S P Meek

S P Meek (born Sterner St. Paul Meek April 8, 1894, Chicago, Illinois - June 10, 1972) was a US military chemist, early science fiction author, and children's author. He published much of his work first as Capt. S P Meek, then, briefly, as Major S.P. Meek and, after 1933, as Col. S. P. Meek. He also published one story as Sterner St. Paul.

Meek received his Associate degree from University of Chicago in 1914 and his Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Alabama in 1915. He continued his education at University of Wisconsin (1916) and MIT (1921-1923). He married in 1927 and had one son.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, S P Meek joined the military as a chemist and ordnance expert. He served as Chief, Small Arms Ammunition Research, in 1923-1926, and Chief Publications Officer, Ordnance Dept., in 1941-1945. He retired a colonel in 1947, at which point he became a full time writer.

S P Meek sold his first fiction story, "Taming Poachers", to Field and Stream, where it appeared in September 1928. Between early 1929 and January 1933, he published over 20 science fiction stories and short novels in pulp science fiction magazines like Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Stories, most of them in his popular Dr. Bird and Operative Carnes series. Meek left the field in early 1933, with only one further science fiction story published in 1939.

Like many early pulp science fiction writers, Meek used fiction to give detailed descriptions of current and projected scientific advances. He utilized many contemporary science fiction tropes, e.g. the notion that atoms were minituarized solar systems in his stories "Submicroscopic" and "Awlo of Ulm.

S P Meek quickly became popular with pulp magazine readers and was eagerly sought out by editors. In the first issue of Astounding Science Fiction in 1930, its editor Harry Bates listed Meek among "some of the finest writers of fantasy in the world", alongside Murray Leinster, Ray Cummings and others. However, Meek's stories were crudely executed and the higher standards introduced with the Golden Age of Science Fiction soon made them of strictly historical interest. Science fiction writer and critic Samuel R. Delany later called Meek's writing "unbelievably bad"

After leaving science fiction, Meek published over twenty children's books between 1932 and 1956, starting with Jerry, the Adventures of an Army Dog, usually about dogs or horses. Many of these books drew on Meek's experiences in the military.

Selected Bibliography

Series

• Drums of Tapajos
  • The Drums of Tapajos (1930)
    • Magazine/Anthology Appearances:
    • The Drums of Tapajos (Part 1 of 3) (1930)
    • The Drums of Tapajos (Part 2 of 3) (1930)
    • The Drums of Tapajos (Part 3 of 3) (1931)
  • Troyana (1932)
    • Magazine/Anthology Appearances:
    • Troyana (Part 1 of 3) (1930)
    • Troyana (Part 2 of 3) (1930)
    • Troyana (Part 3 of 3) (1930)

Collections

• The Monkeys Have No Tails in Zamboanga (1935)
• Arctic Bride (1944)

Nonfiction

• So You'Re Going to Get a Puppy: A Dog-lover's Handbook (1947)

Nongenre

• Jerry, the Adventures of an Army Dog (1932)
• Frog: The Horse That Knew No Master (1933)
• Gypsy Lad: the Story of a Champion Setter (1934)
• Franz : A Dog of the Police (1935)
• Island Born (1937)
• Dignity: a Springer Spaniel (1937)
• Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel (1938)
• Gustav, a Son of Franz: a Police Dog in Panama (1940)
• Pat: the Story of a Seeing Eye Dog (1947)
• Boots, the Story of a Working Sheep Dog (1948)
• Ranger, a Dog of the Forest Service (1949)
• Midnight, a Cow Pony (1949)
• Surfman: The Adventures of a Coast Guard Dog (1950)
• Hans, A Dog of the Border Patrol (1950)
• Red, a Trailing Bloodhound (1951)
• Pagan, A Border Patrol Horse (1951)
• Rip, a Game Protector (1952)
• Boy, An Ozark Coon Hound (1952)
• Omar, a State Police Dog (1953)
• Bellfarm Star: the Story of a Pacer (1955)
• Pierre of the Big Top: the Story of a Circus Poodle (1956)

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