Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart, born on January 13, 1933, in Berkeley, California, is a prominent author known for his work as a cultural historian and novelist. Goulart has written under various pseudonyms, including Howard Lee, Frank S Shawn, Kenneth Robeson, Con Steffanson, Josephine Kains, Joseph Silva, William Shatner, and others. His writings span across a variety of genres, including non-fiction and fiction, with sub-genres in fantasy, mystery, thriller, horror, and science fiction.

As a pulp fiction expert, Goulart has written extensively about the subject, with his seminal work Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972) being a notable contribution. He began writing for the pulps in 1952 when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then, he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, often using different pseudonyms to explore various genres. In the 1990s, Goulart became the ghostwriter for William Shatner's popular TekWar novels. His novel, After Things Fell Apart (1970), is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

Goulart's career includes writing novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom in the 1970s. In 1980, he published Hail Hibbler, the first book in the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. He has also written several comic mystery series, with six books starring Groucho Marx. In addition to his fiction works, Goulart has written for comic books and produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).