Glut, Donald F(rank) 1944-

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GLUT, Donald F(rank) 1944-

(Dr. Spektor, Don Grant, Johnny Jason, Victor Morrison, Rod Richmond, Mick Rogers, Dale Steele, Bradley D. Thorne)

PERSONAL: Surname rhymes with "boot"; born February 14, 1944, in Pecos, TX; son of Frank C. (a baker and World War II pilot) and Julia (Blasovits) Glut; divorced. Education: Attended De Paul University, 1962-64; University of Southern California, B.A., 1967.

ADDRESSES: Home—Burbank, CA. Offıce—Frontline Entertainment, 1680 Vine St., Suite 1101, Hollywood, CA 90028. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Worked as writer, assistant copywriter with advertising agency in Van Nuys, book store clerk in Hollywood, actor, and professional musician and singer, all in California, 1965-71; cartoonist; part-time writer, 1966—; lecturer. President, Frontline Entertainment. Consultant to museums. Writer, co-producer, and director of film Dinosaur Valley Girls, Frontline Entertainment, and the documentary Before La Brea. Director of film The Vampire Hunters Club, Irena Belle Productions, 2000.

MEMBER: Writers Guild of America West, American Federation of Musicians, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Alpha Chi.

AWARDS, HONORS: The Dinosaur Dictionary was selected as one of the best reference books of 1974 by the American Library Association; Montague Summers Award, Count Dracula Society, 1976, for The Dracula Book; Inkpot Award and Friends of Fandom Award from San Diego Comic Convention, 1976; Galaxy Award, 1980, for The Empire Strikes Back.

WRITINGS:

(Under pseudonym Mick Rogers) Freakout on Sunset Strip, Greenleaf Classics, 1967.

Frankenstein Resucitado (originally written in English as Frankenstein Lives Again, but published in Spanish), Buru Lan (San Sebastian, Spain), 1971, published in English version, New English Library (London, England), 1977, revised edition published as Frankenstein Lives Again!, Donning, 1981.
Frankenstein y el Robot (originally written in English as Terror of Frankenstein, but published in Spanish), Buru Lan (San Sebastian, Spain), 1971, published in English version, New English Library (London, England), 1977.

(With Jim Harmon) The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1971.

True Vampires of History, H.C. Publishers (New York, NY), 1972.

The Dinosaur Dictionary, Citadel (Secaucus, NJ), 1972, revised edition published as The New Dinosaur Dictionary, 1982, new revised edition published as The Complete Dinosaur Dictionary, 1992.

The Frankenstein Legend: A Tribute to Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff, Scarecrow (Metuchen, NJ), 1972.

Bugged (novel), Manor, 1974.

Broeder Bloed (originally written in English as Brother Blood, but published in Dutch), De Schorpioen, 1974.

The Great Television Heroes, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1975.

The Dracula Book, Scarecrow (Metuchen, NJ), 1975.

Spawn (novel), Laser Books, 1976.

The Family Funtime Book of Monsters, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1977.

Classic Movie Monsters, Scarecrow (Metuchen, NJ), 1977.

Bones of Frankenstein, New English Library (London, England), 1977.

Frankenstein Meets Dracula, New English Library (London, England), 1977.

(Adaptor) The Empire Strikes Back (based on the story by George Lucas and the film script by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1980.

The Dinosaur Scrapbook, Citadel (Secaucus, NJ), 1980.

(With Sylvia Massey Czerkas) Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Cavemen: The Art of Charles R. Knight, Dutton (New York, NY), 1982.

The Frankenstein Catalog, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1984.

(With Don Lessem) The Dinosaur Society's Dinosaur Encyclopedia, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.

Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1997.

Dinosaur Valley Girls: The Book, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1998.

Carbon Dates: A Day by Day Almanac of Paleo Anniversaries and Dino Events, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1999.

Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. Supplement, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2000.

Chomper, Random House (New York, NY), 2000.

Jurassic Classics: A Collection of Saurian Essays and Mesozoic Musings, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2001.

The Frankenstein Archive: Essays on the Monster, the Myth, the Movies, and More, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2002.

Author of scripts for movies and television shows, including Shazam!, Land of the Lost, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The New Shmoo, Spider-Man, Riff-Raff, Astro and the Space Mutts, The Frankenstones, and Monchichis. Also author of record album liner notes for Frankenstein and Dracula, Mark 56 Productions. Author of works under the pseudonyms Don Grant, Johnny Jason, Victor Morrison, Rod Richmond, Dr. Spektor, Dale Steele, and Bradley D. Thorne.

Author of "Vampir Horror—Roman" series, published in Germany, including Frankenstein und der Werwolf, 1976, Frankenstein bei den Dinosaurien, 1976, Frankenstein in Mumiengrab, 1976, Frankenstein und der Fluch des Dr. Jekyll, 1979, and Frankenstein kampf mit Dracula, 1980.

CONTRIBUTOR

Forrest J. Ackerman, editor, The Frankenscience Monster, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Dick Lupoff and Don Thompson, editors, The Comic Book Book, Arlington House (New Rochelle, NY), 1972.

The Rivals of Frankenstein, Corgi Books (London, England), 1977.

The Star Wars Trilogy (special anniversary omnibus edition; includes The Empire Strikes Back), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1987.

Discover Dinosaurs, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 1991.

Contributor of short stories to the "Perry Rhodan" series, published by Ace Books. Contributor to numerous comic books, including Eerie, Vampirella, Tweety and Sylvester, Tarzan, Ghost Rider, Bugs Bunny, The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor, Tragg and the Sky Gods, and Captain America. Contributor of articles and fiction to periodicals, including Search, Fave, Tiger Beat, Right On, Mystery Comics Digest, Famous Monsters of Filmland, and Golden Comics Digest. Editor and publisher, with Richard Andersen, of Shazam (fan magazine), 1962-64; editor-writer, Modern Monsters; contributing editor, Castle of Frankenstein; associate editor, Monsters of the Movies, E-Go Collectors Series, Henry Winkler Magazine, TV's Dynamic Heroes, and King of the Monsters.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Screenwriting projects.

SIDELIGHTS: Writing in Booklist, Mary Ellen Quinn noted that "Donald F. Glut is obsessed with dinosaurs." He demonstrates such interest in numerous introductions to the extinct creatures, such as Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, Carbon Dates: A Day by Day Almanac of Paleo Anniversaries and Dino Events, and Dinosaur Dictionary and its various updates. R. Daniel Foster, writing in the Los Angeles Times, observed that "with no formal education in paleontology, [Glut] has amassed a credibility . . . [that is] 'the last and final word' in volumes written on the subject." He has written and filmed both serious and silly works on dinosaurs and amassed a huge private collection of dinosaur artifacts. The versatile and prolific Glut has also penned books about Frankenstein and Dracula, as well as a best-selling novelization of the film The Empire Strikes Back, collected in The Star Wars Trilogy. He also plays several musical instruments, including piano, organ, guitar, bass guitar, clarinet, and trombone. In addition, he writes songs and is an amateur sleight-of-hand magician, an artist, and a filmmaker, specializing in all areas of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Glut is also interested in the "nostalgic arts," including old radio shows and comic books, and is a collector in these areas. Since 1983 he has given lectures at museums and schools on the subject of "dinosaurs in films," and he works with museums as a consultant on dinosaurs in popular culture and media.

Glut's interest in Frankenstein and Dracula led to his early titles such as The Frankenstein Legend: A Tribute to Mary Shelley and Boris Karlof and The Dracula Book. In the latter, Glut offers up a "hodgepodge of information ranging from near-scholarly . . . accounts . . . to a fan's delight in the various comic-book incarnations of our toothsome hero," according to Roger Shatzkin, writing in Library Journal. In The Frankenstein Catalog he presents a "comprehensive bibliography" of works on the doctor's monster, from books to plays, music, and cartoons, as Library Journal's Nancy L. Baker noted. Glut further deals with monsters in his Classic Movie Monsters, a work that includes "more factual information than . . . similar books," according to W. H. Lyles, writing in Library Journal.

By far the major focus of Glut's work, however, has been his books on dinosaurs. With The Dinosaur Scrapbook, he offers "a unique, exclusively non-scientific, collection of information and illustrations from myriad sources," as George H. Scheetz commented in a Library Journal review. Glut includes renditions and memorabilia of dinosaurs from pulp magazines, television, radio, and even dinosaur parks. Reviewing the same title in School Library Journal, Sylvia Pascal noted that while the "text is fascinating, . . . it is the over 600 black-and-white illustrations . . . that make this book special." Working with Sylvia Massey Czerkas, Glut also helped compile an anthology of the artwork of an artist who specialized in detailing extinct animals. Their Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Cavemen: The Art of Charles R. Knight is "probably the most extensive compilation of Knight's work in print," according to Walter P. Coombs, Jr., writing in Library Journal. More specifically geared for young readers is Glut's The Dinosaur Society's Dinosaur Encyclopedia, "a popular guide to the more than 600 known dinosaurs," according to a Booklist contributor. Written with Don Lessem, the book is, as the same reviewer noted, "an important contribution to dinosauria literature."

