And Afterward, the Dark. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-079-3.
  • Reginald, Robert (1992). Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975-1991. Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 206. ISBN 0-8103-1825-3.
  • Sullivan, Jack (1986). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. New York: Viking Press. pp. 96. ISBN 0-670-80902-0.
  • Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 117. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Basil Copper (1924-2013)". Locus Online. 2013-04-04. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  2. ^ a b c d "Basil Copper obituary". The Guardian. 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  3. ^ a b c d Mike Ashley, "Basil Copper", in David Pringle, ed., St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers.(London: St. James Press, 1998) ISBN 1-558-62206-3 (pp. 148-50).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Trevor James, "Basil Copper", in Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers, edited by James Vinson and D.L. Kirkpatrick. St. James Press, 1985. ISBN 0-312-82418-1 (pp. 194-6).
  5. ^ Back cover blurb, And Afterward the Dark by Basil Copper (Arkham House, 1977)
  6. ^ Keith Neilson, "From Evil's Pillow", in Frank N. Magill, ed. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature, Vol 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, Inc., 1983, ISBN 0-89356-450-8 (pp. 581-4).
  7. ^ Back jacket flap blurb, Necropolis by Basil Copper (Arkham House, 1980).
  8. ^ Anya Martin (2010-06-28). . Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2013-04-14.

External links edit

  • Author Profile at Piccadilly Publishing on the digital release of the Mike Faraday series
  • Basil Copper at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  • Dramatised version of Copper's "Invitation to the Vaults" [1] - 'An Italian literary agent gets his come-uppance in this rat-infested tale of horror, hosted by the Man in Black.'

