Ed Naha
{{short description|American novelist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ed Naha
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth_date and age|1950|06|10}}
| birth_place = Linden, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Kean University
| occupation = Writer · Producer
| years_active =
| spouse =
}}
Ed Naha (born June 10, 1950) is an American science fiction and mystery writer and producer. His first known publication was artwork that appeared in the first issue of Modern Monsters magazine, dated June 1966.
Education and early career
Naha was born in Linden, New Jersey{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619547/|title=Ed Naha in IMDb|work=The Internet Movie Database|accessdate=January 19, 2010}} and graduated from Kean University in New Jersey with a degree in Secondary English Education.{{cite web
|url = http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/64426331630/c4a1d702/Ed/Naha
|title = Ed Naha's personal profile at Plaxo
|accessdate = January 19, 2010
|work = Plaxo online social application
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724141105/http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/64426331630/c4a1d702/Ed/Naha
|archivedate = July 24, 2011
|df = mdy-all
}} His early career was as a journalist, writing pieces about film and rock music for American publications such as Playboy, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and The New York Post.{{cite web
| url = http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/edn.html
| title = Ed Naha's biography at Atlantic Free Press
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = Atlantic Free Press Blog Host
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707185147/http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/edn.html
| archive-date = July 7, 2011
| url-status = dead
}}Image:Curseofnaha.jpg|Drawing by 16-yr-old Ed Naha from Modern Monsters magazine, Issue One, June 1966]]
He worked in publicity and artistic development at Columbia Records, where he was mentored by the producer and talent scout John Hammond.{{cite web
| url = http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2614/81/
| title = The Wisdom of Magic
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = Atlantic Free Press Blog Host
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081007162238/http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2614/81/
| archive-date = October 7, 2008
| url-status = dead
}} He produced the spoken-word album Inside Star Trek in 1976, featuring the series creator Gene Roddenberry with guests William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Mark Lenard. That same year, the Bruce Springsteen album Born to Run, for which Naha was A&R Coordinator, was certified gold.
Journalism, novels and non-fiction
Naha worked as a staff writer and editor for the science fiction film magazine Starlog. Under the pseudonym Joe Bonham (a name borrowed from the protagonist of Dalton Trumbo's anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun) he edited the first issue of Starlog's sister magazine, the popular horror film magazine Fangoria.{{cite web
| url = http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/interviews/ednahaa.html
| title = Ed Naha Interview
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = Personal Site of film journalist M. J. Simpson
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100118132848/http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/interviews/ednahaa.html
| archive-date = January 18, 2010
| url-status = dead
}}
Naha has written more than 25 novels in the horror, mystery and science fiction genres, including the Traveler science fiction series under the "house pseudonym" D.B. Drumm, which Naha shared with John Shirley.{{cite web
| url = http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/d-b-drumm/
| title = D.B. Drumm Bibliography
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = Fantastic Fiction Database}} His mystery novel Cracking Up was nominated for the Edgar Award for "Best Paperback Original" by the Mystery Writers of America in 1992.{{cite web
| url = http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php
| title = Edgar Database
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = Mystery Writers of America
| archive-date = September 27, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180927165310/http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php
| url-status = dead
}} His novelizations include prose adaptations of the films Dead-Bang, Ghostbusters II, and the first two RoboCop pictures. Naha's nonfiction works include The Science Fictionary, The Films of Roger Corman: Brilliance on a Budget, The Making of Dune (1984), and the posthumous editions of Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia.{{cite web
| url = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619547/otherworks
| title = Ed Naha – Other Works
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = The Internet Movie Database}}
Screenwriting and television production
Naha's screen work includes two screenplays for Roger Corman, Oddballs and Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, and three scripts for producer Charles Band: Troll, Dolls, and Spellcaster. Naha achieved his greatest commercial success through a screenplay collaboration with Dolls director Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna on the script for a comedy/science-fantasy feature, The Teenie-Weenies, which became the family-friendly franchise Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.{{cite web
| url = http://www.re-animatorfilms.com/bio.gordon.html
| title = Stuart Gordon Biography
| accessdate = January 19, 2010
| work = The Official Re-Animator Productions Website
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090501000338/http://www.re-animatorfilms.com/bio.gordon.html
| archive-date = May 1, 2009
| url-status = dead
}} He served as a writer and producer of the TV shows Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and The Adventures of Sinbad. Naha's contractual work for Hollywood is done through his company A Fine Mess, Inc., named in honor of his comedy idols, Laurel and Hardy.
Most recently, Naha has been credited with the screenplays for the first three titles in the "Epic Stories of the Bible" series of animated features produced by Promenade Pictures.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
Politics
As a sideline, Naha maintains a political blog, hosted at The Smirking Chimp, which he says was motivated by his concern over the inauguration of George W. Bush as 43rd President of the United States.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0619547}}
- [http://www.smirkingchimp.com/author/ed_naha Ed Naha's blog at The Smirking Chimp]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081007162238/http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2614/81/ Naha's account of his years at CBS]
- {{ISFDB name|id=Ed_Naha|name=Ed Naha}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naha, Ed}}
Category:Novelists from New Jersey
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:American male novelists
Category:American mystery writers
Category:American science fiction writers
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Kean University alumni
Category:American music journalists
Category:American magazine editors
Category:People from Linden, New Jersey
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:Screenwriters from New Jersey