Harold Freeman Miners (1890-1928)

Author, Businessman

Born January 11, 1890, St. Joseph, Michigan

Died February 22, 1928, Denver, Colorado

Pulp writer Harold Freeman Miners was born on January 11, 1890, in St. Joseph, Michigan, and graduated from St. Joseph High School and Michigan Agricultural College, the forerunner of Michigan State University. He served in the Michigan Naval Militia and--during World War I--the U.S. Navy. At the time he registered for the draft, he was working in the advertising business at the California Fruit Growers Exchange in Chicago. He wrote stories for several magazines, including Argosy All-Story Weekly, The Black Mask, Far West Stories, Fighting Romances from the West and East, McFadden Fiction-Lovers Magazine, Western Story Magazine, and of course Weird Tales. His only story for "The Unique Magazine" was called "Desert Madness," published in the fourth issue, June 1923. Miners also had a story called "The Light in the Cabin" syndicated in American and Canadian newspapers in 1927. He was elected a member of the American Authors' League in 1922.

Miners contracted a severe case of influenza while serving in the Navy. His health deteriorated to a point where he was forced in 1921 to a more hospitable climate in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He spent the last year of his life in a Denver sanitarium and died on February 22, 1928. His body was returned to his hometown for burial. He had not yet reached his fortieth birthday.

Harold Freeman Miners' Story in Weird Tales

"Desert Madness" (June 1923)

Further Reading

Short of buying an old pulp magazine, you're not likely to find any of Miners' work in print.

Weird Tales, June 1923, with cover art by William F. Heitman, and fiction by Harold Freeman Miners, Hamilton Craigie, Otis Adelbert Kline, and many others.

Note: Thanks to local genealogist Brenda Sears for information on Miners' death year and place of burial. Thanks also to Jill Rauh at the Benton Harbor Public Library, Benton Harbor, Michigan, for locating his obituary.

Updated on March 21, 2023.
Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley