Born June 15, 1909, Vendor, Arkansas
Died February 11, 1964, at home, Shadyside, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
George Thornfern Spillman was born on June 15, 1909, to John J. Spillman, a schoolteacher, and Julia Maude (Davis) Spillman, a housewife. He had two brothers, Jerome Spillman and James Spillman, and a sister, Julia Spillman, later Julia Herndon.
George T. Spillman wrote to Weird Tales as a fifteen-year-old in 1925. His letter was published in the August 1925 issue, one hundred years ago last month. He followed that up with a short story, "Retribution," published in December 1925, and a second letter published in January 1925. Those are his lone credits listed in either The FictionMags Index or the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
Spillman graduated from Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio, and attended Brown University. He worked as a telegrapher for Western Union from 1926 to 1952. In 1952, he went to work for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He was employed there for twelve years, 1952 to 1964, as a copy editor and makeup editor. He also wrote articles on bridge for the Post-Gazette and was recognized as one of the best bridge players in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh area. In 1955, he achieved the rank of Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League. His career was interrupted by service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He enlisted on June 21, 1941, as a private and was stationed at Camp Warrenton, Virginia. He served two years in East Africa and was discharged in 1946 as a captain.
Here is an excerpt from "The Eyrie" from August 1925:
George T. Spillman, of Kent, Ohio, put WEIRD TALES to practical use recently. He is fifteen years old and a senior in high school. "Last week I gave a talk on reincarnation before my classes which astounded the entire high school," he writes. "Ha! most of my information for that talk was gleaned from your story, Under the N-Ray, by Will Smith and R. J. Robbins. That's the kind of story I like; let's have more of them. Your page of contents is a veritable Hall of Fame. I have read nearly every magazine on the market, but none is half as high in my esteem as WEIRD TALES, not only because I am a lover of the bizarre, but also for the masterly style the authors employ in the stories you choose. It is not only the most interesting pastime I can imagine, but it is also an education to read your magazine. Many of the authors whose names you are displaying will go down the pages of literary history on a par with Poe. Your ghost stories and your werewolves are so convincing that I almost think I believe in both." [Boldface added.]
"Retribution" is a very brief tale; the table of contents in that December 1925 issue calls it a "two-minute tale." It ends in suicide.
Spillman wrote his first letter from Kent, Ohio. His second came from Providence, Rhode Island. He was only fifteen years old and a senior in high school when he wrote his first. The second must have come after he had matriculated at Brown University. H.P. Lovecraft lived in New York City in 1925-1926; I guess that means Spillman missed being in close proximity to Lovecraft during his brief tenure at the university. In 1926, he went to work as a telegraph operator, though I don't know where. It's nice to think that Spillman and Lovecraft met somehow, but maybe it never happened.
George T. Spillman died at home, in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, on February 11, 1964. His cause of death was barbiturate poisoning: he had overdosed on Tuinal. A sad end. Spillman was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Boardman Township, Mahoning County, Ohio.
George T. Spillman's Story & Letters in Weird TalesLetter to "The Eyrie" (Aug. 1925)
"Retribution" (Dec. 1925)
Letter to "The Eyrie" (Jan. 1926)
"G.T. Spillman, P-G Makeup Editor, Dies" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 12, 1964, page 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment