Anne Forman Ellis (1893-1946)

Travel Writer, Tourist/Traveler, Secretary
Born December 18, 1893, Carrollton, Kentucky
Died June 22, 1946, Leigh Memorial Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia

Anne Elizabeth Forman Ellis was born on December 18, 1893, in Carrolton, Kentucky to Alfred Soward Forman and Jennie Wilson Forman. She was a traveler and tourist who had just one letter in Weird Tales, published one hundred years ago this month. Here it is in its entirety, with an editorial introduction:

This is very gratifying, but sh! not too loud, or we may get some hard knocks. But no; the next letter is even more enthusiastic. It is from Anne Forman Ellis, of Norfolk, Virginia, who writes: "Doubtless many of your readers have perused their recent copies of WEIRD TALES under more difficult conditions or in stranger surroundings or at points farther away than I, but I think that for anyone not a professional traveler I may claim the palm for long-distance commuting in my reading, for I read part of the May-June-July quarterly while on my way from Norfolk to California in July, the rest of it on my return trip a week later, the November number while on my way out again in October, the December number as I returned this month--a total of some 14,500 miles to the three copies. To me the apotheosis of comfort and content is the Pullman berth with its drawn curtains shutting out the world, the lulling rock of the fast train, a box of carefully selected chocolates AND a copy of the newest WEIRD TALES with its delightful shudders."

I'm not sure that I have ever read a better or more fun account of someone reading and enjoying Weird Tales than this. What any of us wouldn't give to be there again in those years, riding a train across America!

Anne Forman Ellis lived in Norfolk, Virginia, for thirty years. She was secretary of Mutual Federal Savings & Loan Association, and before that of the Tidewater Automobile Association. She traveled throughout the United States and wrote on historic and scenic sites in Virginia. She was married to and divorced from (in 1926) Carleton Bliss Ellis. Despite his name, there does not appear to have been any bliss in their marriage, for she sued him for desertion and their time together (and apart) lasted just three years and four months. Despite that, she kept his name and the title Mrs. She died on June 22, 1946, at Leigh Memorial Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. She was just fifty-two years old. Luckily we have her letter.

Anne Forman Ellis' Letter to "The Eyrie"

March 1925

Further Reading
"Mrs. Anne Forman Ellis" (obituary), The Portsmouth (Virginia) Star June 24, 1946, page 8; other obituaries and newspaper items, too.

Anne Forman Ellis (1893-1946)

Original text copyright 2025 Terence E. Hanley