BURGESS, Mary A(lice Wickizer) 1938-

PERSONAL: Born June 21, 1938, in San Bernardino, CA; daughter of Russell Alger (an attorney and judge) and (Wilma) Evelyn (Swisher) Wickizer; married Floyd Edward Rogers, September 15, 1956 (divorced); married Michael Roy Burgess (also known as Robert Reginald; a writer), October 15, 1976; children: (first marriage) Richard Albert Rogers, Mary Louise Rogers Reynnells. Education: San Bernardino Valley College, A.A. (real estate), 1968; California State College (now University), San Bernardino, B.A. (history and English; high honors), 1975; graduate work in history at California State University, San Bernardino, and University of California, Riverside. Politics: Democrat. Hobbies and other interests: Genealogy, films, travel.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Millefleurs Information Services, P.O. Box 2845, San Bernardino, CA 92406-2845. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Editor and author. Pacific Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company, San Bernardino, CA, long-distance operator, 1955-56, teletype operator and relief teller for Colton, CA, business office of Pacific Bell, 1956-57; Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, data entry operator, 1958; Lynwyck Realty and Investment Company, Inc., San Bernardino, treasurer and real estate broker, beginning 1962; U.S. Post Office, postal clerk, 1969; California State College (now University), San Bernardino, at John M. Pfau Library, as student assistant, then clerical assistant, 1974-76, purchasing agent, 1976-81. Borgo Press, San Bernardino, publisher and editor, 1975-99; Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review, associate publisher, 1979-80; Millefleurs Information Services, co-owner (with husband), 2000—; freelance researcher, 2000—. Has also done freelance indexing for a variety of reference and academic publishers.

WRITINGS:

(With Michael Burgess) The Wickizer Annals: Wickizer, Wickiser, Wickkiser, Wickkizer, Wickheiser, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1983.

(With Robert Reginald and Douglas Menville) Future-visions: The New Golden Age of the Science Fiction Film, Newcastle Publishing Co. (Van Nuys, CA), 1985.

(With Boden Clarke) The Work of Katherine Kurtz: AnAnnotated Bibliography & Guide, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1993.

(With Michael Burgess and Daryl F. Mallett) The State and Province Vital Records Guide, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1993.

(With Michael Burgess) The House of the Burgesses:Being a Genealogical History of William Burgess of Richmond (Later King George) County, Virginia, His Son, Edward Burgess of Stafford (Later King George) County, Virginia, with the Descendants in the Male Line of Edward's Sons: Garner Burgess of Fauquier County, Virginia, William Burgess of Stafford County, Virginia, Edward Burgess, Jr. of Fauquier County, Virginia, Moses Burgess of Orange County, Virginia, Reuben Burgess of Rowan (Later Davie) County, North Carolina, second edition, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1994.

(With Michael Burgess, writing as Robert Reginald) BP 250: An Annotated Bibliography of the First 250 Publications of The Borgo Press, 1975-1996, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1996.

editor

(Editorial associate) Robert Reginald (pseudonym of Michael Burgess), Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature: A Checklist, 1700-1974, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1974.

(With Michael Burgess) Burgess McK. Shumway, California Ranchos: Patented Private Land Grants Listed by County, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1988.

Jacob Biber, Risen from the Ashes: A Story of the Jewish Displaced Persons in the Aftermath of World War II, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1990.

James Brown Campbell, Across the Wide Missouri:The Diary of a Journey from Virginia to Missouri in 1819 and Back Again in 1822, with a Description of the City of Cincinnati, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1990.

(With Michael R. Burgess) Rep. William L. Clay, Sr., To Kill or Not to Kill: Thoughts on Capital Punishment, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1990.

Arnella K. Turner, Victorian Criticism of AmericanWriters: A Guide to British Criticism of American Writers in the Leading British Periodicals of the Victorian Period, 1824-1900, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1991.

Raymond Z. Gallun, with Jeffrey M. Elliot, Starclimber: The Literary Adventures and Autobiography of Raymond Z. Gallun, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1991.

Lawrence Estavan, The Italian Theater in San Francisco, Being a History of the Italian-Language Operatic, Dramatic, and Comedic Productions Presented in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Depression Era, with Reminiscences of the Leading Players and Impresarios of the Times, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1991.

(Editorial associate and contributor) Robert Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991: A Bibliography of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Fiction Books and Nonfiction Monographs, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992.

Irene Gut Opdyke, with Jeffrey M. Elliot, Into theFlames: The Life Story of a Righteous Gentile, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1992.

Albert I. Berger, The Magic That Works: John W.Campbell and the American Response to Technology, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1993.

W. C. Bamberger, William Eastlake: High Desert Inter-locutor, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1993.

(With Jacob Biber) A Triumph of the Spirit: Ten Stories of Holocaust Survivors, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1994, second edition published as A Triumph of the Spirit: Thirteen Stories of Holocaust Survivors, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1998.

Mary S. Weinkauf, Hard-boiled Heretic: The LewArcher Novels of Ross Macdonald, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1994.

Abigail Ann Martin, An Irony of Fate: The Fiction ofWilliam March, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1994.

Scottie Kimberlin, The Little Kitchen Cookbook, Burgess & Wickizer (San Bernardino, CA), 1994.

Hanes Walton, Jr., Black Women at the United Nations: The Politics, a Theoretical Model, and the Documents, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1995.

Robert Goehlert and Anthony C. Stamatoplos, TheChinese Economy: A Bibliography of Works in English, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1995.

S. E. Rosenbaum, A Voyage to America Ninety Years Ago: The Diary of a Bohemian Jew on His Voyage from Hamburg to New York in 1847, edited by Guido Kisch, newly translated and with an introduction by Nathan Kravetz, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1995.

Clark M. Zlotchew, Voices of the River Plate: Interviews with Writers of Argentina and Uruguay, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1995.

Mary S. Weinkauf, Murder Most Poetic: The MysteryNovels of Ngaio Marsh, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1996.

Contributor of essays, reviews, obituaries, and bibliographies for various reference works, including Things to Come: An Illustrated History of the Science-Fiction Film, by Robert Reginald and Douglas Menville, Times Books, 1977; (with Reginald) The Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine and Self-Help, by Malcolm Hulke, Schocken Books, 1979; (with Reginald) The Presidential-Congressional Political Dictionary, by Jeffrey M. Elliot and Sheikh R. Ali, ABC-CLIO, 1984; The Arms Control, Disarmament, and Military Security Dictionary, by Reginald and Jeffrey M. Elliot, ABC-CLIO, 1989; Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature, five volumes, Salem Press, 1983; Xenograffıti: Essays on Fantastic Literature, by Reginald, Borgo Press, 1996; Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Authors, fourth edition, St. James Press, 1996; and the Contemporary Authors series.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A history and genealogy of the Campbell family, a second edition of the Wickizer family history, and (with Michael Burgess) Index Litteratus, a comprehensive index to the literary publications of Borgo Press and Starmont House.

SIDELIGHTS: Mary A. Burgess is best known in the publishing world for her association with Borgo Press and its associated imprints. Borgo Press, which was founded in 1975 and published its first two books in April of 1976, had published exactly three hundred volumes when it finally closed its doors in 1999. The press focused on the criticism of genre literature and historical research, topics that reflect the personal interests of its founders, Burgess and her husband, Michael Burgess (who writes under the pen name Robert Reginald). Initially, Burgess focused on the business aspects of the enterprise, but she quickly began doing typesetting, indexing, and other production work on the books. By the late 1970s she was doing copy and textual editing, as well as writing back cover and advertising copy for the line. Soon she was extensively reorganizing and reworking the texts of out-of-print volumes reprinted by Borgo Press, and providing rewriting and other editorial services for the press's projects.

Burgess told CA: "I have been involved my whole life with books and things literary. I was taught to read by my nursery school teacher, and was subsequently 'skipped' into the third from the first grade because of that fact. I quickly worked my way through all the books in the tiny library which serviced our mountain community grammar school, and moved on to my parents' 'Book-of-the-Month' club offerings, reading such things as Forever Amber and The Kinsey Report at a very tender age. These things were never censored from me and, as a result, I am a strong believer in allowing children to read what they will, when they will. The important thing is to read, read, read. All else will follow from that.

"I have always been addicted to the study of history. I took up genealogy when just a child, gleaning all the facts I could from our family's collection of such things, and pestering my grandmother for further details. She was born in 1876, and lived to be almost 102 years old, so talking with her was like talking to a time machine. I have spent many hours working on my family histories and, in one of the greatest instances of serendipity I could have imagined, discovered after my second marriage that my husband shared an equal addiction. From that time on, we've spent most of our vacations and free time together researching our genealogies, traveling to small towns across the United States and Canada, investigating old cemeteries, working in court houses, and meeting numerous kinfolk. Sharing this obsession has been a great joy for both of us, and one we could not have predicted.

"My marriage [to Michael Burgess], in fact, has been one of the significant events of my life. Finding another human being who shared such common interests with me has seemed like a continuing miracle. From the day we first met (in the library, of course!), our lives have been centered around books—reading them, researching them, writing them, editing them, indexing them, and publishing them. Our publishing business, in fact, is only a few months older than our marriage. Together we've edited, indexed, and published some three hundred books—not a bad record for twenty-three years, and one which speaks more eloquently for our interests and how we spend our time than even the most detailed essay could.

"My other interests, shared with my husband, include films (watching, critiquing, and writing about them), and travel (usually to do on-site research). But books are still first, and always will be. In spite of all the 'on-line' frenzy these days, there is still nothing so entertaining as settling down to read a good book—and nothing so soul-satisfying as writing or publishing one."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Clute, John, and Peter Nicholls, editors, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1993.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991: ABibliography of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Fiction Books and Nonfiction Monographs, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992.

periodicals

Choice, May, 1993, J. A. Adams, review of ScienceFiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991: A Bibliography of Science Fiction, Fantasy, andHorror Fiction Books and Nonfiction Monographs, p. 1448; December, 1993, F. R. Levstik, review of The State and Provincial Vital Records Guide, p. 580.

Fantasy Newsletter, January, 1981, pp. 18-23, 30.

Towanda Daily Review, June, 1982, "9,000 Miles Later, They Found Her Roots."

Utopian Studies, spring, 1997, Kristine J. Anderson, review of BP 250: An Annotated Bibliography of the First 250 Publications of the Borgo Press, 1975-1996, pp. 168-169.

online

Millefleurs Information Services, http://www.millefleurs.tv/ (March 10, 2003).