Joseph T. Shaw
Joseph T. Shaw was a significant figure in American literature and publishing, born on May 8, 1874, in Gorham, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1895 and initially worked as a journalist before transitioning into a role as a writer and editor. Shaw is perhaps best known for his tenure as the editor of The Black Mask, a magazine that became pivotal in popularizing detective fiction during the early 20th century. Under his leadership, the publication shifted towards quality storytelling, attracting talented writers like Dashiell Hammett and increasing its circulation. Shaw emphasized realistic characters and craftsmanship in writing while advocating for better pay for authors.
During World War I, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army and later contributed to humanitarian efforts in Europe. After the war, he established a literary agency, which further solidified his influence in the literary community. Despite mixed reviews of his own writing, Shaw's work as an editor greatly impacted the detective genre, and he is credited with enhancing the public's appreciation for crime fiction. He passed away on August 1, 1952, leaving behind a legacy marked by his contributions to literature and the careers of many authors.
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Joseph T. Shaw
Writer
- Born: May 8, 1874
- Birthplace: Gorham, Maine
- Died: August 1, 1952
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Joseph Thompson Shaw was born on May 8, 1874, in Gorham, Maine, to Milton Shaw, a grocer, and Nellie Morse Shaw. He and his two older brothers attended local schools. Shaw enjoyed sports, especially sailing. He enrolled at Bowdoin College, where he edited the campus newspaper Bowdoin Orient, joined Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, and competed on the school’s fencing team. Shaw received a bachelor’s of arts degree in 1895.
After graduation, Shaw worked at the New York Globe during 1895. He then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, for employment as secretary for the American Woolen Company. In 1904, he obtained a position as a writer for that company, preparing pamphlets. He also wrote a travel guide about Spain. Shaw continued fencing. His team won a national championship in 1916, and Shaw received the President’s Medal.
When the United States entered World War I, Shaw enlisted in the army. Deployed to Europe with the chemical warfare service, he taught soldiers how to use bayonets and was promoted to the rank of captain. After the war, Shaw stayed in Europe for five years, helping the American Relief Administration distribute food and aid in Czechoslovakia and Greece. He married translator Hana Musková, and they had one daughter and two sons.
Returning to the United States, Shaw earned income by editing stories for the Saturday Evening Post and securing freelance writing assignments. In 1926, Shaw became editor of The Black Mask. He studied earlier issues of the magazine and secured talented writers and artists to improve the periodical’s quality. Admiring Dashiell Hammett’s work, Shaw offered incentives to convince that writer, who had stopped submitting to The Black Mask because of low pay rates, to return.
Abbreviating the title to Black Mask and asserting it was not a pulp magazine, Shaw transformed the publication. He increased payments to writers, encouraged his core writers to create protagonists for serialized tales, offered suggestions to improve craftsmanship, wrote editorials, and sought book and film opportunities for authors to promote their work and the detective genre. He focused on printing detective stories depicting realistic characters and emphasized style. Shaw’s endeavors to intrigue dedicated readers resulted in increased circulation. The magazine owners demanded that Shaw reduce authors’ payments, firing him in November, 1936 when he refused. Many writers stopped contributing to Black Mask after Shaw’s dismissal.
Shaw and Sydney A. Sanders established a literary agency where Shaw worked from 1942 until Sanders’s death in 1951. At that point, Shaw renamed the agency the Joseph T. Shaw Associates Agency, serving as president while he lived in Scarsdale, New York. Shaw died on August 1, 1952, in his Madison Avenue office in New York City.
Shaw wrote stories for Black Mask using the pseudonym Mark Harper and published detective novels and a golf guide. Critics praised Shaw’s editing skills but perceived his writing as dull and tedious. Scholars considered Shaw influential in establishing public appreciation for detective fiction, developing the careers of notable authors who created classics in that genre. The anthology Shaw edited, The Hard-Boiled Omnibus: Early Stories from Black Mask, enhanced people’s awareness of crime fiction’s literary qualities.