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Fred Nadis
| Full Name: |
Fred
Nadis |
| Born: |
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| Occupation: |
Writer |
| Nationality: |
American |
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Biography
I grew up in suburban Chicago, and one of my stronger memories, especially on summer days, was hearing the clattering of a manual typewriter. When our Frisbee sailed over the bushes, I could see my neighbor, a biographer, at work at his typewriter in the basement, through the artificial stained glass decals on the window. I recall he wore socks with sandals, listened to classical music, and smoked a pipe. I try to avoid that precise profile, but otherwise have fallen into line... Biography combines my dual training in creative writing and American studies (I have a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin). A biographer has to mix the traits of a detective, a student of narrative, and a seeker of details, who can eventually take pleasure in turning a genuine assessment of another's life into story form.
Topics I've covered include the escapologist Harry Houdini; early mesmerists and their diabolical powers; the Amazing Zancigs, mind-readers extraordinaire; Richard Shaver, the outsider artist and pulp magazine creator of "I Remember Lemuria"; Allen Funt, the madcap genius behind "Candid Camera"; and the history of amusement park rides. My books include, The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey, a 2014 Locus Award Finalist, and Wonder Shows: Performing Science, Magic, and Religion in America. I also have published scholarly articles, as well as humor and fiction in the Atlantic and other magazines. A past fellow at the Smithsonian, I am currently at large in California.
Works in the WWEnd Database
Non Series Works |
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Full Details
