Walter B. Gibson
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Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. Gibson, writing as Maxwell Grant, churned out Shadow stories at an amazing rate to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s. He is recognized as the creator of much of The Shadow mythos, though his tales frequently conflict with the better-known radio version. For example, Gibson's Shadow is, in reality, Kent Allard, an aviator who sometimes posed as Lamont Cranston. On the radio, The Shadow really is Cranston, a wealthy young man about town. Similarly, Shadow companion Margot Lane arose not from the pulps but from the radio program; she was added to offer a contrasting female voice.
Gibson also wrote more than 100 books on magic, psychic phenomena and games. He served as ghost-writer for books on magic and/or spiritualism by Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, and Joseph Dunninger. [1] Gibson also introduced the famous "Chinese linking rings" trick in America, and invented the "Nickels To Dimes" trick that is still sold in magic stores to this day.
He is a featured character in the Paul Malmont novel The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2006. In addition, Gibson is the protagonist, along with Orson Welles, in an historical mystery by Max Allan Collins The War of the Worlds Murder, published by Berkley Books in 2005.
[edit] External links
- An Interview with Walter Gibson Gibson talks about The Shadow at a 1977 comic convention.
