Occupation Writer, historian Name Ron Goulart | Role Historian Shows ThunderCats | |
Born January 13, 1933 (age 91) ( 1933-01-13 ) Pen name Chad Calhoun, R.T. Edwards, Ian R, Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, Joseph Silva Genre Mystery, fantasy, science fiction Movies Tekwar: The Original Movie Nominations Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Books After Things Fell Apart, Comic book encyclopedia, Elementary - my dear Groucho, Comic Book Culture: A, Groucho Marx - private eye Similar People Gil Kane, Mike Resnick, Thomas M Disch, Glen A Larson, Keith Laumer | ||
Ron Goulart (born January 13, 1933) is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.
Contents
Goulart was prolific, and wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson (pen name), Con Steffanson (pen name), Chad Calhoun, R.T. Edwards, Ian R. Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, and Joseph Silva.
Goulart's first professional publication was a 1952 reprint of the SF story "Letters to the Editor" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction; this parody of a pulp magazine letters column was originally published in the University of California, Berkeley's Pelican. His early career in advertising and marketing influenced much of his work. In the early 1960s, Goulart wrote the text for Chex Press, a newspaper parody published on Ralston Purina cereal boxes (Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex). He contributed to P.S. and other magazines, along with his book review column for Venture Science Fiction Magazine. Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of the Pulp Magazines (1972) is his best known non-fiction book.
Fiction
Goulart's fiction is characterized by several themes, including humor, technology gone wrong (usually through incompetence rather than malice) and heroes with superhuman powers. His humorous crime and science fiction includes tales about robots and historical Hollywood figures, such as Groucho Marx. In the 1970s, he wrote several novels based on Lee Falk's The Phantom for Avon Books, using the pseudonym "Frank Shawn" (a play on his wife and son's names). He has also written comic book stories and short stories about The Phantom for Moonstone Books from 2003 to present. Goulart has also written novelizations for televisions programs such as Laverne & Shirley, and wrote several "romance" novels under feminine pseudonyms (they contain familiar Goulart themes and are hilarious.)
It is widely known that Goulart ghost wrote the TekWar series of books credited to the actor William Shatner (Shatner is said to have written the outlines for the books). He has also ghosted novels featuring the Phantom, Flash Gordon and the pulp character the Avenger.
A collection of his mystery short stories, Adam and Eve on a Raft, was published in 2001 by Crippen & Landru.
Goulart is married to author Frances Sheridan Goulart and has two sons, Sean-Lucien and Steffan Eamon.
Comics
In the early 1970s, Goulart wrote several scripts for Marvel Comics, mostly adaptations of classic science fiction stories. Later in the decade, he collaborated with artist Gil Kane on the Star Hawks newspaper strip. In the early 1990s, he scripted Marvel's TekWar comics series.
Awards
Goulart has been nominated twice for the Edgar Award, once for his 1970 science fiction novel After Things Fell Apart.