Tom_Curry_(writer)

Tom Curry (writer)

Tom Curry (writer)

American pulp fiction writer

Thomas Albert Curry (1900–1976[1]), was a 20th-century American pulp fiction writer who began writing crime and detective stories but went on to become one of the more prolific western writers in the genre.[2]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life

Curry was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 4, 1900. He attended Columbia College in 1920 and graduated in 1922.[1] In 1923, he worked as a crime reporter for William Randolph Hearst's newspaper the New York American.[3] Some of his early crime stories were taken from this experience.[4]

Curry's sister was actress Helen Curry who was married to fellow pulp fiction author F.R. Buckley.[3]

Writing career

Curry was paid $25.00 for his first story to be published, "Diamond in the Rough", which appeared in the March 1921 edition of pulp magazine People's Favorite[5]

In 1923 he was a crime reporter for the New York American.[6]

Curry's stories have appeared in over 400 pulp magazines including Argosy, Black Mask, The Blue Book Magazine, Short Stories and several Thrilling Publications including Texas Rangers,[7] Thrilling Adventures, Thrilling Ranch Stories and Thrilling Western[8][9]

The Rio Kid

In 1939 Curry created his most well known character, The Rio Kid, bringing an element of historical fiction to the genre with his lead character interacting with actual historical events and people. This series had its own magazine devoted to it from 1939 through 1953[8]

As was not uncommon in the genre, in addition to writing under his own name Curry would also write under pseudonyms including Jackson Cole, Bradford Scott (house names for Texas Ranger Magazine) and John Benton (house name for Thrilling Publications[5] and sometimes ghostwrite for others such as Romer Zane Grey, eldest son of Zane Grey.[8]

Curry was a prominent member of Western Writers of America for 50 years.[3]

Selected works

More information title, published ...

State register

Curry's former home in Norwalk, CT is listed on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places.[10]

References

  1. [1]
    "Thomas A. Curry, Writer Of Western Novels, Dies". New York Times. October 8, 1976.
  2. [2]
    "Western Pulp Writers". CowboyJamboreeMagazine.com. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  3. [3]
    Tom Curry - Author, Engineer, Sportsman PulpFlakes
  4. [4]
    Existentialism, Film Noir, and Hard-Boiled Fiction. Cambria Press. ISBN 9781621969280. Retrieved March 21, 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. [5]
    G. M. Farley, Tom Curry - A Biography, 1975, The Zane Grey Collector
  6. [6]
    "Tom Curry - Author, Engineer, Sportsman". The Hour. Norwalk, CT: The Hour. 24 Nov 1971.
  7. [7]
    Nick Carr, The Western Pulp Hero: An Investigation Into the Psyche of an American Legend, 1989, Starmont House, Inc.
  8. [8]
    John Dinan, Sports in the Pulp Magazines, 1998, McFarland & Company, Inc.
  9. [9]
    Tom Curry Fiction Mag Index
  10. [10]
    Preservation Connecticut. "Frederick R. Buckley & Thomas A. Curry House". Creative Place: Arts & Letters in 20th Century Connecticut. Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  • Tom Curry, Guiana Trap Dime Adventure Magazine, October 1939
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