NOLA Bert’s Reviews > War over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer and the Strangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction > Status Update
NOLA Bert
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9. The Wicker School of Fine Art. Shaver takes art classes, does nude modeling, and meets Sophie Gurvitch.
10. Through the Looking Glass. Shaver’s brother, Taylor, dies unexpectedly. Shaver starts hearing voices. Shaver is committed to Ypsilanti State Hospital. His daughter Evelyn Ann Shaver is born. Sophie is electrocuted.
11. Period of Abandonment. Shaver flees to Canada, but is eventually caught.
— Jul 18, 2026 05:25PM
10. Through the Looking Glass. Shaver’s brother, Taylor, dies unexpectedly. Shaver starts hearing voices. Shaver is committed to Ypsilanti State Hospital. His daughter Evelyn Ann Shaver is born. Sophie is electrocuted.
11. Period of Abandonment. Shaver flees to Canada, but is eventually caught.
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NOLA Bert
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24. Artful Obsession. Shaver pursues “rock books.” Big federal obscenity trial against Hamling in Houston in 1966. Shaver is called to testify for the prosecution.
25. Martian Diary. Rap can’t finish his autobiography. Publishes Shaver’s rock book in The Secret World but doesn’t give him credit on the cover. Shaver dies due to complications of pancreatic cancer
— Jul 29, 2026 08:57PM
25. Martian Diary. Rap can’t finish his autobiography. Publishes Shaver’s rock book in The Secret World but doesn’t give him credit on the cover. Shaver dies due to complications of pancreatic cancer
NOLA Bert
is on page 218 of 264
22. The Stigmata of Raymond A. Palmer. Shaver moves to a farm in Wisconsin and convinces Rap to move to Amherst, WI. Rap starts Mystic magazine. Later, it becomes Search magazine. Shaver tries and fails at farming but discovers “rock books.”
23. Big Trouble in Little Amherst. Rap and Shaver get in trouble since they were listed as directors and president of Hamling’s porn companies. Shaver moves to Arkansas.
— Jul 28, 2026 08:23PM
23. Big Trouble in Little Amherst. Rap and Shaver get in trouble since they were listed as directors and president of Hamling’s porn companies. Shaver moves to Arkansas.
NOLA Bert
is on page 184 of 264
19. Armistice of 1948. Rap offers a truce to fandom and appears to wrap up the Shaver Mystery to placate Ziff.
20. Reconstructing Ray Palmer. Still publishing FATE, but Rap also started Other Worlds Science Stories.
21. The Unexpected Gafiation of William L. Hamling. Hamling’s connection to Hugh Hefner and the start of his competition to Playboy Magazine, Rogue.
— Jul 26, 2026 08:42PM
20. Reconstructing Ray Palmer. Still publishing FATE, but Rap also started Other Worlds Science Stories.
21. The Unexpected Gafiation of William L. Hamling. Hamling’s connection to Hugh Hefner and the start of his competition to Playboy Magazine, Rogue.
NOLA Bert
is on page 165 of 264
17. Science of the Damned. Debate about the Shaver “Hoax.”
18. Fanfeud From Hell. The beginning of the end of Rap’s editorship at *Amazing*. The new obsession: flying saucers. The debut of FATE magazine to focus on flying saucers and Fortean phenomena.
— Jul 22, 2026 08:31PM
18. Fanfeud From Hell. The beginning of the end of Rap’s editorship at *Amazing*. The new obsession: flying saucers. The debut of FATE magazine to focus on flying saucers and Fortean phenomena.
NOLA Bert
is on page 137 of 264
15. Conflict. The Shaver Mystery takes off. Letters to *Amazing* flood in.
16. Line in the Sand. Despite the popularity of the Shaver Mystery, active SF fandom mostly rises against Rap and Shaver.
— Jul 20, 2026 08:04PM
16. Line in the Sand. Despite the popularity of the Shaver Mystery, active SF fandom mostly rises against Rap and Shaver.
NOLA Bert
is on page 128 of 264
Part III: The Rise and Fall of the Shaver Mystery, 1945-1948
13. Howard Browne. Browne becomes editor of *Mammoth Detective* based on two stories he submitted to Bernard G. Davis. But because *Mammoth Detective* is quarterly, Davis makes Browne assistant editor of *Amazing* and *Fantastic*.
14. Lemuria, My Lemuria. The start of the Shaver Mystery in *Amazing* and Shaver and Palmer become friends.
— Jul 20, 2026 03:26PM
13. Howard Browne. Browne becomes editor of *Mammoth Detective* based on two stories he submitted to Bernard G. Davis. But because *Mammoth Detective* is quarterly, Davis makes Browne assistant editor of *Amazing* and *Fantastic*.
14. Lemuria, My Lemuria. The start of the Shaver Mystery in *Amazing* and Shaver and Palmer become friends.
NOLA Bert
is on page 116 of 264
Ionia, 1938-1943. Shaver is committed to the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Based on the voices he hears, Shaver developed his knowledge of the Inner Earth. After 5 years, he was released and moved back in with his parents. Also since his release, Dick submitted stories to pulp mags eventually getting his letter about the Mantong alphabet published in *Amazing Stories*.
— Jul 19, 2026 08:44PM
NOLA Bert
is on page 81 of 264
Part II: Richard Sharpe Shaver
7. Shavertown - Richard Shaver’s ancestors. Both industrious and victims of circumstance, including mental health problems.
8. The Early Years. Dick Shaver’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Lots of moving around, both from place to place and job to job.
— Jul 16, 2026 05:38PM
7. Shavertown - Richard Shaver’s ancestors. Both industrious and victims of circumstance, including mental health problems.
8. The Early Years. Dick Shaver’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Lots of moving around, both from place to place and job to job.
NOLA Bert
is on page 62 of 264
5. Politics - East Coast SF leftists vs. Midwest “Mom & Apple Pie”. Campbell vs. Palmer or high-brow SF vs. Everyman SF.
6. The Inner Circle - Rap’s inner circle included William L. Hamling, Howard Browne, and Chester Geier. Leroy Yerxa becomes an important writer for Palmer and introduces him to Marjorie Wilson, who Rap marries. Shaver’s letter about Mantong arrives.
— Jul 15, 2026 08:23PM
6. The Inner Circle - Rap’s inner circle included William L. Hamling, Howard Browne, and Chester Geier. Leroy Yerxa becomes an important writer for Palmer and introduces him to Marjorie Wilson, who Rap marries. Shaver’s letter about Mantong arrives.
NOLA Bert
is on page 46 of 264
4. Spilling the Atoms - Rap from editor of fanzine *SFD* to its changed name, *Fantasy Magazine*. Friends with Forry Ackerman. Writer. Death of Stanley Weinbaum. Editor of *Amazing Stories* and *Fantastic Adventures*. Getting Bloch to write his first sci-fi story for *Amazing Stories*.
— Jul 14, 2026 01:57PM