Dorothy Gertrude Quick was the pan name for Dorothy Gertrude Quick Mayer, a prolific writer of horror, detective fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Born in Brooklyn to a wealthy family, Quick met Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) in 1907 while on board the SS Minnetonka, and the two became close friends. Later, Quick gave credit to Twain for encouraging her to write, and she lectured extensively on their friendship. Her 1961 memoir of the great American author, Mark Twain and Me, was the basis for a 1991 Disney movie of the same name. Quick married John Adams Mayer in 1925 (a society event noteworthy enough to merit mention in Time magazine’s “Milestones” column) but published under her maiden name throughout her life. She made her first genre fiction sale to Farnsworth Wright, the editor of Oriental Stories, in 1932 and went on to contribute stories and poems to Wright’s more successful editing venture, Weird Tales, for more than twenty years.

This bio is an excerpt from the excellent anthology Sisters of Tomorrow edited by Lisa Yazsek and Patrick B. Sharp. Pick it up for more information on dozens of influential women during the pulp era breaking ground in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, editing, and art. Or just pick it up to read a pack of excellent stories and other writing. PseudoPod subscribers may remember “The Cracks of Time” which is another Dorothy Quick story we ran as part of our Century of Horror centered around celebration of our 500^th episode, and here we are again 250 episodes later. Keep subscribing, as we’ll have another Quick story coming at you soon.