Pansy E. Black
{{Short description|American stenographer and writer}}
Pansy Ellen Beach (November 26, 1890 – December 12, 1957), known by the pen name Pansy E. Black, was an American stenographer and writer of science fiction and fantasy.{{Cite web|title=Authors : Black, Pansy E : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/black_pansy_e|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.sf-encyclopedia.com}}
Personal life
Pansy Ellen Beach was born in Charles City, Iowa, in 1890. She was the daughter of Spencer Beach and Lillian E. Briggs Beach and had three older siblings: a sister, Daisy, and brothers, Leo and George. She married Texas legislator William Alexander Black in 1918.{{Cite web|title=William Alexander Black|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeleaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=2451|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Legislative Reference Library, Texas Legislature}} They had a son, Robert George Black.{{Cite news|date=March 6, 1951|title=Canadians Award Posthumous Medal to San Antonian|page=10|work=San Antonio Express|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/war-clipping-mar-06-1951-2064233/|access-date=November 11, 2020}}{{Cite news|date=June 22, 1935|title=Once Legislator, Wm. A. Black, Dead|page=12|work=San Antonio Express|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/obituary-clipping-jun-22-1935-2064210/|access-date=November 11, 2020|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} She was widowed when her husband died in 1935. Her son died in 1950;{{Cite news|date=September 7, 1950|title=Iowa Deaths|page=21|work=Waterloo Daily Courier|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/obituary-clipping-sep-07-1950-2064183/|access-date=November 11, 2020|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} the following year, she accepted a Canadian War Service Medal awarded to her son posthumously for his service during World War II. She died in San Antonio, Texas in 1957, aged 67 years.{{Cite web|title=Summary Bibliography: Pansy E. Black|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/black_pansy_e|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.isfdb.org}}
Black was active in a theosophy society in San Antonio.{{Cite news|date=February 20, 1933|title=Theosophical Society Talks of Headquarters|page=14|work=San Antonio Express|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-feb-20-1933-2064190/|access-date=November 11, 2020|via=NewspaperArchive.com}}{{Cite news|date=January 6, 1934|title=Mrs. Winnie Hardy Heads Theosophists|page=12|work=San Antonio Express|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jan-06-1934-2064246/|access-date=November 11, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}} At a 1933 meeting, she lectured on future technologies, including wireless power and telephones. "We are only on the threshold of the electrical age," she declared. She predicted, "The time will come shortly when no man will have any privacy of any sort".{{Cite news|date=January 16, 1933|title=Wireless Power Predicted Soon|page=14|work=San Antonio Express|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jan-16-1933-2064260/|access-date=November 11, 2020|via=NewspaperArchive.com}}
Writing
Black's stories "The Valley of the Great Ray" (1930) and "The Men from the Meteor" (1932) were published by editor Hugo Gernsback in his Science Fiction Series booklets. "The Valley of the Great Ray" is a lost race tale, while "The Men from the Meteor" is a tale of alien invasion. Both stories are set in Australia and involve rays destroying a hidden, lost race or alien civilization. Her story "Graah, Foiler of Destiny" (1939) is a historical fantasy narrative set in Prehistoric times.{{Cite book|last=Davin, Eric Leif.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoNDebTvUnsC&q=pansy%20black|title=Partners in wonder : women and the birth of science fiction, 1926-1965|date=2006|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-5868-5|location=Lanham, MD|pages=371|oclc=607833865}} "Graah, Foiler of Destiny" appeared in the short-lived magazine Golden Fleece Historical Adventure (1938-1939).{{Cite web|title=Series: Golden Fleece|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?29877|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.isfdb.org}}
Bibliography
= Short fiction =
- "The Valley of the Great Ray" (1930) (novelette)
- "The Men from the Meteor" (1932) (novelette)
- "Graah, Foiler of Destiny" (1939) (short story)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?17346 Pansy E. Black] at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "Graah, Foiler of Destiny" on The Internet Archive
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Category:American science fiction writers
Category:American fantasy writers
Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers