aka Richard Foster, Kendell F. Crossen, Kendall Foster Crossen, Ken Crossen, Christopher Monig Kendell Foster Crossen was a mainstay of American pulp fiction and science fiction of the 1950s. He was the creator and writer of stories about the Green Lama (a pulp and comic book hero) and the Milo March detective novels.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals. Over 160 films have been made of his novels, more than any other author. In the 1920s, one of Wallace's publishers claimed that a quarter of all books read in England were written by him. He is most famous today as the co-creator of "King Kong", writing the early screenplay and story for the movie, as well as a short story "King Kong" (1933) credited to him and Draycott Dell. He was known for the J. G. Reeder detective stories, The Four Just Men, the Ringer, and for creating the Green Archer character during his lifetime.

aka Ellery Queen Jr., Freeric Dannay, Manfred B. Lee, Clark Carlisle. James Clark Carlisle Holding was born April 27, 1907, in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania. His parents were James Clark Carlisle, an engineer, and Laura May (Krepps) Holding. In 1931, he married Janet Spice, with whom he had two children. Holding attended Yale University and was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. He graduated with an A.B. in 1928. Holding then took the next year to travel throughout Europe. When he returned, he took a job in Pittsburgh with Harbison Walker Co. as a firebrick salesman. After a short stay at Harbison Walker Co., he began as a junior copywriter at Batte, Barton, Durstine & Osborne in Pittsburgh. He was a copywriter from 1930 to 1944. In 1944, he moved to copy chief. During this time he created the advertising slogan for Fort Pitt beer: “Fort Pitt, That’s It.” He became vice-president after eight years and he remained in this position until 1958. While holding this high position in the company, Holding suffered the traumatic loss of his son, which eventually drove him to retire from the firm. At this point, though, Holding became a consultant, where he remained for the next ten years. Then, in 1959, he began freelance writing, which he continued until his death. Holding’s first juvenile book, The Lazy Little Zulu, was published in 1962, a few years after he began his freelance writing career. Holding’s writing has established him in the field of mystery, as well as in children’s literature. He wrote 17 juvenile books. He was also the author of more than 160 mystery stories under the pseudonym of Ellery Queen and edited many other stories. Holding wrote short mystery stories for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine, along with other similar periodicals. One of the more famous villains he created in his mysteries was Manuel Andradas, a Brazilian hitman who disguised himself as a photographer. He was also a contributor to travel magazines such as Clipper and Signature. Holding won the John Masefield Poetry Prize and the John Hubbard Curtis Poetry Prize twice. James and Janet Holding moved to Sarasota, Florida, in 1971, but returned in 1991 when their health began to fail. Holding spent his last years living with his wife Janet at the Sherwood Oaks Retirement Home in Cranberry. Holding died March 29, 1997, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. - This biography was prepared by Anastasia Cortez and Alicia Bott, Spring 2002.

James Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr. In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians. Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer. He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.) Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963. From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute. Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels. Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame. His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"