Stone, Idella Purnell
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Editor.
(1901-1982) Mexican-born teacher, librarian, editor and author who also wrote as Idella Purnell, in US intermittently from before 1920, though she spent considerable periods in Mexico; most of her fiction was written for the Young Adult market. Of some sf interest are two tales with Lost Race implications: in Lost Princess of Yucatan (1931), two girls discover in a secret location lost Mayan artefacts, including an intricate object which turns out to be a Rosetta Stone, allowing Mayan to be translated at last; The Forbidden City (1932) more tamely involves a "primitive" tribe and a gold mine containing moderately mysterious treasure. Walt Disney's Bambi (1944) as Idella Purnell is a Tie novelizing the Disney studios film Bambi (1942) rather than the novel by Felix Salten – Bambi. Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde (1923; trans 1928 as Bambi, a Life in the Woods) – on which the film is based.
Stone also edited two competent sf reprint Anthologies. 14 Great Tales of ESP (anth 1969), with a theme of ESP and Psi Powers, features such stories as "Project Nightmare" (April/May 1953 Amazing) by Robert A Heinlein and "False Image" (October 1958 Astounding) by Jay Williams. Never in this World (anth 1971) includes "Dreamworld" (November 1955 F&SF) by Isaac Asimov and "Look Out! Duck!" (September 1957 Astounding) by Randall Garrett. [JC/GSt/DRL]
Idella Purnell Stone
born Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: 1 April 1901
died Los Angeles, California: 1 December 1982
works
- Lost Princess of Yucatan (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1931) [hb/]
- The Forbidden City (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1932) [hb/]
- Walt Disney's Bambi (Boston, Massachusetts: D C Heath and Company, 1944) [tie to the film: hb/]
works as editor
- 14 Great Tales of ESP (Greenwich, Connecticut: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1969) [anth: pb/]
- Never in this World (Greenwich, Connecticut: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1971) [anth: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry