Margie Harris
Encyclopedia
Margie Harris was a pulp writer from 1930-39. She was one of the most popular authors in the short-lived gang pulp genre. Even in an era of hardboiled
crime fiction, her stories were unusually hard-edged and bitter. Her best work includes ingenious plotting, remorselessly violent characters, and colorful underworld argot. Most of her early stories appeared in the Harold Hersey
-published pulp magazine
s Gangster Stories
, Mobs, Prison Stories, Racketeer Stories, and Gangland Stories. When Hersey sold off his assets, Harris continued to appear in the successor to Gangster Stories
, Greater Gangster Stories.
After the collapse of the gang pulps in 1934, Harris diversified into a variety of crime pulps, The Phantom Detective
, Thrilling Detective, Super-Detective Stories, Popular Detective, etc. When the gang genre was temporarily revived in the late 1930s in the pulps, Double-Action Gang Magazine and Ten Story Gang, Harris was a frequent contributor. Her published output includes less than a hundred known stories, low for a pulp writer, but many of them were novelette
s or short novels.
Little is known of Harris' background. It is believed that "Margie Harris" is a pseudonym. The only biographical information comes from a jocular letter published in Gangster Stories
. She claimed to have been a newspaper reporter; and many of her stories featured reporters and references to newspapers. From the cases she covered, she would have been in the Bay Area from approximately 1900-1915 and in Chicago
from 1915-1930 (these ranges are very speculative). Criminals she knew in the Bay Area include Ed Morrell
, the so-called Dungeon Man of San Quentin
, and his neighbor in the solitary confinement
cells, Jacob "Tiger Man" Oppenheimer. In Chicago, she was acquainted with the big-time mobster Big Jim Colosimo
. Given her background, a birthdate around 1880 is plausible, which would have made her about 50 when her fiction career began in 1930.
Harris' last known whereabouts were in Texas
. She appears to have lived in Texas during the entirety of her pulp-writing career. She wrote a number of true crime
articles set in Texas for American Detective, which was published by the same company as Greater Gangster Stories.
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
crime fiction, her stories were unusually hard-edged and bitter. Her best work includes ingenious plotting, remorselessly violent characters, and colorful underworld argot. Most of her early stories appeared in the Harold Hersey
Harold Hersey
Harold Brainerd Hersey was a pulp editor and publisher, and published several volumes of poetry. His pulp industry observations were published in hardback as Pulpwood Editor .-Early life:...
-published pulp magazine
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...
s Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, Mobs, Prison Stories, Racketeer Stories, and Gangland Stories. When Hersey sold off his assets, Harris continued to appear in the successor to Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, Greater Gangster Stories.
After the collapse of the gang pulps in 1934, Harris diversified into a variety of crime pulps, The Phantom Detective
The Phantom Detective
The Phantom Detective was the second pulp hero character published, after The Shadow. The first issue was released in February of 1933, a month before Doc Savage, which was released in March of 1933. The title continued to be released until 1953, with a total 170 issues...
, Thrilling Detective, Super-Detective Stories, Popular Detective, etc. When the gang genre was temporarily revived in the late 1930s in the pulps, Double-Action Gang Magazine and Ten Story Gang, Harris was a frequent contributor. Her published output includes less than a hundred known stories, low for a pulp writer, but many of them were novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
s or short novels.
Little is known of Harris' background. It is believed that "Margie Harris" is a pseudonym. The only biographical information comes from a jocular letter published in Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
. She claimed to have been a newspaper reporter; and many of her stories featured reporters and references to newspapers. From the cases she covered, she would have been in the Bay Area from approximately 1900-1915 and in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
from 1915-1930 (these ranges are very speculative). Criminals she knew in the Bay Area include Ed Morrell
Edward Morrell
Edward H. Morrell , commonly known as Ed Morrell, was an accomplice to the Evans and Sontag gang that robbed the Southern Pacific Railroad in California's San Joaquin Valley in the 1890s. According to his memoir, "The 25th Man", the robberies were revenge for the large railroad corporation's...
, the so-called Dungeon Man of San Quentin
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
, and his neighbor in the solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
cells, Jacob "Tiger Man" Oppenheimer. In Chicago, she was acquainted with the big-time mobster Big Jim Colosimo
James Colosimo
Giacomo Colosimo , better known as Big Jim Colosimo, was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who built a criminal empire in Chicago based on prostitution, gambling, and racketeering. Immigrating from Italy in 1895, he gained power through petty crime and the heading of a chain of brothels...
. Given her background, a birthdate around 1880 is plausible, which would have made her about 50 when her fiction career began in 1930.
Harris' last known whereabouts were in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. She appears to have lived in Texas during the entirety of her pulp-writing career. She wrote a number of true crime
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
articles set in Texas for American Detective, which was published by the same company as Greater Gangster Stories.
Selected Stories
- "Death's Trapeze" (first known published story), Gangster StoriesGangster StoriesGangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, May 1930. - "Gyps That Pass in the Night," Gangland Stories, October 1930.
- "While Choppers Roared," Racketeer Stories, February 1931.
- "Little Big Shot," Gangster StoriesGangster StoriesGangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, May 1932. - "The She-Shamus," Conflict, January-February 1934.
- "When Dead Eyes Speak," The Underworld Detective, March 1935.
- "Crimson Harvest," Ten Story Gang, August 1938.
- "Problem for a Ranger" (last known original story), Popular Detective, December 1939 (reprinted in the December 1944 issue).