Matt Moring has been named the winner of the 2012 Munsey Award. Nominated by the general pulp community, Matt was selected by a panel consisting of all the living Lamont and Munsey Award winners. The award is a fine art print by Dan Zimmer of a painting by David Saunders. It is presented annually to a deserving person who has given of himself or herself for the betterment of the pulp community.
In relatively few years, Matt’s Altus Press has published many rare pulp stories as well as non-fiction books dealing with the characters and history of the pulps. To date he has published all of Kendell Foster Crossen’s Green Lama stories, half of the adventures of Secret Agent X, Les Savage’s Senorita Scorpion stories, Fred Nebel’s Tough Dick Donahue private eye adventures, and collections of lesser known characters such as Johnston McCulley’s The Man in Purple, Paul Ernst’s Seekay, and Lester Dent’s The Blond Adder. His Dime Detective Companion is a superb reference to one of the leading detective magazines of the pulp era, while The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze, written by Rick Lai, dissects the adventures of Doc Savage. Recently issued is the thirtieth anniversary issue of Echoes, one of the best pulp history fanzines of all time. Together with Will Murray, Matt revived the Doc Savage series, publishing brand new stories featuring “The Man of Bronze” after a twenty-year absence. The Altus Press website is also an excellent reference source featuring links to The Pulp Superhero Index and The Echoes Index. Such energy needs to be recognized and rewarded. Matt Moring and others like him are the future of the pulp collecting hobby.
The voting for the 2012 Munsey Award actually ended in a tie. The other select individual, David J. Cullers, better known as Jack Cullers, is the chairman of the PulpFest committee. Jack has worked quietly and tirelessly for the pulp community for decades. A longtime volunteer for any number of pulp conventions, Jack has ferried guests of honor to and from airports and made sure they had a friendly face with whom to dine. He has stuffed and addressed envelopes, arranged for advertising, organized auctions, and done many other behind-the-scenes tasks, selflessly and without seeking accolades. Time and again, he has welcomed newcomers to the hobby, even inviting them to his home for dinner during their earliest pulp conventions. He has offered space at his dealer tables for down-on-their-luck pulpsters unable to attend conventions.
As PulpFest chairman, Jack has worked to assure that convention guests, dealers, presenters, and attendees are treated fairly and respectfully, helping everyone to feel welcome and comfortable at the convention. Of course, Jack could not have done all that he has done without the support of his wife, Sally, herself a longtime pulp con volunteer, often helping with registrations and auctions. His children and friends have also lent a hand. Come convention time, the “Cullers Clan” is hard at work, making sure things run as smoothly as possible.
Not wishing to diminish Matt Moring’s “day in the sun,” Jack asked that his name be withdrawn from consideration. However, the remaining members of the PulpFest committee felt that it was well past time that Jack and Sally Cullers’ devotion to the pulp community be recognized.
With this in mind, it was determined to issue a second award, The Rusty Hevelin Service Award, designed to recognize those individuals within the pulp community who have worked long and hard for the pulp community with little thought for individual recognition. It is meant to reward especially good works and is thus reserved only for those individuals who are most deserving. And no individuals are more deserving than Jack and Sally Cullers who have labored long and hard for our small community of pulp lovers.
Congratulations to Matt Moring, the 2012 winner of The Munsey Award, and to Jack and Sally Cullers, the 2012 winners of The Rusty Hevelin Service Award. All three individuals are most deserving of these honors.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 Munsey and/or Rusty Awards. If you have someone in mind that you feel worthy, please let us know. Send the person’s name and a brief paragraph describing why you feel that person should be honored to Mike Chomko, 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542 or to mike@pulpfest.com. Previous winners of the Lamont, Munsey, or Rusty Award are not eligible for the award. The deadline for nominations is May 31, 2013.