Philip José Farmer - Trip Report

Earlier this month, on very short notice, I was invited to visit Philip José Farmer and his wife, Bette. Fortunately I was able to accept the invitation.

It was a pleasure meeting Art Bollmann on my Chicago layover and I am glad that we had almost two hours to chat, non-stop.

Peoria was great. The Farmers are extremely gracious people. When they heard I was willing to travel there just for a 4-hour visit on July 5 (but arriving in Peoria on the night of July 4), they revised their invitation, suggested I come in a little earlier on July 4... And stay over at their house. Which Mike Croteau (of www.pjfarmer.com) and I, of course, gladly accepted. :-)

The original plans called for taking Phil and Bette out for dinner, or at least for Mike and I to get to take-out and bring it to their house. Instead, we arrived to discover that Bette had cooked a full meal for us. (!)

Phil really appreciated the card that some folks contributed to – thanks again to those folks who sent something on very short notice. Phil very carefully read the card with all the comments, and Bette was very pleased: "Is this for us to keep?"

After arriving to Bette's surprise dinner, we all sat down to chat a bit. Phil is a very quiet man, but he was obviously interested in our conversation. Bette is talkative and vivacious.

I noticed that most of their DVDs were of classic comedy (Marx Bros, 3 Stooges, etc.), so when Mike gave them a complete set of the Jeeves & Wooster television episodes, they were thrilled. We watched the first episode, and Phil had a grin on his face the whole time.

I gave Bette and Phil the new Zorro novel by Isabel Allende on CD, and Phil was fascinated reading the cover description. When I told him that Zorro had been incorporated into the WNU, he said, "That's a good idea!" and then half-jokingly grumbled, "I should have thought of that."

Of course, Mike and I are younger guys, so after Phil retired for the evening, we stayed up about another hour talking with Bette. After that, Mike started going through material in the basement, looking for the odd gem here or there.

(This is all with Phil and Bette's knowledge and blessing -- she told him which boxes to look in. Whatever Mike finds of interest, he works with Phil and Bette to determine what to do with it; post it on www.pjfarmer.com, put it in the new upcoming fanzine, FARMERPHILE; list it for sale; etc. Farmer fans can always find items of interest on Mike's website; just check regularly at www.pjfarmer.com.)

Meanwhile, I was let loose in another part of their basement, the room that has all Phil's books, and originals or prints of his various book covers.

We finally crashed about 2:00 am, and roused around 8 or 9 (I was too groggy to note the time with any degree of precision).

The morning saw us chatting us bit more with Phil and Bette. The flow of conversation didn't really allow me to address specific questions, and most of Phil's answers are open-ended anyway. ;-)

One that I did have a chance to ask, was the Lois Lane reference his DOC SAVAGE biography. Did he really mean to incorporate Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and even Superman? Answer: it was a joke.

Speaking of jokes, Phil has a very sharp sense of humor, and even though many of his answers were, short, or cryptic, they were almost universally humorous. We also discussed how, in the end, the bios are a grand example of tricksterism, in that TARZAN ALIVE starts out very seriously, drawing the reader into the Game ("this is all real"), and by the end of DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE, we have a talking dog in the Wold Newton Universe (WNU). Phil got a chuckle out of that.

I learned that Phil was one of the sci-fi writers approached by Gene Roddenberry to help shape STAR TREK. Unfortunately, Phil's ideas were *too* realistic. According to Roddenberry, TREK still needed to be accessible to the "grandmothers in Iowa," and Phil's concepts would not have "made it so."

However, both Phil and Bette acknowledged that STAR TREK turned out pretty well, all things considered (network issues, ratings, mass appeal considerations, etc.).

We also got on the topic of some of our favorite British TV, both comedy and genre. When I mentioned that THE PRISONER was very well done, and one of my all-time favorites, Phil nodded vigorously in agreement.

That, along with a letter Phil wrote to the BAKER STREET JOURNAL back in the early '70s in which he indicates his familiarity with, and some degree of fondness for, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., was personally gratifying, since I put in THE PRISONER and U.N.C.L.E. in very early rounds of the WNU Crossover Chronology.

After heading back to the basement for another round of looking for goodies, Bette made us lunch, and we spent the rest of our time talking on the enclosed back porch. Phil graciously signed my TARZAN ALIVE and DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE, and before we knew it, it was time to go.

