I’ve written before about my father, David Weinberg, and his adventures in World War II. Most of my material for that article came from my relatives or from a few newspaper clippings and telegrams that my mother received during the years my father was overseas. My dad was a quiet, soft-spoken man who worked as a clerk in the Newark post office before the war. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was one of the first to enlist. After the war, my dad returned to Newark and again worked at the Newark Post Office. For several years he served as the president of the Jewish Civil Service Fellowship. He died in 1983, a few weeks before his 68th birthday.

My father rarely discussed his years in the service or the fighting in Europe. When he mentioned stuff, it was more the oddball disclosure that he first developed a taste for fried fish in England, where he ate fish and chips fairly frequently. Or how he was transported from the USA to England on the same boat that carried war correspondent, Ernest Hemmingway. That he could fall asleep in a minute, but awake instantly whenever anyone stepped too close, was another war-time trait. My dad never talked about the fighting or the violence he witnessed. He was a soldier in the invasion of North Africa, participated in the invasion of Sicily, and was a member of the first wave of attackers on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day. It was there that he was wounded while scouting enemy machinegun nests behind Allied Lines and was later awarded a Bronze Star for his heroism and received a Purple Heart for his wound.

Later in the war, my father became a translator for the Allies. He had studied German in high school and his parents both spoke Yiddish, so he had a fairly good command of the German language. After the war ended, my dad waited patiently for a boat back to the states and my mother instead of going sight-seeing with his friends in Europe. It took him six months to get a ship home. He sent my mom a crystal tea set from Germany, but everything but one tea-cup was smashed in transit. My sister still owns it. My dad also brought home several swords and daggers that had belonged to Nazi soldiers he interrogated, but these got given away or donated to various causes over the years. I have none of them left. But there was something else.

There was one item I was told about by my mother and several of my relatives – unfortunately no longer with us – that fascinated me. The item in question that my father somehow was able to bring back to the USA was a huge Nazi flag that hung from the tallest building (possibly from a radio tower on top of that building) in some (German or Occupied) city. According to the story that I was told, the flag was so large that when my father and a bunch of acquaintances spread it out on the grounds of the local elementary school, the flag completely covered the playground. The school in question was the Peshine Avenue grade school in Newark, NJ, and by memory alone I seem to recall the playground was around 100x50 feet in size. So the flag was a huge one.

Now, my father died in 1983 and my mother no longer remembers the days after World War II. We did not keep the flag (I was not born until 1946) – or at least it was not around when I was growing up. What happened to it I do not know? I would guess it was donated to a museum or library. The few relatives I have contacted who were alive during those years don’t remember anything about a flag or covering the playground with it. But I am convinced it happened. Who would make up such a story, or why?

I would like to verify this story. But, I have no idea how. I don’t know where to look or who to ask. Suggestions are welcome. The Newark News, the one newspaper that most likely would have covered the event has been out of business for decades. The Star Ledger, Newark’s only other paper, has records that only extend back to 1989. I’d like to prove this story really happened; or if it did not, disprove it once and for all. Where did this flag originally come from? How did it make it to the United States? Where is it now? To me, the story of the flag and my father is a living part of history. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Help me locate the missing flag and learn its history. I will post any and all leads and attempts to find the flag online. Somehow, I hope working together we can find it.

Bob Weinberg
February 6, 2009

Robert Weinberg
R-PWeinberg@msn.com

Tags: jewish war veterans, old flags, world war ii
Current Location: home
Current Music: The Rising

Edd Cartier passed away on December 25, 2008. He was 94. I was lucky enough to have met him eighteen years ago when I visited his home in New Jersey. It was one of the most memorable afternoons of my life. My sympathies to his two sons on their father's passing. He was one of the truly great SF artists of the 20th century. His like will not be seen again.

Cartier was an excellent painter but he was primarily known for his black and white illustrations and that is where his fame rests. His covers were great, but his interior illos were incredible. He was the first major SF artist to specialize in humorous illustration and he had no peer. No one even came close.

In 1939, John W. Campbell Jr. the editor of the best selling SF magazine in the world, Astounding SF, persuaded his publisher Street & Smith to take a chance with a new magazine. This new publication, titled Unknown (later changed to Unknown Worlds), was not an SF magazine but instead published fantasy fiction for grownups. Campbell liked his science fiction to make sense, to be logical, and he made his writers write stories in that style. The science had to make sense, and the characters' actions had to make sense. For Unknown, Campbell told his writers he wanted the same sort of stories. Fantasy stories that were logical and made sense. There could be magic and monsters in the stories, but they had to make sense. The stories had to be logical.

