Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart
Goulart in 2009 at the South Street Seaport
Born	(1933-01-13) January 13, 1933 (age 84)
Pen name	Chad Calhoun, R.T. Edwards, Ian R, Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, Joseph Silva
Occupation	Writer, historian
Genre	Mystery, fantasy, science fiction

Ron Goulart (born January 13, 1933) is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.

Goulart was prolific, and wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson (pen name), Con Steffanson (pen name), Chad Calhoun, R.T. Edwards, Ian R. Jamieson, Josephine Kains, Jillian Kearny, Howard Lee, Zeke Masters, Frank S. Shawn, and Joseph Silva.

Goulart's first professional publication was a 1952 reprint of the SF story "Letters to the Editor" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction; this parody of a pulp magazine letters column was originally published in the University of California, Berkeley's Pelican. His early career in advertising and marketing influenced much of his work. In the early 1960s, Goulart wrote the text for Chex Press, a newspaper parody published on Ralston Purina cereal boxes (Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Chex). He contributed to P.S. and other magazines, along with his book review column for Venture Science Fiction Magazine. Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of the Pulp Magazines (1972) is his best known non-fiction book.

Goulart's fiction is characterized by several themes, notably humor, technology gone wrong (usually through incompetence rather than malice) and heroes with superhuman powers. His humorous crime and science fiction includes tales about robots and historical Hollywood figures, such as Groucho Marx. In the 1970s, he wrote several novels based on Lee Falk's The Phantom for Avon Books, using the pseudonym "Frank Shawn" (a play on his wife and son's names). He has also written comic book stories and short stories about The Phantom for Moonstone Books from 2003 to present. Goulart has also written novelizations for televisions programs such as Laverne & Shirley, and wrote several "romance" novels under feminine pseudonyms (they contain familiar Goulart themes and are hilarious.)