Monday, November 21, 2011

No Rules: DAVID CRANMER


If you don't know who DAVID CRANMER is by now, I don't know what to do with you. You are clearly someone who doesn't pay attention. Listen this time, okay? Cranmer is the editor and publisher of one of the most consistent and entertaining crime zines around these days, BEAT TO A PULP. He's also a writer of tight and clever crime fiction that's appeared all over the webs and in print. And-- most importantly for our purposes today-- he is the alter-ego of one EDWARD A. GRAINGER, author of the best-selling ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE & GIDEON MILES, VOLUME ONE and VOLUME TWO.

I wrote reviews of both volumes when they came out, you can find them here and here, and I don't have much to add except that, having read a whole lotta Westerns since then, the stories of Laramie and Miles STILL stand up as some of the most fun short stories I've read in a long time, regardless of genre.

I'm please to have Cranmer here at Psycho-Noir today, talking about the genesis of his Grainger pseudonym.


The Original Edward A. Grainger and His Influence

This picture is of the original Edward A. Grainger. He died twenty-eight years before I was born and what little I know of him comes from fragmented stories from my mom. He owned an import/export business in Georgetown, Guyana. He wrote two religious books, Wither Are We Drifting and Messages of Love and Light. He died in Trinidad at the age of 40 from alcoholism.

He wrote two books. My grandfather, the author.

My mom has told me many times of when she was a little girl, she wrote a story, Tula of the Jungle, and my grandfather took it to work with him one day, typed it out on the typewriter, and brought it back to her. Typing out that story was probably an insignificant moment to Grandpa Grainger, but it was an act of love that made his daughter very happy one afternoon, one that paid forward through the years and down the line as she passed along her joy to me.

My mom never mentioned writing anything again, but it was all I needed to spark the fire in me. I tried my hand at it in my teen years and then again more seriously in my mid-thirties. And here I am now, writing noir westerns and crime fiction, editing and publishing a webzine, and enjoying every minute of it.

Thanks, Grandpa.

13 comments:

  1. What a great story! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I'm sure Granpa would be proud, I know I am.

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  3. Beautiful post. I too, have a grandfather who is a ghost in my life. I'm happy to known his name will live on in such style!

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  4. Thanks for sharing this touching story, David.

    I, too, acquired my reading/writing love from my late mom, who read to me endlessly when I was too little to do it myself, transporting me into incredible worlds I would later explore on my own.

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  5. Thanks, McDroll. I appreciate you stopping by.

    Gracias, big sister. Now get back to work… :)

    Ben, it’s amazing when folks you never meet have such a weighty impact.

    Mike, a mom can make such a profound impact.

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  6. Fine remembrance of the man and his effect on you.

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  7. That is a great story, David. I had no idea where you got the name.

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  8. Very cool. I suspected that this character had a hidden history.

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  9. Good on ya, sir. You're carrying a fine family tradition to all-new levels. Keep on with the impressive work.

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  10. So - when Cash Laramie has ridden off into the sunset, will we get some Guyana stories?

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  11. Thanks, Randy. I certainly hope he is proud.

    Chad, A small tribute but I felt it was the least I could do.

    Chris, I think Grandpa has a few more secrets than Cash. Digging those up may prove interesting.

    Thank you, Matt! (And shouldn’t you be writing?)

    Gracias, Charles.

    Court, I have written a couple short stories with Grandpa’s adventures. Maybe I will have a few more.

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  12. Well told. No writers or readers in my family tree that I know of. Must feel good to look back and find a kindred spirit.

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