The writers who grasped what Campbell wanted right away were L. Sprague de Camp, L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert A. Heinlein. Later writers for Unknown included Cleve Cartmill, Nelson Bond, and Jack Williamson. And there were others. But the one artist who perfectly captured what Campbell wanted was Edd Cartier.

Cartier was the master at drawing fantasy figures that were outlandish yet strangely believable. He was a master with pen and ink, and knew how to use blacks and white areas to maximum effectiveness. Cartier could capture human expressions with just a line or two of ink. Yet, at the same time, he could draw monsters like nobodys' business. Perhaps his best monster was the creature from "Vault of the Beast" by A.E. Van Vogt that first appeared in Astounding SF in 1940. That illo is reproduced above.

Cartier did more work for The Shadow pulp magazine than he did for any other publication. He did more work for Astounding Stories (before and after World War II) than he did for Unknown. But his work for Unknown was his very best. His art was always good, often great, and sometimes exceptional. If any artist ever defined a magazine, it was Cartier with Unknown. He was the best illustrator that magazine ever featured. In the world of SF and Fantasy, he was one of the very best, period.

Tags: edd cartier
Current Location: home
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: City of New Orleans

I really need to post here more often. I would promise to do so, but I hate breaking promises and I know that much as I mean to post as often as possible to this journal, I never seem to find the time. Oh well.

A few oddball facts about me, which will tie in more directly to my next post. Which I hope to write in the next day or two.

Stuff no one knows about me:

Forty years ago, I helped design the placement of fallout shelters (in case of nuclear warfare) for the city of Newark, New Jersey.

Forty-one years ago I worked for the Wilmark Detective Agency for a summer. Needless to say, I had to be fingerprinted and bonded to get the job.

Tags: detectives, fallout shelters
Current Location: home
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: sway

Watching the Olympics all makes me feel good. Many times in life I wonder about my career as a bookseller, art dealer, science fiction historian, and writer. Let's be frank, none of those jobs would have been possible a hundred years ago. If the world went through some gigantic catastrophe (i.e. Lucifer's Hammer, where a giant meteor hits the Earth), I'd be one of the first people eaten by the cannibals (you have to read the book! ). I have no skills with a hammer and saw, cannot paint worth a damn, and while I know how most machinery works, cannot fix a car to save my life. But, I can write a fairly entertaining short story and know how to construct a novel that reads pretty well. Minor skills but still skills not shared by very many people in the world. Not very important skills, but honestly, is being able to run 110 meters and jump ten hurdles in 43 seconds a useful skill? Or how about playing a good game of beach volleyball? I'm not denigrating athletic skills, but just the same, in this era of specialization, they should give Olympic medals for the best tie-in vampire novel and best use of Frankenstein's monster in a novel. I'd like those Olympics quite a bit.

ever since I was fifteen, I have associated one word with my life. That word is DRIVEN. I have always felt compelled to be the best I can be at anything I try. It is more than just a mere desire to do okay. It is an obsession that takes hold of me and won't let go. Thus it was not enough to run a successful mail order SF/Fantasy book business, I had to run the best one. Collecting, I wanted the best hardcover SF collection I could assemble. Ditto collecting original SF art. I wanted the best. As a writer, I always worked at being the best writer I could be. Unfortunately, I soon recognized I would never be one of the best fiction writers out there. But I still tried to write the best book I could. Why? because I am driven.

I've been driven all my life. Now, as I approach 62 (next week, August 29), I know it's time to slow down. my health has been somewhat precarious the past few years and I need to enjoy my books and pulp magazines a little more while I still can. I really need to relax. But I don't know how. Somehow I have to switch out of drive into coast.

Off the topic completely, I am pleased to have picked up on ebay the American Weekly issue for April 3, 1938. The American Weekly for those who don't know it was a special Sunday newspaper section run in all the Heart papers in the 1930's-1960's. Something like Parade but on newspaper. It featured all sorts of wild articles, gossip, and even some fiction. For a number of years it was edited by the famous fantasy writer, A. Merritt. Virgil Finlay, my favorite artist, worked for the newspaper for years. April 3, 1938 was Finlay's first appearance and he did the cover painting for the issue illustrating the novel, "Ark of Fire." I've been collecting American Weekly issues with Finlay art in them for years, and have been looking for this particular issue for more than thirty years. So I was extremely happy to finally own it. If I can, I will get a photo of it posted here shortly.

bob

Tags: american weekly, driven, olympics, virgil finlay
Current Location: home
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Starry-Eyed Surprise

Just published and hopefully in a bookstore near you is WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES? by Lois H. Gresh and (yours truly) Robert Weinberg. It's a trade paperbound book, 272 pages with a nice Indiana Jones style cover. The book takes an in-depth look at the Indiana Jones series of movies and tv shows and answers all the questions you might have that are raised in those films and the tv series that were never answered. Like, what are the true powers of the Holy Grail? And who were those annoying three brothers who supposedly found it?

