When life intervened with a health crisis, I was working on my short-story column for Mystery Scene. I wrote Kate Stine to tell her that I couldn't get the column done, and she's turned it over to a very capable guy, Ben Boulden, as you'll see when you get the next issue.
I'd written the first paragraph of the column, however, and I don't want it to go to waste because it calls attention to something I think is of historical importance to short-story readers. So I'm going to put it right here:
In the July issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, editor Janet Hutchings continues the magazine’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration with something special, an issue featuring works by people whose first published crime stories appeared in the magazine’s “Department of First Stories.” You’ll recognize the names, which include David Morell, Nancy Pickard, Bredan DuBois, Stephen Saylor, and Martin Edwards. But there’s more. There’s Marvin Lachman’s “Department of First Stories: A History,” which is must reading for anyone who’s interested in short stories and the history of crime fiction. It concludes with a list of fifty-four of the best-known writers to appear in the department and gives some of their later accomplishments. If you didn’t pick up this issue of the magazine when it appeared, look around for a copy. It’s well worth your time.
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