Kelley, Thomas P
Entry updated 29 July 2024. Tagged: Author.
(1905-1982) Canadian prizefighter, circa 1927-1929 under the name Tommy Kelley, and author, by his own description "King of the Canadian pulp writers", mostly of adventure fiction and "true crime", under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms, including Gene Bannerman, Roy P Devlin and Valentine Worth. Some of his novels are of sf interest. I Found Cleopatra (November 1938-February 1939 Weird Tales; cut 1946; text restored 1977) is a Lost World tale set Underground where a race, which has survived the Biblical deluge, offers the eponymous queen an elixir of Immortality; "A Million Years in the Future" (January-July 1940 Weird Tales), which never reached book form, is of interest for the Weapons described; The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships: A Complete Novel of the Weird (fixup 1941) is also Lost Race; Tapestry Triangle (1946) pits an Immortal Chinese detective against a cadre of women who wish to re-enact the triumphs of the ancient Amazons; The Gorilla's Daughter (1950) touches superficially on Apes as Human issues. Kelley wrote an undetermined number of stories for various journals, including the Canadian Uncanny Tales as well as forty scripts for Out of the Night, a radio programme specializing in supernatural tales. [JC/PN]
see also: Canada.
Thomas P Kelley
born Campbellford, Ontario: 1905
died Toronto, Ontario: 14 February 1982
works
- The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships: A Complete Novel of the Weird (Toronto, Ontario: Adam Publishing Co/Handy Books, 1941) [fixup: pb/Wilf Long]
- I Found Cleopatra (Toronto, Ontario: Export Publishing Enterprises, 1946) as Thomas P Kelly [first version appeared November 1938-February 1939 Weird Tales: pb/uncredited]
- I Found Cleopatra (West Linn, Oregon: FAX Collector's Editions, 1977) [original magazine text of the above: pb/Stephen E Fabian]
- Tapestry Triangle (Manchester, England: Pemberton's of Manchester, 1946) [pb/uncredited]
- The Gorilla's Daughter (Toronto, Ontario: New Stand Library, 1950) [pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry