Lester Dent
Encyclopedia
Lester Dent was a prolific pulp fiction
author, best known as the creator and main author of the series of novels about the superhuman
scientist
and adventurer, Doc Savage
. The 159 novels written over 16 years were credited to the house name
Kenneth Robeson
.
. He was the only child of Bernard Dent, a rancher, and Alice Norfolk, a teacher before her marriage. The Dents had been living in Wyoming
for some time, but had returned to La Plata so that Mrs. Dent could be with her family during the birth. The Dents returned to Wyoming in 1906, where they worked a ranch near Pumpkin Buttes, Wyoming.
Dent's early years were spent in the lonely hills of Wyoming. He attended a local one-room school house, often paying for tuition with furs that he had caught. He had few companions or friends; this early loneliness may have helped develop his talents as a story-teller.
Around 1919, the Dent family returned to La Plata for good, where Dent's father took up dairy farming. Dent completed his elementary and secondary education there.
In 1923, Dent enrolled at Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Missouri
. His original goal was to become a banker. However, while standing in the application line, he began talking to a fellow applicant about career options. He found out that the starting salary for a telegraph operator was $20 a week more than a bank clerk, so he changed his major to telegraphy. After completing the course, he taught at CBC for a short time.
In 1924, Dent became a telegraph operator for Western Union
in Carrollton, Missouri
. In 1925, he moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma
, to work as a telegrapher for Empire Oil and Gas Company. It was in Ponca City that he met his future wife, Norma Gerling. They were married on August 9, 1925.
. One of Dent's co-workers had published a story in a pulp magazine, earning the huge sum (for that time) of $450. Dent, a voracious reader, was very familiar with pulp magazines of the day, and was sure he could write as least as well, if not better. He took advantage of the slow time during the graveyard shift to write. His first professional sale was an action-adventure story entitled "Pirate Cay"; it appeared in the September 1929 issue of Top Notch magazine.
Shortly after the publication of his story, Dent was contacted by Dell Publishing
in New York City
. They were willing to offer him $500 a month if he would write exclusively for their magazines. Dent, stunned by the good fortune, took some time considering the offer, but eventually accepted. The Dents relocated to New York, arriving January 1, 1931. Dent quickly learned the trade of the pulp author, teaching himself how to write quickly and with few rewrites. After Dell imploded its pulp line in May 1931, Lester retreated to Missouri to regroup. Soon, he was back in New York, writing for the other pulp chains.
In 1932, Henry Ralston of Street and Smith Publications
contacted Dent with a proposition for a new magazine. Ralston had scored a great success with The Shadow
magazine, and was interested in developing a second title around a central character. He had in mind an adventure hero, which appealed to Dent's love of that genre. While Dent was unhappy to later discover that his stories would be published under a house name, he was happy to receive $500 per novel (which would later increase to $750), and accepted Ralston's offer.
Issue Number 1 of Doc Savage magazine hit the stands in February, 1933; within 6 months it was one of the top selling pulp magazines on the market. Much of the success stemmed from Dent's fantastic imagination, fueled by his own personal curiosity. Dent was able to use the freedom that his new-found financial security allowed him, to learn and to explore. In addition to being a wide-ranging reader, Dent also took courses in technology and the trades. He earned both his amateur radio
and pilot license, passed both the electricians' and plumbers' trade exams, and was an avid mountain climber. His usual method was to learn a subject thoroughly, then move on to another. An example is boating: in the late 1930s, Dent bought a 40 foot two-masted schooner
. He and his wife lived on it for several years, sailing it up and down the eastern coast of the US, then sold it in 1940. The Dents traveled extensively as well, enough to earn Lester a membership in the Explorers Club.
In 1940, the Dents returned to La Plata for good. Dent continued to write for Doc Savage, but also found time to work in the other genres. His post-1941 Doc Savage work benefited from this; the later Savage novels are known for their tighter plotting, improved dialogue, and a shift towards mystery instead of super-science. Doc Savage himself begins to shed his superhuman image, and to show more fallible, human side.
Doc Savage Magazine ceased publication in 1949. Of the 181 Doc Savage novels published by Street and Smith, 179 were credited to Kenneth Robeson; and all but twenty were written by Dent. The first novel, The Man of Bronze, used the name Kenneth Roberts, but this was changed after it was discovered that there was another author named Kenneth Roberts. The March 1944 issue, "The Derelict of Skull Shoal", was accidentally credited to Lester Dent. This was the only time during the run of the magazine that Dent's real name was used. Following his tenure on Doc Savage, Dent found continuing success as a mystery and western
writer. His last published short story was a Western entitled "Savage Challenge", published in the February 22, 1958 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. A last novel, Lady in Peril, was released as half of an Ace Double the month that Lester died.
Dent suffered a heart attack
in February 1959. He was hospitalized, but subsequently died on March 11, 1959. Dent is buried in the La Plata cemetery.
Since his death, Lester Dent has lived on in reprints and new stories discovered and marketed by his literary agent, Will Murray. Hardcase Crime published his noir novel, Honey in His Mouth, to rave reviews in 2009. Black Dog Books
has released the first three volumes of The Lester Dent Library. Altus Press
issued The Weird Adventures of the Blond Adder in 2010.
Dent appears as a character in the 2006 novel
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
. The novel describes friendship and rivalry among pulp writers of the 1930s; it also includes Walter Gibson
, creator of The Shadow
.
, among others. Moorcock summarizes the formula by suggesting: "split your six-thousand-word story up into four fifteen hundred word parts. Part one, hit your hero with a heap of trouble. Part two, double it. Part three, put him in so much trouble there's no way he could ever possibly get out of it...All your main characters have to be in the first third. All you main themes and everything else has to be established in the first third, devloped in the second third, and resolved in the last third."
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
author, best known as the creator and main author of the series of novels about the superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and adventurer, Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
. The 159 novels written over 16 years were credited to the house name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Kenneth Robeson
Kenneth Robeson
Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Many authors wrote under this name, though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent:...
.
Early years
Dent was born in 1904 in La Plata, MissouriLa Plata, Missouri
La Plata is a city in Macon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,366 at the 2010 census.-History:On March 17, 1827, Drury Davis established a trading post about a half-mile west of what would become La Plata. The town would develop as the intersection of north and south stagecoach...
. He was the only child of Bernard Dent, a rancher, and Alice Norfolk, a teacher before her marriage. The Dents had been living in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
for some time, but had returned to La Plata so that Mrs. Dent could be with her family during the birth. The Dents returned to Wyoming in 1906, where they worked a ranch near Pumpkin Buttes, Wyoming.
Dent's early years were spent in the lonely hills of Wyoming. He attended a local one-room school house, often paying for tuition with furs that he had caught. He had few companions or friends; this early loneliness may have helped develop his talents as a story-teller.
Around 1919, the Dent family returned to La Plata for good, where Dent's father took up dairy farming. Dent completed his elementary and secondary education there.
In 1923, Dent enrolled at Chillicothe Business College in Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,515 at the 2010 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their Chillicothe, located since 1774 about a mile from the present-day city.Chillicothe is...
. His original goal was to become a banker. However, while standing in the application line, he began talking to a fellow applicant about career options. He found out that the starting salary for a telegraph operator was $20 a week more than a bank clerk, so he changed his major to telegraphy. After completing the course, he taught at CBC for a short time.
In 1924, Dent became a telegraph operator for Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
in Carrollton, Missouri
Carrollton, Missouri
Carrollton is a city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States. Carrollton won the 2005 All-America City Award given out annually by the National Civic League. The population was 4,122 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County. It has several restaurants including JB's...
. In 1925, he moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, to work as a telegrapher for Empire Oil and Gas Company. It was in Ponca City that he met his future wife, Norma Gerling. They were married on August 9, 1925.
Writing career
In 1926, the Dents moved to Chickasha, Oklahoma, where Dent worked as a telegrapher for the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. One of Dent's co-workers had published a story in a pulp magazine, earning the huge sum (for that time) of $450. Dent, a voracious reader, was very familiar with pulp magazines of the day, and was sure he could write as least as well, if not better. He took advantage of the slow time during the graveyard shift to write. His first professional sale was an action-adventure story entitled "Pirate Cay"; it appeared in the September 1929 issue of Top Notch magazine.
Shortly after the publication of his story, Dent was contacted by Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing, an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr.During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including pulp magazines. Their line of humor magazines included 1000 Jokes, launched in...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. They were willing to offer him $500 a month if he would write exclusively for their magazines. Dent, stunned by the good fortune, took some time considering the offer, but eventually accepted. The Dents relocated to New York, arriving January 1, 1931. Dent quickly learned the trade of the pulp author, teaching himself how to write quickly and with few rewrites. After Dell imploded its pulp line in May 1931, Lester retreated to Missouri to regroup. Soon, he was back in New York, writing for the other pulp chains.
In 1932, Henry Ralston of Street and Smith Publications
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as pulp fiction and dime novels. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks...
contacted Dent with a proposition for a new magazine. Ralston had scored a great success with The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
magazine, and was interested in developing a second title around a central character. He had in mind an adventure hero, which appealed to Dent's love of that genre. While Dent was unhappy to later discover that his stories would be published under a house name, he was happy to receive $500 per novel (which would later increase to $750), and accepted Ralston's offer.
Issue Number 1 of Doc Savage magazine hit the stands in February, 1933; within 6 months it was one of the top selling pulp magazines on the market. Much of the success stemmed from Dent's fantastic imagination, fueled by his own personal curiosity. Dent was able to use the freedom that his new-found financial security allowed him, to learn and to explore. In addition to being a wide-ranging reader, Dent also took courses in technology and the trades. He earned both his amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
and pilot license, passed both the electricians' and plumbers' trade exams, and was an avid mountain climber. His usual method was to learn a subject thoroughly, then move on to another. An example is boating: in the late 1930s, Dent bought a 40 foot two-masted schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
. He and his wife lived on it for several years, sailing it up and down the eastern coast of the US, then sold it in 1940. The Dents traveled extensively as well, enough to earn Lester a membership in the Explorers Club.
In 1940, the Dents returned to La Plata for good. Dent continued to write for Doc Savage, but also found time to work in the other genres. His post-1941 Doc Savage work benefited from this; the later Savage novels are known for their tighter plotting, improved dialogue, and a shift towards mystery instead of super-science. Doc Savage himself begins to shed his superhuman image, and to show more fallible, human side.
Doc Savage Magazine ceased publication in 1949. Of the 181 Doc Savage novels published by Street and Smith, 179 were credited to Kenneth Robeson; and all but twenty were written by Dent. The first novel, The Man of Bronze, used the name Kenneth Roberts, but this was changed after it was discovered that there was another author named Kenneth Roberts. The March 1944 issue, "The Derelict of Skull Shoal", was accidentally credited to Lester Dent. This was the only time during the run of the magazine that Dent's real name was used. Following his tenure on Doc Savage, Dent found continuing success as a mystery and western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
writer. His last published short story was a Western entitled "Savage Challenge", published in the February 22, 1958 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. A last novel, Lady in Peril, was released as half of an Ace Double the month that Lester died.
Dent suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in February 1959. He was hospitalized, but subsequently died on March 11, 1959. Dent is buried in the La Plata cemetery.
Since his death, Lester Dent has lived on in reprints and new stories discovered and marketed by his literary agent, Will Murray. Hardcase Crime published his noir novel, Honey in His Mouth, to rave reviews in 2009. Black Dog Books
Black Dog Books
Black Dog Books is an independent publisher and production house based in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. They publish books in all genres but focus mainly on children's literature.-History:...
has released the first three volumes of The Lester Dent Library. Altus Press
Altus Press
Altus Press is a small-press publisher of works primarily related to the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 30s. Founded in 2006 by publisher Matthew Moring, Altus Press has focused on four categories of publications: Lost Race Library, New Pulps, Pulp Histories and Pulp Reprints.Altus is also the...
issued The Weird Adventures of the Blond Adder in 2010.
Dent appears as a character in the 2006 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
Paul Malmont
Paul Malmont is an American author who has specialized in books considering the style and tropes of popular fiction of the past, making the writers of that popular fiction the heroes and protagonists of his own work.-Work:...
. The novel describes friendship and rivalry among pulp writers of the 1930s; it also includes Walter Gibson
Walter B. Gibson
Walter Brown Gibson was an American author and professional magician, best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow...
, creator of The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
.
Doc Savage Novels
See the List of Doc Savage novels for a complete bibliography of Dent's most famous character.Pulp fiction formula
Dent's "Master Fiction Plot", often referred to as the "Lester Dent Formula" is a widely circulated guide to writing a saleable 6000-word pulp story. It has been recommended to aspiring authors by Michael MoorcockMichael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
, among others. Moorcock summarizes the formula by suggesting: "split your six-thousand-word story up into four fifteen hundred word parts. Part one, hit your hero with a heap of trouble. Part two, double it. Part three, put him in so much trouble there's no way he could ever possibly get out of it...All your main characters have to be in the first third. All you main themes and everything else has to be established in the first third, devloped in the second third, and resolved in the last third."