Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy, born William Lancaster Gribbon in London on April 23, 1879, was a notable adventure writer known for his contributions to early 20th-century pulp fiction. His life was marked by a series of adventurous undertakings, including joining a circus in Germany at the age of sixteen and later engaging in relief work in India, where he contracted malaria. Mundy’s literary career began in earnest with the publication of his first short story in 1911, quickly establishing himself in magazines like Adventure. He is best remembered for his novel *King—of the Khyber Rifles*, which has seen multiple adaptations, including film versions.
Throughout his life, Mundy was married three times and lived in various regions, including Africa and the United States, where he became a U.S. citizen in 1917. His writings often reflected his travels and experiences, especially in the Middle East and India, leading to the creation of series like the Jimgrim series featuring British spy James Schuyler Grim. Mundy’s later works included mystical and fantasy adventures, and he remained an active writer until his death in 1940. His intriguing life and diverse narratives continue to attract interest among fans of adventure literature.
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Talbot Mundy
Writer
- Born: April 23, 1879
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: August 5, 1940
Biography
Talbot Mundy was one of the many pseudonyms of William Lancaster Gribbon, who was born in London on April 23, 1879. His father, Walter Galt Gribbon, was a businessman, and his mother, Margaret Lancaster Gribbon, lived a middle-class life.
The details of Mundy’s life are sketchy but involve unsupported tales of travel, much of it to remote parts of the British empire. Mundy’s life of adventure supposedly began at age sixteen, when he left school to join a circus in Germany. He returned home but left again in 1899 for relief work in India, where he contracted malaria and returned to England in 1900. When he returned to India a year later, he supposedly began traveling through the Continent and as far east as China. In 1903, he and Kathleen Steele traveled from Bombay to England, where they were married.
From 1903 to 1908, Mundy traveled and lived in Africa, where he was sent to prison twice. He and his wife settled in South Africa, but Mundy’s involvement in some shady business deals sent his wife back to England and forced Mundy to leave the country. He returned to Africa in 1904 under the name Thomas Hartley, a debtor, ivory poacher, town clerk, and vagrant. In 1908, he divorced Steele and married Inez Craven in India, and the couple moved to New York City in 1909.
In 1911, Mundy published his first short story, “A Transaction in Diamonds,” in The Scrap Book magazine. Two months later, his nonfiction piece, “Pig- Sticking in India,” appeared in Adventure. By 1912, Adventure had published sixteen of his stories and four of his articles, including his most popular short story, “The Soul of a Regiment.” In 1912, Mundy divorced Craven, and the following year he married Harriette Rosemary Strafer, a Christian Scientist. He became a United States citizen in 1917 under the name Talbot Mundy.
Mundy established himself as an adventure writer through his publications in Adventure and other pulp magazines, using the name Talbot Mundy or pseudonyms such as Walter Galt. His first novel, Rung Ho!, was published in 1914. His second and third novels, The Winds of the World and King—of the Khyber Rifles, began as serials. King—of the Khyber Rifles, published in 1916, is his most well-known work; the first film adaptation of that book, The Black Watch, was released in 1929, followed by a second version in 1953, the same year the book was reprinted and also appeared in a comic-book version.
Through Christian Scientist friends, Mundy became president of the Anglo-American Society of America in 1920 and went to Jerusalem, where he was chief reporter and editor for the Jerusalem News. He drew on his experiences in the Middle East to create the Jimgrim series featuring protagonist James Schuyler Grim, a British spy in the Middle East. Shortly afterward, Mundy began a spin-off series set in India with protagonist Jeff Ramsden, a secondary character in the Jimgrim series.
In 1922, Mundy settled in San Diego, California, where he became involved with Katherine Tingley and a faction of the Theosophical Society. Two years later, he divorced Strafer and married Sally Ames, whom he had met in Jerusalem. He also published Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley, a mystical fantasy adventure written while staying at the Theosophical Society retreat near San Diego. In 1925, Mundy began the Tros of Samothrace series.
A failed investment in oil wells led to the dissolution of Mundy’s marriage and his relationship with his Adventure editor. In 1931, he divorced Ames and married Theda Allen Webber, who wrote under the pen name Dawn Allen. Many of Mundy’s books published in the 1930’s were editions of stories that had appeared years earlier as serials. In 1938, Mundy’s final novel, Old Ugly Face, appeared as a serial in Macleans magazine. Mundy revised it before it was published as a novel in 1940, just months before he died on August 5, 1940.