E. Hoffmann Price
E. Hoffmann Price was a notable American writer, primarily recognized for his extensive contributions to pulp fiction from the 1920s to the 1950s. Born in 1898 in Fowler, California, he served in the U.S. Army during World War I and later graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1923. His writing career began in earnest after a series of early publications, including "Stranger from Kurdistan," which showcased his flair for exotic themes and ironic humor. Price became particularly associated with Weird Tales magazine, where he explored diverse topics such as reincarnation and Eastern philosophies.
As the pulp fiction industry declined, Price transitioned into different careers, including work as a microfilm technician and a wedding filmmaker. However, he returned to writing in the late 1970s, producing several novels that reflected his lifelong interests in fantasy and science fiction. Over his six-decade career, Price authored more than five hundred stories and collaborated with notable figures like H. P. Lovecraft. He was awarded the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. Price passed away in 1988 in Redwood City, California, leaving behind a legacy that highlights a significant era in genre fiction history.
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E. Hoffmann Price
- Born: July 3, 1898
- Birthplace: Fowler, California
- Died: June 18, 1988
- Place of death: Redwood City, California
Biography
One of the most prolific contributors to the pulp magazines that thrived from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, E. Hoffmann Price also provided an eyewitness account of many of the writers of that period and their ways of life. Price’s Book of the Dead: Friends of Yesteryear—Fictioneers and Others (Memories of the Pulp Fiction Era) contains invaluable information about an almost forgotten, but nevertheless essential, part of science-fiction history.
Price’s long life began in Fowler, California, where he was born in 1898, the son of Murtilah Elijah and Maria Theresa (Hoffmann) Price. He served in the U.S. Army in the Philippines and in France during World War I. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1923, he began his writing career.
In an interview, Price stated that his interest in writing stemmed from his love of reading Westerns, adventures, and other pulp fiction. His first publication was “Triangle with Variations,” which appeared in Droll Stories in 1924. It was followed in 1925 by “Stranger from Kurdistan.” This story, which began Price’s long association with Weird Tales magazine, is typical of his penchant for exotic settings and ironic humor. It focuses on an incarnation of Satan who abandons his disciples to worship Jesus Christ. Other stories might feature reincarnation, a Tibetan magician, Asian religious beliefs, and a French master swordsman.
Price’s earliest writing was done in his spare time while he served as plant superintendent for Union Carbide from 1924 to 1932. After he lost his job during the Great Depression, he devoted himself to full-time authorship as a means of survival. He actively sought to compose what editors wanted; some critics felt that he sacrificed the quality of his work in exchange for ready acceptance.
When the pulp-fiction industry collapsed in the 1950’s, Price became a self-employed microfilm technician (1952-1968), filmed weddings, and became an astrologer. In an interview, he said that when he turned seventy, he rejected what he considered the ridiculous prospect of becoming a senior citizen and, instead, resurrected his fiction-writing career. Thus, in the late 1970’s and 1980’s, he published several novels. Two fantasies, The Devil Wives of Li Fong and The Jade Enchantress, returned to his long-held interest in Eastern culture and philosophy. They featured demons, an immortal Buddhist nun, and a jade artisan. Price also published a series of science-fiction novels: Operation Misfit, Operation Longlife, Operation Exile, and Operation Isis. These space operas are set in a dystopian future and tended in their commentaries on society and politics to be more didactic than critics appreciated.
In a career that spanned over sixty years, Price produced more than five hundred stories, collaborated with H. P. Lovecraft on a piece published in Weird Tales titled “Through the Gates of the Silver Key,” and befriended the major writers of genre fiction, including the most famous of them: Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard. In 1984, he won the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award. He married three times: in 1928, to Helen, but divorced just three years later; in 1934, to Wanda, with a divorce occurring in 1945; and in 1959, to Loriena. He had two children, Theresa and Dan. He died in 1988 in Redwood City, California, and was buried with full military honors.