Lurton Blassingame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lurton Blassingame (February 10, 1904 – April 1988) was a literary agent of long career based in New York City, a Howard College- and Columbia University-trained journalist whose clients included Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert.
Blassingame was born on February 10, 1904, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and moved with his family—he had a sister, Alice—afterward, to Auburn, Alabama, with his first university degree coming from Howard College in Birmingham.[when?][1] He moved to New York City, completing a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.[1][when?] His Master's thesis focused on the history of pulp fiction.[citation needed]
Career
Blassingame's first job was as a writer in Hollywood.[citation needed] While yet in his 20's (ca. 1929), he founded the agency that he would run for nearly 50 years, mostly in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.[1] In 1937–1938, he and writer William Allen founded the American Library Foundation in California.[clarification needed][citation needed]
He saw a major success in 1943 representing Rosemary Taylor in the publication of Chicken Every Sunday, a best seller from McGraw-Hill (made into motion picture in 1948).[1]
Blassingame's public relations operation, named Houston Branch Associates,[citation needed] was "one-man", and he sold it off in 1979[1]—to Eleanor Wood, where it became part of Spectrum Literary Agency.[citation needed] He retired in 1980.[1]
Clientele and dedications
In addition to Taylor, Blassingame served as literary agent for Robert A. Heinlein,[when?][1] Frank Herbert,[when?][1] Gerald Green,[when?][citation needed] William F. Nolan,[when?][1] and John Barth.[when?][1]
Blassingame is, further, known to an extent through periodic author dedications.[citation needed] Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1951 science fiction work, The Puppet Masters, to him.[citation needed][2] Frank Herbert's first full-length novel set in the ConSentiency universe, and featuring Bureau of Sabotage agent Jorj X. McKie, the 1969-1970 Whipping Star, appeared with this dedication in the Putnam edition:
To Lurton Blassingame, who helped buy the time for this book, dedicated with affection and admiration[.][3]
In 1980, literary agent Kirby McCauley dedicated his horror anthology, Dark Forces, to Blassingame "with admiration and affection".[citation needed]
Robert Heinlein's posthumous 1989 book Grumbles from the Grave, which consists of his letters, features more to Blassingame than any other correspondent (as well as some of Blassingames' letters to him).[citation needed][4][full citation needed]
