Walter Karig

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Photo by Walter Karig in the Truman Presidential Library.

Walter Karig (born November 13, 1898 in Alexandria , USA; † September 30, 1956 in Bethesda , USA) was an American writer who was also an officer in the US Navy. Karig wrote a number of books on military history and World War II events. He also worked as a journalist. Karig was friends with numerous authors of his time, including Earl Brewster .

Nancy Drew

Walter Karig wrote three volumes of the popular American novel series Nancy Drew in 1932 and 1933 , which appeared under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene . These novels are about a 16-, later 18-year-old girl who solves difficult cases as a detective. In the mid-1930s, Walter Karig announced to the Library of Congress that he was writing under this pseudonym, whereupon all books published under the name of Carolyn Keene were mistakenly believed to be Karig's works. The disclosure of the pseudonym led to a falling out between Karig and his publisher.

Zotz!

Among Karig's novels, the story Zotz! published in 1947 and set during World War II . It is about the fictional archaeologist Dr. John Jones. After deciphering an old inscription, he is endowed with superhuman powers. He can point at any person or animal, who then faint. If he also says "Zotz", the corresponding living beings die with this word. Dr. Jones wants to convince President Franklin Roosevelt that these forces should be used in war to enable an Allied victory over Germany and Japan. The work is a satirical criticism of the American military bureaucracy and of the destructive power of the nuclear weapons used by the USA for the first time in 1945 . The name of the novella is inspired by an encounter Karig with a member of the Zotz family :

“A few years ago I met a man with the surname Zotz. The strange name was from Austria or Bavaria, where his ancestors came from. Immediately after hearing that name, it seemed to me that this was a magical spell. I felt that “Zotz!” Had magical powers, and that's how the title of my novel was born. The meaning of this strange name was a mystery that even its bearer could not solve. I tried to find more information about it. A well-known family of this name was from Peoria, Illinois, one of their relatives, Alois Zotz , had founded the "Deutsche Zeitung" in America. When I finally learned that "Zotz" was the name of a bat god of the Mayans, I found that the intended title for the book was perfect. "

The novella Zotz! was made into a film by William Castle in 1962 .

Works

From the Nancy Drew series

  • Nancy's Mysterious Letter (1932, pseudonym: Carolyn Keene)
  • The Sign of the Twisted Candles (1933, pseudonym: Carolyn Keene)
  • The Password to Larkspur Lane (1933, pseudonym: Carolyn Keene)

From the Doris Force series

  • Doris Force at Raven Rock (1931, pseudonym: Julia K. Duncan)
  • Doris Force at Barry Manor (1931, pseudonym: Julia K. Duncan)

From the Perry Pierce series

  • Who Opened the Safe? (1931, pseudonym: Clinton W. Locke)
  • Who Hid the Key? (1932, pseudonym: Clinton W. Locke)
  • Who Took the Papers? (1934, pseudonym: Clinton W. Locke)

More detective novels

  • Death is a Tory (1935, pseudonym: Keats Patrick)
  • The Pool of Death (1942, pseudonym: Keats Patrick)

Novels

  • Lower Than Angels (1945)
  • Zotz! (1947)
  • Caroline Hicks (1951)
  • Neely (1953)
  • Don't Tread On Me (1954)

Correspondence

  • Five Letters to Earl Brewster. Naples 1969

Non-fiction

  • Asia's Good Neighbor (1937)
  • Was in the Atomic Age? (1946)
  • The Fortunate Islands: A Pacific Interlude (1948)
  • Battle Submerged: Submarine Fighters of World War II (1951) in collaboration with Rear Admiral Harley Cope USN.

War reports (as co-author)

  • Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea (1944)
  • The Atlantic War (1946)
  • Pacific War: Middle Phase (1947)
  • The End of an Empire (1948)
  • Victory in the Pacific (1949)
  • The war in Korea (1952)

Web links

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Kelly: A multitalented author once held court in a house on Seminary Road. In: The Washington Post / Local. The Washington Post, November 9, 2013, accessed December 26, 2018 .
  2. ^ Walter Karig: Five Letters to Earl Brewster. Naples 1969.
  3. ^ The Mysterious History of Nancy Drew
  4. ^ Walter Karig: Five Letters to Earl Brewster. Naples 1969, p. 61. The original English text is cited here
  5. ↑ The New York Times on the movie Zotz!
personal data
SURNAME Karig, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Navy officer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Alexandria , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1956
Place of death Bethesda , Maryland