Michael Calleia wrote:
J. Eric Holmes wrote to Weird Tales Vol. 47 No. 4 (1974 Summer):
https://archive.org/stream/Weird_Tales_v47n04_1974-Summer#page/n99/search/%22Eric+Holmes%22
https://archive.org/stream/Weird_Tales_v47n04_1974-Summer#page/n99/search/%22Eric+Holmes%22
Carnacki the Ghost Finder? Any relation to this guy?https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YmRDSTOUQQwuUeOr8UC7IAj8UdZ_WkFoZ-tjdX4y_k0eJfGQh4eM4cCR8qyz0XD9JAK9ok_2vo_IPYdylYEE70Moh_ybomLCfFY=s0
ReplyDeleteAnd here it is:
ReplyDeletegutenberg.org - Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson
Thanks, Michael. I found that last year when we were discussing Hodgson over on DF but I don't think I remembered to post it here. That reminds me I need to add it to the Holmes Bibliography. https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1844444#p1844444
ReplyDeleteZach H While looking at the same archive, there were two other interesting finds. One was a reference to a Buck Rogers series to be written by John Eric Holmes. The other was a list of winners in a writing competition, there was an Eric Holmes from Stanford, CA that placed, but it was in 1951. The former is certainly the Holmes we know, the latter, I wonder about.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link, top left, 4th line down: archive.org - Other Worlds #13v03n05 (1951 09) (cape1736)
Michael Calleia Holmes (not yet Dr. Holmes) was a senior in the psychology department at Stanford in 1951 and had his first story published that year. Sounds like the right Holmes.
ReplyDeleteHe graduated Stanford in 1951 (per an obituary), so that fits. Nice find. Speaking of Stanford, it appears that he had as one roommate director Monte Hellman, a Roger Corman protege. See this 1971 NYT article --- https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/16/archives/montes-turn-for-the-big-time-the-big-time-for-monte.html
ReplyDeleteThe relevant portion: "His Stanford roommate, neurophysiologist Dr. Eric Holmes, remembers him as “totally dedicated to the theater, rather conventional, not eccentric enough to grow a beard without an excuse. He had to grow a mustache and beard for a part in a school production of ‘The Cherry Orchard’ He came out of the bathroom one day and said, ‘Eric, do I remind you of anyone?’ I said, ‘No,’ so he assumed the crucifixion pose. Then I said, ‘Yes.’ Somehow it delighted him and he took to lying on the grass in front of the library in that watching people do doubletakes when they noticed him.”" The next line mentions Hellman graduated in 1951 as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom the 1951 Blue Book author bio I have posted before. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jIg5LibDa4bPu8sl--N-jbbbD7SftiG8nwPUgOgvr9ArIfmkTv1bmbV1rEndzuBf8iDjbOMvG8HRn8qMh9aQMJIgOZk2rLo8yG8=s0
ReplyDeleteI did a little more digging on that contest --- it was originally announced in the March 1951 issue, and it was sort of a riddle contest that went with a story published in that issue.
ReplyDeleteZach H Was not clear in the winner’s announcement, nice digging.
ReplyDeleteDid Holmes live in Hawaii prior to going to Stanford?
Yes he grew up in Hawaii and went to Stanfield for undergrad. Was accepted to Ucla med school next but delayed to serve in Korean war. Did internship in Conn. Moved to LA in 60s.
ReplyDeleteChris Holmes will look up that earlier find and post it here tonight.
ReplyDeleteJohn Martin talks some about Holmes' youth in Hawaii - where he met Edgar Rice Burroughs - in this article --- erbzine.com - ERBzine 3149: John Eric Holmes Memorial
ReplyDeleteMartin: "John Eric Holmes was born Feb. 16, 1930, in South Dakota, but later lived in Hawaii, where his father was a submarine commander at Pearl Harbor. His dad left the Navy to teach math and write short stories. But when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, his father re-entered the Navy to serve his country. It was while a young boy in Hawaii that Eric had the opportunity to meet author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who was also living there at the time. Young Eric obtained Burroughs's signature in a copy of Tarzan and the Leopard Men, a book he kept all his life."
ReplyDeleteHis father was Wilfred Holmes, who wrote short stories under the name Alec Hudson --- en.wikipedia.org - Wilfred Holmes - Wikipedia
ReplyDeleteOne reference - can't remember which - mentions that Holmes went to the Punahou School, same place that President Obama later went. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punahou_School
ReplyDelete1946, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, letter to the editors archive.org - Famous Fantastic Mysteries v07n03 (1946 04) (AK)
ReplyDelete1950, Blue Book, about his father Wilfred Holmes https://archive.org/stream/BlueBookV091N02195006/Blue%20Book%20v091%20n02%20%5B1950-06%5D#page/n1/search/%22Eric+Holmes%22
That's I have found in this archive.
You can see all mentions of Eric Holmes in this archive with this link https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Eric+Holmes%22&and%5B%5D=collection%3A%22pulpmagazinearchive%22&sin=TXT
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. That's a great letter in FFM, shows what great stuff he had read & had opinions of at age 16!
ReplyDeleteI was just re-reading parts of "A Tale of Two Subs" and apparently the "Hudson" of the pen-name came from the Hudson river, along which Wilfred Holmes grew up. https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Subs-Extraordinary-Heroism/dp/0446178403
ReplyDeleteZach H Nine stories by Alec Hudson in archive.org - Internet Archive Search: "Alec Hudson" (click a magazine, hit the search icon, it should drop a pin on the right page, click pin, and you should be on the right page—sorry not enough time to add direct links right now).
ReplyDelete