Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow

by Thomas J. Shimeld, Robert W. Gibson (Foreword)

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? . . . The Shadow knows!” And who knew The Shadow better than his creator, Walter B. Gibson. Relatively few people have heard of Gibson, but many more are familiar with The Shadow having heard the program on the Blue Coal Radio Program in the 1930s and read the Street & Smith Shadow novels. Walter B. Gibson’s life and career come out from behind The Shadow in this biography. It covers his youth in Philadelphia, his development as a writer and magician, his wives, including the third, (Litzka, who was a harpist and magician in her own right), his time living in Maine and upstate New York, and his later years and death. In addition to being credited with creating The Shadow (he used the pseudonym Maxwell Grant), Gibson wrote 187 books, contributed 668 articles to periodicals, created 283 stories for The Shadow Magazine, wrote 48 separate syndicated feature columns, reported the adventures of The Shadow and Blackstone the magician in 394 comic books and newspaper strips, and helped develop 147 radio scripts and many other works under numerous pseudonyms. Gibson has invented many widely used magic tricks and traveled with and befriended Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, Sr., and Joseph Dunninger.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could give this book five stars for the information within, but it loses two because the style is lifeless and stodgy and many of the details are skipable. It is the best source for facts about this writer, the many books he wrote (usually under another name), and it is very informative about the worlds of magicians and The Shadow, but reading it became a chore.

[Albert_Camus_lives]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egHCZ...

[Carl Morano · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic work.

A meticulously researched bio on America's most prolific author. Gibson was a key figure in pulp entertainment, magic and mystery. This book delves deep into the shadows to reveal the mind of a creative genius.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in the Shadow series of pulps, radio programs, movies, etc, then this is definitely the book for you. It 's a biography of Walter Gibson, and goes into his entire life. The Shadow was a big part of it, of course, and there's a lot of material on that, but Gibson was also a magician, and met many famous magicians of his day, and there's a lot of material on that, also.

The book has lots of photos, along with various footnotes and a bibliography. I think it would have been nice if it had included a complete list of the Shadow pulps and paperbacks, and a listing of the Shadow radio programs, though.

Still, it's a very good book and a must for any Shadow fan.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have enjoyed The Shadow, you really need this book.