Wold Newton, 1775
Q. What is Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Family?
A. Farmer's idea of the Wold Newton Family was put forth in "Tarzan Alive" and "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life," his two "biographies" of those characters. Basically the idea is that in the 1700s a radioactive meteor landed near Wold Newton, England. The radiation affected the occupants of two nearby coaches.
The descendants of these people became the real-life heroes and villains that are the basis for almost all the major and minor literary heroes of the last couple of centuries, including such diverse characters as Fu Manchu, James Bond, Travis McGee, most of the pulp heroes, the Scarlet Pimpernel and others. Of course the stories we have read about them are exaggerated fiction, so that most people think them wholly fictitious.
Some people like this concept, many do not. Farmer has written several works linking these people together (like the "The Adventure of the Peerless Peer" and "The Other Log of Phileas Fogg") and there was a short-lived fanzine, "Wold Atlas, devoted to the idea.
There is a western author named J.T. Edson who has incorporated Farmer's Wold Newton ideas. In his series of books, several of the characters are part of that "family," including Captain Dusty Fog. If anyone has more info on them, please let us know.
http://thepulp.net/PulpFAQ/farmer.html
A. Farmer's idea of the Wold Newton Family was put forth in "Tarzan Alive" and "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life," his two "biographies" of those characters. Basically the idea is that in the 1700s a radioactive meteor landed near Wold Newton, England. The radiation affected the occupants of two nearby coaches.
The descendants of these people became the real-life heroes and villains that are the basis for almost all the major and minor literary heroes of the last couple of centuries, including such diverse characters as Fu Manchu, James Bond, Travis McGee, most of the pulp heroes, the Scarlet Pimpernel and others. Of course the stories we have read about them are exaggerated fiction, so that most people think them wholly fictitious.
Some people like this concept, many do not. Farmer has written several works linking these people together (like the "The Adventure of the Peerless Peer" and "The Other Log of Phileas Fogg") and there was a short-lived fanzine, "Wold Atlas, devoted to the idea.
There is a western author named J.T. Edson who has incorporated Farmer's Wold Newton ideas. In his series of books, several of the characters are part of that "family," including Captain Dusty Fog. If anyone has more info on them, please let us know.
http://thepulp.net/PulpFAQ/farmer.html
posted by Neil Young at 4:52 PM
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