Amelia Reynolds Long

Amelia Reynolds Long
Graduation photo of Reynolds Long from the University of Pennsylvania, 1931.
Graduation photo of Reynolds Long from the University of Pennsylvania, 1931.
Born(1904-11-25)November 25, 1904
Columbia, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 26, 1978(1978-03-26) (aged 73)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Pen namePeter Reynolds (sometimes with William L. Crawford)
Occupation
  • Short story writer
  • novelist
  • poet
NationalityAmerican
GenreDetective fiction, Science fiction

Amelia Reynolds Long ((1904-11-25)November 25, 1904 – (1978-03-26)March 26, 1978) was an American detective fiction writer, novelist, and a pioneer woman writer for the early science fiction magazines of the 1930s.

Biography[edit]

Born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, Long moved at age six with her family to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she lived the rest of her life.[1]

Long received a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1931, and a master's degree from Penn in 1932.[2] Long was the author of a number of science fiction stories, including "A Leak in the Fountain of Youth" and "Scandal in the Fourth Dimension".[3] Her Weird Tales story, "The Thought-Monster", was made into the 1958 British science fiction film Fiend Without a Face. The story's sale to the film's producers was brokered by her agent Forrest J Ackerman.[4]

Some of her stories appeared under the byline "A. R. Long." Using the combined pseudonym Peter Reynolds, Long co-wrote the 1936 novel Behind the Evidence with William L. Crawford, based on the Lindbergh kidnapping case.[5]

In the 1940s, influenced by Agatha Christie, Long turned from science fiction to writing mysteries. Between 1939 and 1952, she published more than 30 murder mystery novels.[6] In 1951, Long became a textbook editor for Stackpole Books. She also began to write poetry, participating in the Harrisburg Poetry Workshop of the Pennsylvania Poetry Society. Long edited the society's 1977 anthology, Pennsylvania Poems.[7] Later in life, Long worked for 15 years as a curator at the William Penn Memorial Museum.[8]

Long never married or had children. She died in 1978, at age 73.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Williamson, Chet. "A Visit With Amelia Reynolds Long". A Tribute to Amelia Reynolds Long. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Amelia Reynolds Long". Open Library. Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  3. ^ Amazing science fiction anthology : the war years, 1936-1945. Greenberg, Martin Harry,, Asimov, Isaac, 1920-1992,, Barr, George, 1937-, Jankus, Hank,, Jaquays, Paul. Lake Geneva, WI. 1987. ISBN 0880384409. OCLC 15532459.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ Alsedek, John C. (23 July 2022). "My Hometown Heroine: Amelia Reynolds Long and FIEND WITHOUT A FACE". Flapper Press. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. ^ Chalker, Jack L.; Owings, Mark (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. pp. 705–706.
  6. ^ Simms, Richard. "Mystery Novels". A Tribute to Amelia Reynolds Long. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ Simms, Richard. "A Tribute to Amelia Reynolds Long". AmeliaLong. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Amelia Reynolds Long". Open Library. Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  9. ^ Simms, Richard. "A Tribute to Amelia Reynolds Long". AmeliaLong. Retrieved 20 November 2022.

External links[edit]