Here's ten questions that you will be able to answer after reading the book. How many can you answer now (without searching the internet - that's cheating!)

1. What letter of the modern alphabet wasn’t added until the 14th century?
2. Jim Thorpe won the first Pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics. Who came in 5th?
3. How many of the Gospels mention Joseph of Arimathea?
4. How tall was Lawrence of Arabia?
5. Where did the last successful cavalry charge take place? From what country did the riders come from?
6. Normal Rockwell claimed all of his paintings were arranged in what geometric shape?
7. What famous artist was dyslexic?
8. Who was the only person to sign both the Peace Treaties ending World War One and World War Two?
9. Who was the only person to sign both the League of Nations charter and the United Nations charter?
10. What jazz musician died on his own birthday?

buy a copy for yourself, then buy a copy for a friend. Or buy a bunch of copies for a bunch of friends!

bob

Tags: indiana jones, last crusade, raiders of the lost ark, temple of doom
Current Location: home
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Ireland's Call

My wife thinks I am from Mars.

Her theory is that when I was born, Martians came down in a flying saucer to the hospital where I was and switched the real Bob Weinberg with one of their own. i.e. in other words, I'm a Martian changeling, left on Earth I suppose until the day they decide to invade and trigger the relays in my brain that turns me back into my Martian identity. Pretty much the same plot as the recent version of "War of the Worlds" that starred Tom Cruise, but with a person instead of giant robot machines. (a terrible movie, btw, nowhere near as entertaining as the Gene Barry film of the 1950's). Why does Phyllis think I am from Mars? Read ahead.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I suffer from peripheral diabetic neuropathy. this is an incurable nerve disorder that combines a feeling that my feet are burning (from the bones out) along with an intense tingling of my muscles, ala "your feet fall asleep." It's an incredibly painful condition that can be caused by all sorts of things, though its most commonly associated with diabetes. Only problem was that when it was determined that I suffered from neuropathy, I was not diabetic. Even now, several years after being listed as diabetic, my blood sugar levels are in the barely diabetic zone most of the time. But, my neurologist said my neuropathy was as bad as someone who had been diabetic for ten years or more.

then, just recently, my doctor discovered from a blood test...

I have gout.

Gout usually attacks people who have been living it up. Rich foods, fine drinks. While I am not a monk, I do not exactly eat like a king. And I don't drink. I haven't had a drink in twelve years, when a stomach problem caused me to swear off alcohol forever. According to a friendly nutritionist, gout is caused by the three B's - beans, beer, and beef. I don't care for beans, I don't drink beer, and I eat beef perhaps 3-4 times a month. I prefer chicken or fish or pasta. Yet I have gout in my feet.

Fortunately, there is medication for gout. I am taking that now. My doctor (and me) hope that maybe the gout medication will help my feet feel better. That maybe the pain in my feet was not just from neuropathy but also from gout. So, if the gout is cured, my feet will feel better.

As for my wife, she figures that the mystery of why I have neuropathy and why I have gout, with neither of the disorders caused by anything normally blamed for such problems, means that I am actually a Martian. That I have a Martian body and Martian illnesses. She might be right. Personally, I think I am Job, reincarnated.

Next post, news of my newest book.

peace,

bob

Tags: aliens, doctors, gout, martians
Current Location: home
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Turn, Turn, Turn

For immediate release Contact Steven Wedel, HWA
publicity
Feb. 3, 2008 steve@stevenewedel.com

TWO GENRE ICONS AWARDED LIFETIME HORROR AWARD

The Horror Writers Association will award two Lifetime
Achievement Awards at this year’s World Horror
Convention and Bram Stoker Awards Banquet.

Writer/director/producer/composer John Carpenter
exploded onto the horror scene with his 1978 classic
“Halloween,” a film that held the title of most
successful independent release for two decades. His
other notable films include “The Thing,” “The Fog,”
“Escape from New York,” “In the Mouth of Madness” and
“Vampires,” as well as many others. Carpenter has come
to be known as one of the most influential horror
filmmakers of all time. He is currently in production
on his newest project, called “The Prince.”

