Charles Hilan Craig (1901-1970)

Author, Magician & Performer, Newspaper Reporter, Editor, & Publisher, Radio News Director, Congressional Aid 

Born December 23, 1901, Madison, Nebraska
Died June 21, 1970, North Platte, Nebraska

Charles Hilan "Charley" Craig, also called "Hi" Craig, was born on December 23, 1901, in Madison, Nebraska, and grew up in Morrill on the opposite end of the state. His parents were Charles C. Craig and Chrissie M. Craig, and he had two brothers and two sisters. Although he was known later in life as a newspaperman, Craig began as an author of fiction. It's pretty early in this biography to write of obituaries, but here's an account of Craig's start as a writer from his obituary:

     He once calculated that his writing career began in 1915, at the age of 13 when he purchased for a penny his first copy of "Lone Scout" in the community of Morrill where he was raised.

     "Discarded were my ambitions to become a lawyer, astronomer, policeman, locomotive engineer, millionaire, postmaster or train robber," he would say later in telling of his first by-line.

     "Instead I was going to write."

     And write he did.

From: "Charley Craig, former Telegraph editor, dies," in the North Platte Telegraph, June 22, 1970, page 1, the same source as the photograph below.

The Lone Scout was the national publication of the Lone Scouts of America, an early scouting organization designed for boys who lived in rural areas of the country. For The Lone Scout, Craig wrote a football story, "Fighting for Bradley," and a second serial called "The Spell of Sahara." The former won him a Quill award from the magazine. The latter was called by a historian of the Lone Scouts "probably the finest individual narrative to appear in Lone Scout." (Source: "'The Golden Years' of Lone Scouts," part two of a four-part series by Lucien W. Emerson, published in Southern Utah News, August 13, 1959, page 1+.) Craig prized his membership in the Elbeetian Legion, an association for former Lone Scouts of America. I have written before about the Lone Scouts in my mini-biographies of Ralph Allen Lang (1906-1987) and Merlin Moore Taylor (1886-1939). Click on their names to find your way to them.

Charles H. Craig attended Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska. He was editor of the Hastings Collegian in 1922-23. On August 16, 1928, he married Rose Nellie Cecil in Castle Rock, Colorado. Craig had previously performed as a magician named Aladdin on on the Chautauqua and Lyceum Circuits. After their marriage, they performed together. They had a son, David Alan Craig, a railroad worker, angler, woodworker, and hobbyist, and a daughter, Diane R. Craig.

Charles Craig worked as a newspaperman for most of his life. A summary of his career: publisher, Morrill Mail (three years); editor, Bridgeport News Blade (three years); reporter, North Platte Daily Bulletin (three years); editor of the same paper (1943-1946); news director, KODY radio, North Platte (1946-1956); with the North Platte Telegraph Bulletin before leaving to become an administrative assistant to U.S. Representative A.L. Miller in Washington, D.C. (1956-1958); news staff, North Platte Telegraph Bulletin (1958-1961); editor of the same paper from 1961 until his retirement in 1967. Craig was also involved in his community, and he considered North Platte to be home, even though he had lived in far-flung and perhaps more exciting places.

Charles Hilan Craig wrote under his own name during his career as a pulp-fiction author. He had eight stories in Weird Tales and one in its companion title, Detective Tales, as well as one in its successor, Real Detective Tales. From The FictionMags Index: 

• "Old Man Davis Goes Home," in Detective Tales (Nov. 16/Dec. 15, 1922)
• "The Wanderer," in The Black Mask (Dec. 15, 1923)
• Letter in The Black Mask (Dec. 15, 1923)
• "The River," in Real Detective Tales (May 1924)
• "Damned," in Weird Tales (May 1925)
• "Darkness," in Weird Tales (Sept. 1925)
• "Stealer of Souls," in Weird Tales (Jan. 1926)
• "The Curse," in Weird Tales (Mar. 1926)
• "The Ruler of Destiny," in Weird Tales (Apr. 1927)
• "The Gray Rider," in Weird Tales (Nov. 1927)
• "The Man Who Walked Upon the Air," in Weird Tales (July 1930)
• "The Red Sail," in Weird Tales (Oct. 1931)

Those are enough to make a collection if anyone had the mind to put one out. Notice that one of his stories is in the category of "The Man Who . . .".

I think any of us would be happy to have the writing career he had, especially beginning as it did when he was a child and full of dreams.

Charley Craig died on June 21, 1970, in North Platte, Nebraska, after a long illness. He was sixty-eight years old. 

As you can see, Craig's first story in Weird Tales was published in May 1925, one hundred years ago now. He is the last of the authors in that May issue about whom I will write for now. Next I'll write about June.

Charles Hilan Craig's Stories in Weird Tales
See the list above.

Further Reading
See the sources cited in this biography and other newspaper articles, too.

Here's a very early item on the contribution of a local author to Weird Tales magazine, from the Hastings [Nebraska] Daily Tribune, December 2, 1925, page 7.

That newspaper item refers to Charles Hilan Craig's long short story "Stealer of Souls," which was the cover story and lead story of the January 1926 issue of Weird Tales. The cover artist was Andrew Brosnatch.

Charles Hilan Craig (1901-1970).

Original text copyright 2025 Terence E. Hanley