Rokfogo: The Mysterious Pre-Deluge Art of Richard S. Shaver

by Richard Toronto

In 1960, science fiction writer Richard Sharpe Shaver discovered "rock books" on his Wisconsin farm. He concluded they were not just rocks, but intelligently designed documents, the recorded history of an ancient civilization. For 15 years he decoded the rock book texts and images he found embedded in stone, and soon began painting and photographing what he found. It was an alien world that few other than Shaver could see. Shaver also wrote essays to compliment his paintings. He wrote of the people and customs of Earth's pre-history--the half human, half fish Mermen and women--documenting their daily lives in intimate detail.

He left behind a body of work that has languished in obscurity for decades. Richard Toronto has gathered together the largest collection of Shaver's art ever to see print. Presented in two volumes, with more than 300 illustrations, Rokfogo: The Mysterious Pre-Deluge Art of Richard S. Shaver presents the paintings, photographs, and essays that made up Richard Shaver's ante-diluvian cosmology. Now considered an Outsider artist, Shaver was a pulp fiction writer during Amazing Stories' golden era. Shunned by mainstream science fiction fans for his radical ideas, Shaver died in obscurity in 1975, leaving behind his legacy of the "sensual art of the ancients."

104 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2014

About the author

Richard Toronto is the author of War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer and the Strangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction, a comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of two of the most controversial figures in 20th Century Science Fiction: Ray Palmer and Richard Shaver. Toronto corresponded with Richard Shaver and in 1975 attempted to co-author a book on Shaver's life. A sequel to War, Shaverology: a Shaver Mystery Home Companion is due out in September 2013. Toronto is a California native and a former newspaper reporter with a BA in Journalism from California State University Sacramento. He has been the editor of Shavertron, the only surviving all-Shaver Mystery fanzine, since 1979. It is now online at www.shavertron.com