Eleven years before Carpenter’s “Halloween” was
released, Robert Weinberg sold his first short story.
He was a junior in college at the time, and hasn’t
stopped writing since. A founding member of HWA,
Weinberg is a two-time winner of World Fantasy Award
and a renowned expert in many genres, having edited
over 100 books in the fields of horror, fantasy,
science fiction, young adult, western and mystery.
Weinberg also has worked as a writing instructor and
served as HWA vice president for two terms.

HWA President Deborah LeBlanc said, “We are proud to
honor these two men with the Lifetime Achievement
Award. Bob Weinberg’s contribution to the genre goes
much deeper than his obvious body of published work,
as he has always been a reliable, invaluable resource
to HWA, and ever-willing to offer advice to our young
writers.

“John Carpenter revolutionized the horror film,”
LeBlanc continued. “The influence of ‘Halloween’
surpasses the boundaries of film, touching literature,
comics, non-fiction, and nearly every other aspect of
the horror genre. The creation of Michael Myers and
his iconic theme music alone would be enough to earn
him this award. The fact he has been a consistent and
innovative force in the genre is just icing on the
cake.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious
of the Bram Stoker Awards, given by the HWA in
acknowledgment of superior achievement not just in a
single work but over an entire career. Past Lifetime
Achievement Award winners include such noted authors
as Stephen King, Anne Rice, Joyce Carole Oates, Ray
Bradbury, and Peter Straub. Winners must have
exhibited a profound, positive impact on the fields of
horror and dark fantasy, and be at least sixty years
of age or have been published for a minimum of
thirty-five years. Last year’s winner was author
Thomas Harris.

The HWA Annual Conference and 29th presentation of the
Bram Stoker Awards will be held on March 29 in
conjunction with the 2008 World Horror Convention. The
convention runs from March 27-30 in Salt Lake City,
Utah.

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide
organization promoting dark literature and its
creators. Started in 1985, it has over 500 members who
are writing professionally in fiction, nonfiction,
videogames, films, comics, and other media.

### The Bram Stoker Award --

Tags: bram stoker award, lifetime achievement award
Current Location: home
Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Anvil of Crom

sorry as usual for the lack of posts lately but some interesting deals in the pipeline. I hope to be able to write about them sooner or later. One important one has been in negotiations for a little under a year now, but things seems to be working out well. More when I can be less mysterious about it.

Also in the works is a collection of my Morgan Smith stories which feature a Robert E. Howard type hero in an H.P. Lovecraft world. These were written in the late 1960's and early 1970's and are good fun if not my most polished work. For a sample of Morgan Smith, head over to my website, at robertweinberg.net, where there's an article about the series and how the stories came to be written, along with one of the original stories, "From Beyond the Lake of Shades." Anyone recognize where that particular title comes from? Should be easy for any Howard fan.

now, a few words about the weather. About ten years ago, I did a lot of reading about global warming, trying to balance out books on both sides of the issue. I felt that the case for global warming was a fairly strong one but not conclusive. However, at the time, I remarked to my wife that if ever the weather became so bad that it headlined the news twice or more per week, that we were in serious trouble. Needless to say, the weather in the USA (and Europe and Asia) has headlined the news twice a week or more just about every week for the past several years. I still read the same arguments about how the bad weather is merely the result of warming to our planet that takes place every few hundred years. And how global warming is just some sort of political plan by (enter any group you like from the New World Order to Bill and Hillary Clinton to Al Gore). But it ain't true, folks.

Our world is on the verge of an ecological meltdown. Those who refuse to face the truth will live with the consequences. In fifty years from now, their children and grandchildren will pay for their folly if we let them. The time to accept the truth of global warming is now, not ten years from now, not five years from now, but now.

It is snowing in Baghdad as I type these words.

bob w.

Tags: global warming
Current Location: home
Current Mood: gloomy
Current Music: the Anvil of Crom

Last Tuesday night, Phyllis and I went to see the latest version of the Kingston Trio who gave a performance at a local community college. Though this touring company consisted of singers all who played one time or another with the original trio, there were none of the original members at the show. Fortunately, I have seen various combinations of the group over the years, and did see a reunion of sorts with two of the three original performers together a few years back. Still, the three singers who were on stage on Tuesday were all wonderfully skilled musicians and singers and the show was a joy from start to finish. While they played a number of Xmas songs, they also included a number of Kingston Trio classics in the mix with spirited versions of MTA, Tom Dooley, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Tiajuna Jail, and Worried Man among others. My favorite piece of the evening was Woody Guthrie's "Reuben James." While done by many performers over the years, the Kingston Trio version of the song remains my favorite. It was a thrill to hear it live.

