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Help me research and write a book about the bizarre life and work of science fiction writer and outsider artist Richard Shaver!

With the exception of a few conspiracy theorists and science fiction fans, not many people remember Shaver today, yet he was once one of the most controversial and influential figures in the annals of American pulp magazines. I am seeking startup costs to research and write a serious and thorough (yet also lively and accessible) book about his life and works, in the hope of rescuing him from the obscurity into which he has fallen.

The story sounds a lot like something from the fevered imagination of an unrepentant crackpot brought up on the works of Jules Verne and H.P. Lovecraft. In late 1943, the editorial staff of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories received two letters from an ex-welder named Richard Sharpe Shaver, relating a supposedly-factual secret history of the earth that included gigantic alien settlers, underground cities, fantastic technology, new theories of gravity and evolution, keys to the hidden meanings of any word in every language, and his own dealings with a civilization of murderous degenerate creatures (the Dero) and their peace-loving opponents (the Tero) living in huge caverns within the earth’s crust. When chief editor Ray Palmer paid Shaver for his letters and converted them into a short story titled “I Remember Lemuria!” he had no idea what he was unleashing. A flood of correspondence came in from readers claiming that Shaver’s story was true, and that they too had encountered the savage subsurface people. The so-called Shaver Mystery soon became a regular feature of Amazing Stories for the next four years, generating heated arguments between true believers and angry fans of more traditional “hard” science fiction. Some of those arguments continue to resound in odd corners of popular culture to this day.

My aim in writing this book is to fill in the gaps left by the shorter, less comprehensive works that have been published about Shaver in the past. The money I’m trying to raise will be applied toward research costs, including copies of relevant documents in various archives, and travel to meet with and interview people who had some connection with Shaver or have collected manuscripts and other rare documents relating to his life and career.

You can see a longer description of Richard Shaver and this project on my blog at http://shavermystery.wordpress.com. I will continue to post updates as my research and writing continue.

Thanks for reading my pitch!

Project location: Jersey City, NJ

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