Aka Peter Saxon, Desmond Reid
Author, Accountant
Born March 15, 1915, Pershore, Worcestershire, England
Died February 1990, presumably in Buckinghamshire, England
Reginald Charles Dolphin, who wrote under the name Rex Dolphin and used the pseudonyms Peter Saxon and Desmond Reid, was born on March 15, 1915, in Pershore, Worcestershire, England. He worked as an accountant with a British television and electronics firm. He also wrote science fiction and detective stories:
- "Easy Money" in Detective Weekly (Nov. 27, 1937)
- "Off the Map" in Weird Tales (July 1954)
- The World-Shakers! (as Desmond Reid, 1960)
- "The Phantom Guest" in Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine (Aug. 1964)
- "The Last Bandits" in Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine (Sept. 1964)
- "Angel" in Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine (Oct. 1964)
- "No Margin for Error" in Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine (Aug. 1965)
- The Vampires of Finistere #4, The Guardians (as Peter Saxon, 1970)
With his lone story for Weird Tales in July 1954, he squeezed in under the wire, for the magazine ceased publication after its next issue, which was dated September 1954.
In 1945, just as the war in Europe was ending, Dolphin married Irma M.D. van Kerckhoven (1923-2015) in Buckinghamshire. Rex Dolphin died in February 1990, presumably in Buckinghamshire. I know nothing else about him. I hope a British science fiction fan can dig up more.
Rex Dolphin's Story in Weird Tales
"Off the Map" (July 1954)
Further Reading
None known.
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| The Vampires of Finistere #4, The Guardians (1970), with Rex Dolphin writing as Peter Saxon and with cover art by Jeff Jones. |
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| Here in a British edition (1972), |
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| Here in French, |
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| And here Dutch (1975). |
Revised on October 15, 2021.
Text copyright 2016, 2023 Terence E. Hanley
I worked with Reggie in the 60s and 70s when we both worked at Langley Park which at the time was used as offices by Sobells Electrical Industries but has now been converted into a luxury hotel. Reggie gave me a signed copy of The Vampires of Finistere as well as another book that he wrote under a female name. Unfortunately it has gone astray but I believe he used several different names. Reggie was a very nice man and I'm sorry that I lost touch with him.
ReplyDeleteHi, Unknown,
DeleteAnd thank you for your nice remembrance of him.
TH
Hi Terence
ReplyDeleteThere is very few information about Rex Dolphin on the Internet.
A wikipedia entry is also not yet available.
So, thank you for providing some information about him.
Interesting to know that he was an accountant :)
I am just reading one of his books ("Driven to kill", 1969), a portuguese translation ("Perseguição Diabólica"). It is a Sexton Blake mystery story, so seems he also contributed by writing Sexton Blake detective stories. The book really takes me to the 60's ...
Arthur
Hi, Arthur,
DeleteYou're welcome. I'm glad you came here and left a comment.
It's always nice to be carried away to another time in one's reading.
Thanks for reading and writing.
TH
I am part way through Rex Dolphin's 'Walk in the Shadows', one of a number of Sexton Blake Library titles he wrote. Most of his SBLs were credited to him as Rex Dolphin, but a couple went out under the house pseudonyms Richard Williams and Desmond Reid. It is a shame that the little info there is about him on the net is scattered about in different places. I have wondered about putting together a blog post of my own to bring it all together in one place. Maybe one day !
ReplyDeleteJust to add to the list - I have just finished reading "Murder Goes Nap" - "Sexton Blake No31" by Rex Dolphin, published in 1966. A very enjoyable read, quick read. It's a shame there is so little information about this author online.
ReplyDelete