In Lois' blong (Lois Gresh, my friend and co-author) she mentions going to the Metropolitan Opera in NYC last week. Sounds exciting, but I must admit I'm not an opera fan. Give me folk music anytime. I developed a taste for folk music back when I was in grade school and Peter, Paul, and Mary were the new kids on the block. Living in New Jersey during the 1960's. I was lucky enough to see numerous folk singers of that era perform. I saw Pete Seegar twice, the Chad Mitchell trio, the Byrds, Tim Hardin, Judy Collins, and many others including the Kingston trio several times. The one folk singer I never saw was my favorite female musician, Joan Baez. I finally was lucky enough to see her a few years ago. She was as good as I expected.

Folk music is the true music of America. If I had my way, we'd stop using The Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem and instead adopt Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." It's a lot easier for people to sing, and the words make much more sense.

bob

Tags: folk music, joan baez, the kingston trio, woody guthrie
Current Location: home
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: This Land is Your Land

five songs I could listen to again and again:

"The City of New Orleans" as sung by Arlo Guthrie

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawlwo'ole

"The Flesh Failures" from the soundtrack of HAIR

"Sing It One More Time Like That" by Trout Fishing in America

"St. James Infirmary" as sung by Cab Calloway


anyone who is not familiar with Israel Kamakawlwo'ole's voice is missing one of the great pleasures in life. Unfortunately, IZ is no longer with us. But he left a legacy of fine music. His version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is used in a bunch of commercials, so even if you think you've never heard him sing, if you've watched TV you've heard him. I can't recommend his work enough.

I grew up in New Jersey, about a half-hour by bus from New York City. I went to the theater often with my parents, and during the two years I taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck I went to the theater every weekend. It's hard to explain to people who did not experience HAIR when it first opened on Broadway, but it was a revolutionary musical for its time. The music still holds up, though the themese are somewhat dated. It was a musical for the times, more than any other. The movie didn't do the live performance justice.

Henry Kuttner wrote a wonderful series of stories about an inventor named Gallagher who came up with the craziest inventions when he was drunk. When he sobered up, he never could remember exactly what the inventions were supposed to do and that led to all sorts of trouble. The stories were collected in book form as ROBOTS HAVE NO TAILS. Gallagher always sang "St. James Infirmary" when he was getting drunk, so I was quite familiar with the song before I heard the Cab Calloway version. Without question, Cab's version is the very best. I don't drink anymore due to various ailments, but it's a fine song drunk or sober.

Trout Fishing in America are two musicians who sing primarily children's songs. "Sing It One More Time Like That" is a good song to listen to when you are down and out. It is a song that I listen to more often than I like these days. Not particularly easy to find, but it's worth locating on i-tunes.

--------------------------------------------------------

Rudy Giuliani recently ran a political spot where he mentions how he had prostate cancer some years ago. He states he was treated in the USA wherer the recovery rate is 82%. He then states that in England where they have socialized medicine, the recovery rate is only 42%. So, he's a lot happier with the U.S. system."

the only problem with the ad is that the recovery rate in England for prostate cancer is also 82%. Rudy's commercial is typical political chicanary as practiced by George Bush and his cronies. Lie big and lie often, and keep on lying.

several of the GOP presidential candidates don't believe in evolution. is there any doubt why the rest of the world considers Americans stupid?

George W. Bush has to be our worst president. He's done more to undermine the constitution than any other president in history. the saying "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundral" was obviously written with Bush in mind. A hundred years from now, people will be wondering how our generation was foolish enough to elect such an absolutely incompetent character as president. I can't help but wonder about the intelligence of those right-wingers who were so pleased after 9/11 that Bush was president instead of Gore. With Gore as president, I suspect we would have caught Osama bin Ladin years ago and not have been involved in this miserable quagmire known as Iraq. And the constitution would be reasonably intact instead of being in shreds. Anyone who feels that Bush has made us safer in the past six years is living in a fantasy world.

Lois asks that I write about Virgil Finlay, my favorite science fiction and fantasy artist. I will do so sometime soon. And discuss Carl Barks, the great Donald Duck comic book writer as well.

bob w.

Tags: george bush, great songs, hair, israel kamakawlwo'oke, republican lies, trout fishing in america
Current Location: home
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: St. James Infirmary