I love puzzles, especially when they involve vintage stories. What was the writer thinking about when they wrote it? Were they influenced by something in their environment? Of course, without telepathy we can’t really know but thinking about it and looking for clues is a fun pursuit. Sometimes I discover a story (or series) that assumes knowledge of something contemporarily “pop culture.” I don’t usually know that at first, but often a lucky instinct or synchronicity will point the way.
Previously, my favorite connection of this sort had been between one of the stories in The Arabian Nights Entertainments and H. Beam Piper’s Paratime police stories. You can read“Explorations: The Roots of H. B. Piper’s Dhergabar” here.
More recently , I discovered an “obvious” connection between Fred Davis’ “Keyhole Kerry” character from the 1930’s and the famous gossip columnist, Walter Winchell. Once I had the notion there was something there, I put on my Ellery Queen cap and started digging. What I found is the subject of this week’s ROCKETEER which you can read here.