When it came time to leave, we had one stop to make on the way to the airport (well, not quite "on the way" :-). We went by Phil's alma mater, Bradley University, as apparently there was a trophy in the Field House that Phil had won. We found the trophy (second place for the track team, 1940, along with a group picture in which we found a youthful image of Phil).

It was the trip of a lifetime.

Meeting Philip José Farmer

I'm headed to Peoria in July 4-5 to finally meet Philip José Farmer in person. Needless to say, I'm fairly nervous, and hopefully my conversation won't be punctuated by too many "uhs" and "ers."

Hopefully I'll have some interesting conversations to report back on, and some neat pictures too.

Oh, and there is another interview with me online, this time courtesy of the fine folks at Intempol. The interview is here.

Anyway, if anyone has any burning questions that they'd like me to ask Mr. Farmer, please let me know. This is not an interview, and I'm not going to be sitting there, pen in hand, taking notes. But I'll do my best.

The Black Forest 2

There an article/interview here with Todd Livingston, one of the
creators of THE BLACK FOREST 2. It's about 3/4 down on the page.


The story sounds absolutely fantastic, and we get a bonus WICKED WEST tale too!

As far as I know, this is the first mention of my Wold Newton essay which is a backup feature.

I like what he has to say about it. ;-)

Interview with Jazma Online

The kind folks at Jazma Online have interviewed me about the new Wold Newton book. You can read it here.

Tarzan Alive - the new edition

I received a copy of Philip José Farmer's Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life and about 10-15 Doc Savage paperback reprints from a family friend when I was nine years old, in 1975. The first Doc I read was, I think, Meteor Menace. Farmer's book was a great introduction to the character, but the crossover with the Wold Newton family tree probably scarred me for life, but in a good way. I was so young and impressionable at that age that I couldn't help but think of the characters in the terms in which Farmer presented them, i.e., that they were all related through this cosmic event (the Wold Newton meteor strike).

Unfortunately, I was not able to locate a copy of Tarzan Alive (with the other half of the family tree) until it was reprinted in 1981, but of course once I read it, I became more entrenched than ever in the Wold Newton concept.

Unfortunately, these books have been out of print for almost 25 years. So I'm very pleased to announce that Bison Books (University of Nebraska Press) is reprinting Tarzan Alive, currently slated for publication in Spring 2006. Bison Books has recently published other genre books, including ERB titles from the Venus, Mars, Pellucidar, and Caspak series, as well as Edwin Arnold's Gullivar of Mars.

More details on the reprint of Tarzan Alive are on the Official Philip José Farmer Home Page, including science-fiction writer Mike Resnick's involvement in writing an Introduction to the new edition.

And I am not too humble to neglect mentioning something else that has not yet been announced on the Official Philip José Farmer Home Page (but will be soon). I have been asked to write an Afterword for the new edition, which is probably the greatest honor and thrill I can think of, other than the upcoming publication of Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe.

Now I (and Mike Croteau of the Official PJF Home Page, who has been an immense help) need to get working on Bison Books for a new edition of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.

Who's Going to Take Over the World When I'm Gone?

Since some other contributors to MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE (now available for Pre-Order from Amazon), have seen fit to post briefly about their essays, I thought I'd do the same.

"Introduction: Myths for the Modern Age: Farmer’s Wold Newton Family and Shared Universe" introduces the Wold Newton concept, provides a complete listing of Farmer's Wold Newton works (and some peripheral ones), and discusses how various Wold Newton "Game"-players have gone about expanding upon a shared universe.

"Who's Going to Take Over the World When I'm Gone? (A Look at the Genealogies of Wold Newton Family Super-Villains and Their Nemeses)" builds upon a few key facts provided in other articles included in MYTHS, and then along the way we learn more about the genealogy of Professor Moriarty(s), Fu Manchu and his daughter Fah Lo Suee, Doc Savage, and the Smiths (as in Sir Denis Nayland, not Morrisey's band). And what would this excursion be without some references to James Bond, U.N.C.L.E., Master of Kung Fu, and Kerouac. Yes, Kerouac.

If you haven't seen it yet, here is the cover to MYTHS by Hugo-nominated artist John Picacio. Amazing.

Wold Newton book listed on Amazon (pre-order)!

MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE, is now available for Pre-Order from Amazon!!

As well as direct from the publisher.

Woo-hoo!

Wold Newton book contents

I can finally announce the contents for MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE (formerly titled CREATIVE MYTHOGRAPHY) (pre-order here)

Introduction: Myths for the Modern Age
Win Scott Eckert

Wold-Newtonry
Dr. Peter M. Coogan

The Arms of Tarzan
Philip José Farmer

The Secret History of Captain Nemo
Rick Lai

From Pygmalion to Casablanca: The Higgins Genealogy
Mark K. Brown

A Reply To "The Red Herring"
Philip José Farmer

The Daughters of Greystoke
Chuck Loridans

The Green Eyes Have It - Or Are They Blue?
Christopher Paul Carey

The Two Lord Ruftons
Philip José Farmer

Kiss of the Vampire
John A. Small

Name of A Thousand Blue Demons
Cheryl L. Huttner

The Great Korak-Time Discrepancy
Philip José Farmer

Asian Detectives in the Wold Newton Family
Dennis E. Power

This Shadow Hanging Over Me Is No Trick Of The Light
Jess Nevins

The Lord Mountford Mystery
Philip José Farmer

The Magnificent Gordons
Mark K. Brown

The Legacy of the Fox: Zorro in the Wold Newton Universe
Matthew Baugh

From ERB To Ygg
Philip José Farmer

Who's Going to Take Over the World When I'm Gone?
Win Scott Eckert

Jungle Brothers, Or, Secrets Of The Jungle Lords
Dennis E. Power

A Language For Opar
Philip José Farmer

Watching the Detectives, Or, The Sherlock Holmes Family Tree
Brad Mengel

Fu Manchu Vs. Cthulhu
Rick Lai

Jonathan Swift Somers III
Philip José Farmer

John Carter: Torn from Phoenician Dreams
Dennis E. Power and Dr. Peter M. Coogan

D is for Daughter, F is for Father
Mark K. Brown

The Monster on Hold
Philip José Farmer

Travels in Time
Loki Carbis

A Review of Final Menacing Glimpses
Art Bollmann

Here's the knock-out cover by John Picacio:

Thumbnail cover

Big cover

Phil Farmer's Wold Newtonian essays included in MYTHS are hard-to-find, and appeared in various fanzines or other publications over the years. It is certainly a boon to have them collected here in one Wold Newton-oriented volume. Almost every contribution from the "post-Farmerian" writers has been revised -- sometimes significantly -- for this book. These are the official publication versions. All in all, this is going to be a 400-page book.

Now, going over the list of essays, some folks might be asking, "where the heck is the Crossover Chronology, which Win has been saying will be in the Wold Newton book?"

Like I said, the book is already going to be 400 pages, without the Crossover Chronology.

Therefore, MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE will come out in November 2005, as planned, with all the articles listed above included. And a second volume, another 300-400 page tome, THE CROSSOVER CHRONOLOGY: MORE MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE (this is a working title; it could change) is slated for publication in Spring 2006.

So, it's back to work for me! Gotta add in some more crossover entries. I am quickly learning that there is no such thing as "done." Not that I'm complaining.

While I'm at it, I may as well plug my short story in the anthology TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN 1: THE MODERN BABYLON. It's an anthology from Jean-Marc Lofficier's Black Coat Press. It features short stories inspired by French pulp fiction, written by several Wold Newton "creative mythographers," including yours truly, Matthew Baugh, Greg Gick, and Rick Lai, as well as much more established science-fiction writers such as Brian Stableford, Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier, John Peel, Terrance Dicks, Chris Roberson, and Robert Sheckley, among others.

Nor are the stories limited to only French characters... Wold Newton Family members such as Doc Savage, Fu Manchu, Sherlock Holmes, and The Shadow, all make appearances in the anthology (even if some of them appear in disguise), as do perennial French Wold Newton Family members C. Auguste Dupin and Arsène Lupin. Several of the stories refer to or utilize Phil Farmer's Wold Newton Family theories and concepts. For fans of the MONSTAAH corner of the Wold Newton Universe, there are stories featuring Frankenstein's Creature, the Cthulhu Mythos, and Erik (Phantom of the Opera).

My story, "The Vanishing Devil," is a sequel to Guy d'Armen's DOC ARDAN: CITY OF GOLD AND LEPERS.
I don't think it's giving anything away to say that it features Doc Ardan and the nefarious Doctor Natas in a follow-up confrontation... nor that Doc Ardan might just be a certain Savage pulp hero, as Natas might really be a very long-lived Devil Doctor.

TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN is now available...
-direct from the publisher

-from Amazon

-and is listed in the March 2005 Diamond Previews, so you can order it from your local comic shop that way.