Judson P. Philips rubbed elbows with movie stars and directors. He owned a newspaper and scratched out columns in others. He penned hundreds of stories in pulp magazines, digests and slick magazines, under a trio of pen names. His words flooded radio, television and film. He faced down Newsweek editors, owned an equity summer stock theater and boosted many ingenues to fame. He filled pulp magazines like Argosy with stories about tough detectives, smooth-talking criminals, and down-and-out athletes who make Rocky-like comebacks. As "Hugh Pentecost," he graduated into the lucrative slick-paper magazines and burgeoning paperback mystery field. Despite awards and financial gain, he deemed himself a failure-His famous "Hugh Pentecost" pen name came at a price, and five marriages cost him more in emotional capital. Once a Pulp Man: The Secret Life of Judson Philips as Hugh Pentecost unveils the man who sneered at Yul Brynner, ignored McCarthyism, proposed to dozens of women, and created a lasting legacy of entertainment. Audrey Parente established her credentials with author biographies like Pulpmaster: The Theodore Roscoe Story and Pulp Man's Odyessey: The Hugh B. Cave Story. A retired reporter for The Daytona Beach News-Journal, she spent years preparing this volume. She researched Philip's background, compiling a complete bibliography, and transcribed hours of interviews she conducted with Philips in the late 1980s.
About the Author: Audrey Parente, a Connecticut native, retired as an award-winning reporter after 20 years at The Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida. The single mother of two musician sons, Peter and David, she earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do after studying the martial art in Korea, traveled to 24 U.S. States, volunteered for the U.S. Citizens Democracy Corps serving in Russia, published poetry in a Japanese newspaper and wrote travel stories about Egypt. Among her myriad adventures, Audrey white-water rafted on the Ocoee River in Tennessee, hot air ballooned and sky dived in Florida, flew a Good Year blimp over the Daytona International Speedway and conducted a Navy band. Two other biographies about pulp fiction-era authors were written by her about the late Hugh B. Cave and the late Theodore Roscoe. She continues her writing career in South Florida, now as an author and editor for Bold Venture Press. Her fiction novel Pulp Noir is about hobby collectors of old paper magazines, and one grizzled hoarder in particular who stumbles into a cougar romance.