basil, copper, basil, frederick, albert, copper, february, 1924, april, 2013, english, writer, former, journalist, newspaper, editor, became, full, time, writer, 1970, addition, horror, detective, fiction, copper, perhaps, best, known, series, solar, pons, sto. Basil Frederick Albert Copper 5 February 1924 3 April 2013 was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor 1 2 3 4 He became a full time writer in 1970 In addition to horror and detective fiction Copper was perhaps best known for his series of Solar Pons stories continuing the character created as a tribute to Sherlock Holmes by August Derleth 4 Basil CopperBorn 1924 02 05 5 February 1924London United KingdomDied3 April 2013 2013 04 03 aged 89 1 2 Occupationnovelist short story writerNationalityUKGenrefantasy horror Detective fictionCopper s interests included swimming gardening travel sailing and historic film material One of England s leading film collectors his private archive contained almost one thousand titles at 1977 He founded the Tunbridge Wells Vintage Film Society and often gave talks at various film organisations in London 5 He was a member of the British Film Society and the Vintage Film Circle of London 4 Copper was a longtime resident of Sevenoaks in Kent and was survived by his French born wife Annie nee Guerin to whom he had been married since 1960 2 Contents 1 Career 2 Works 2 1 Solar Pons 2 2 Mike Faraday 2 3 The Phantom 3 Honours 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksCareer editCopper had his very first short story The Curse published when he was 14 years old however his first professionally published short story was The Spider in the Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories 1964 3 His first book was the Mike Faraday novel The Dark Mirror 1966 4 The first of Copper s stories published by editor August Derleth was The House by the Tarn in Dark Things 1971 Copper went on to have a long lived relationship with Derleth s Arkham House which published his collections From Evil s Pillow 1973 and And Afterward the Dark 1977 and his novels Necropolis 1980 and The House of the Wolf His work drew praise from Donald Wandrei who said of him He beguiles the mind as he lures the imagination beyond the outposts of reality 6 Copper s work was also championed by editor Peter Haining Copper s best known macabre tales include The Academy of Pain Amber Print The Recompensing of Albano Pizar dramatised by BBC Radio 4 The Candle in the Skull read over Hallowe en on BBC Radio 4 Better Dead the acclaimed Lovecraftian novella Beyond the Reef Bright Blades Gleaming and Ill Met by Daylight Copper s novel The Great White Space 1975 describes an expedition into a remote part of Asia to discover the location of the mysterious Old Ones The Great White Space was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft and includes elements of the latter author s Cthulhu Mythos stories 3 The novel also features a character called Clark Ashton Scarsdale who appears to be an affectionate tribute to Clark Ashton Smith Copper is also noted for his Cthulhu Mythos short story Shaft Number 247 in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos 1980 Though his important work was in the domain of the macabre he also wrote a long running novel series featuring hard boiled Los Angeles private detective Mike Faraday 58 novels from 1966 to 1988 Copper had not visited Los Angeles when he wrote the earliest Faraday novels Instead he used maps of the city and films based there to supply background detail for the series 4 Copper also ghostwrote two novels about the comics hero the Phantom for Lee Falk 4 Copper s work has been translated into many languages reprinted in leading anthologies and filmed for television by Universal Pictures 7 The TV adaptation was of his well known macabre story Camera Obscura filmed as an episode of Rod Serling s Night Gallery in 1971 His novels Necropolis a crossover between a Victorian Gothic and a detective story and The House of the Wolf a novel of lycanthropy were both illustrated by Stephen Fabian 3 Necropolis received a 1981 nomination for the Locus Award Best Fantasy novel category Copper edited a 1982 two volume omnibus collection of Derleth s stories of the Pontine canon published by Arkham House in that edition Copper edited most of the tales in ways that many Solar Pons aficionados found objectionable citation needed A later omnibus The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition was issued in 2000 under the imprint of Mycroft amp Moran In early 2008 a bio bibliography was published on him Basil Copper A Life in Books compiled and edited by Stephen Jones The volume received the 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Non Fiction In March 2010 Darkness Mist and Shadow The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper was launched at the Brighton World Horror Convention as a two volume set by PS Publishing Works editNot After Nightfall Four Square Books 1967 From Evil s Pillow Arkham House 1973 The Vampire In Legend Fact and Art Robert Hale 1973 The Great White Space Robert Hale 1974 When Footsteps Echo Robert Hale 1975 The Curse of the Fleers Harwood Smart 1976 And Afterward the Dark Arkham House 1977 The Werewolf In Legend Fact and Art Robert Hale 1977 Here Be Daemons Robert Hale 1978 Voices of Doom Robert Hale 1980 Necropolis Arkham House 1980 Into the Silence Sphere Books 1983 The House of the Wolf Arkham House 1983 The Black Death Fedogan amp Bremer 1991 Illustrations by Stefanie Kate Hawks Whispers in the Night Stories of the Mysterious amp Macabre Fedogan amp Bremer 1999 Cold Hand on My Shoulder Sarob Press 2002 Nine stories four previously unpublished Limited ed of 352 copies comprising 300 trade hardcovers and 52 signed lettered copies in slipcase Darkness Mist and Shadow The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper Volumes 1 2 and 3 PS Publishing 2010 Solar Pons edit The Dossier of Solar Pons Pinnacle 1979 The Further Adventures of Solar Pons Pinnacle 1979 The Secret Files of Solar Pons Pinnacle 1979 The Uncollected Cases of Solar Pons Pinnacle 1979 The Exploits of Solar Pons Fedogan amp Bremer 1993 The Adventure of the Singular Sandwich Fedogan amp Bremer 1995 The Recollections of Solar Pons Fedogan amp Bremer 1995 Solar Pons Versus The Devil s Claw Sarob Press 2004 Solar Pons The Final Cases Sarob Press 2005 Mike Faraday edit The Dark Mirror 1966 Night Frost 1966 No Flowers for the General 1967 Scratch on the Dark 1967 Die Now Live Later 1968 Don t Bleed on Me 1968 The Marble Orchard 1969 Dead File 1970 No Letters from the Grave 1971 The Big Chill 1972 Strong Arm 1972 A Great Year for Dying 1973 Shock Wave 1973 The Breaking Point 1973 A Voice from the Dead 1974 Feedback 1974 Ricochet 1974 The High Wall 1975 Impact 1975 A Good Place to Die 1975 The Lonely Place 1976 Crack in the Sidewalk 1976 Tight Corner 1976 The Year of the Dragon 1977 Death Squad 1977 Murder One 1978 A Quiet Room in Hell 1979 The Big Rip Off 1979 The Caligari Complex 1980 Flip Side 1980 The Long Rest 1981 The Empty Silence 1981 Dark Entry 1981 Hang Loose 1982 Shoot Out 1982 The Far Horizon 1982 Trigger Man 1983 Pressure Point 1983 Hard Contract 1983 The Narrow Corner 1983 The Hook 1984 You Only Die Once 1984 Tuxedo Park 1985 The Far Side of Fear 1985 Snow Job 1986 Jet Lag 1986 Blood on the Moon 1986 Heavy Iron 1987 Turn Down an Empty Glass 1987 Bad Scene 1988 House Dick 1988 Print Out 1988 The Phantom edit The Slave Market of Mucar Avon 1972 as Lee Falk The Scorpia Menace Avon 1972 as Lee Falk Honours editCopper has received many honours in recent years In 1979 the Mark Twain Society of America elected him a Knight of Mark Twain for his outstanding contribution to modern fiction while the Praed Street Irregulars have twice honoured him for his work on the Solar Pons series He has been a member of the Crime Writer s Association for over thirty years serving as chairman in 1981 82 and on its committee for a total of seven years At the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton he was awarded the first WHC Lifetime Achievement Award 2 8 See also editCopper Basil 1977 And Afterward the Dark Sauk City WI Arkham House ISBN 0 87054 079 3 Reginald Robert 1992 Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975 1991 Detroit Gale Research pp 206 ISBN 0 8103 1825 3 Sullivan Jack 1986 The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural New York Viking Press pp 96 ISBN 0 670 80902 0 Tuck Donald H 1974 The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Chicago Advent p 117 ISBN 0 911682 20 1 References edit a b Basil Copper 1924 2013 Locus Online 2013 04 04 Retrieved 2013 04 14 a b c d Basil Copper obituary The Guardian 2013 04 14 Retrieved 2013 04 14 a b c d Mike Ashley Basil Copper in David Pringle ed St James Guide to Horror Ghost amp Gothic Writers London St James Press 1998 ISBN 1 558 62206 3 pp 148 50 a b c d e f Trevor James Basil Copper in Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers edited by James Vinson and D L Kirkpatrick St James Press 1985 ISBN 0 312 82418 1 pp 194 6 Back cover blurb And Afterward the Dark by Basil Copper Arkham House 1977 Keith Neilson From Evil s Pillow in Frank N Magill ed Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature Vol 2 Englewood Cliffs NJ Salem Press Inc 1983 ISBN 0 89356 450 8 pp 581 4 Back jacket flap blurb Necropolis by Basil Copper Arkham House 1980 Anya Martin 2010 06 28 Lost Weekend in Brighton A Report on World Horror Convention 2010 Strange Horizons Archived from the original on 2011 11 12 Retrieved 2013 04 14 External links editAuthor Profile at Piccadilly Publishing on the digital release of the Mike Faraday series Basil Copper at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Dramatised version of Copper s Invitation to the Vaults 1 An Italian literary agent gets his come uppance in this rat infested tale of horror hosted by the Man in Black Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Basil Copper amp oldid 1207036975, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.