More scholarly in tone, though still intended for a general audience, are Glut's reference works, including The Dinosaur Dictionary, The New Dinosaur Dictionary, The Complete Dinosaur Dictionary, and Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. The dictionaries were published in ten year increments, beginning in 1972 with The Dinosaur Dictionary, which was named one of the best reference books of the year by the American Library Association. Glut's The New Dinosaur Dictionary revised that work with recent additions and even some deletions of animals no longer fitting the classification of dinosaur. Patricia Manning, writing in a starred School Library Journal review, noted that this 1982 revision is definitely up-to-date. In each of the brief, alphabetical entries in the volume, Glut supplies geologic age and classification, together with a short description of each type of dinosaur. Joseph Hannibal, reviewing the revised edition in Library Journal, felt that the "completeness of coverage and the excellent drawings and photographs make this . . . highly recommended." The 1992 revision, The Complete Dinosaur Dictionary, was a book that "all public libraries and academic science collection should have," observed a contributor for Library Journal.

Over a decade in the works, Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia was published in 1997. According to Dale M. Gnidovec, writing in Rocks & Minerals, the book is "certainly the most detailed book on dinosaurs aimed, at least partially, at the general public." At more than a thousand pages, the book is also, as Gnidovec added, "huge." Divided into five sections, the encyclopedia provides an introduction on dinosaur studies, including a description of the Mesozoic Era and the origins of dinosaurs, a part dealing with the classification of dinosaurs as well as a section that describes how groups of dinosaurs are related to one another, lists of dinosaurs and of animals that were once considered dinosaurs, and end matter including a glossary, index, and a bibliography with 2,000 references. "If you are a real dinosaur enthusiast, this is the book for you," Gnidovec concluded. For David B. Weishampel, reviewing the same title in BioScience, Glut's book was an "unabashedly monumental archive of information on dinosaurs." Marilyn Von Seggern, writing in Reference & User Services Quarterly, found Glut's encyclopedia to be "solidly scientific and detailed in treatment." Choice's V. S. Mitchell noted that "the manuscript for this book was reviewed by a panel of noted dinosaur paleontologists." Glut plans regular updates to his encyclopedia; the first appeared in the year 2000, Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. Supplement.

More playful in tone is Glut's 1999 Carbon Dates, a "calendar in book form," as Booklist's Gilbert Taylor commented. Here Glut gathers an odd set of facts about dinosaurs and the people who have studied and been inspired by them, all to create a day-by-day chronology throughout the year. Quinn found the book "more of a curiosity than a real reference work." Glut's name finds its way into the text of this book; he nails down the spot for February 14, 1944, his own birth date.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Clute, John, and Peter Nicholls, eds., The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1993, p. 499.

Lupoff, Dick, and Don Thompson, eds., The Comic Book Book, Arlington House, 1972.

Roberts, Reginald, Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992, p. 376.

Sabatier, Jean-Marie, Les Classiques du Cinema Fantastique, Ballard (Paris, France), 1973.

PERIODICALS

BioScience, October, 1998, David B. Weishampel, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, pp. 851-852.

Booklist, April 15, 1994, review of The Dinosaur Society's Dinosaur Encyclopedia, p. 1551; November 1, 1997, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, p. 508; December 1, 1999, Gilbert Taylor, review of Carbon Dates: A Day by Day Almanac of Paleo Anniversaries and Dino Events, p. 672; May 1, 2000, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of Carbon Dates, p. 1684.

Chicago Sun-Times, October 4, 1985, Peggy Constantine, "Dinosaur Expert Delivers Big Lecture," p. 26.

Choice, February, 1998, V. S. Mitchell, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia.

Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX), April 2, 1985, Joann Rhetts, "The World of the Dinosaurs," p. 4.

Library Journal, April 1, 1975, John Smothers, review of The Great Television Heroes, p. 660; September 1, 1975, Roger Shatzkin, review of The Dracula

Book, May 1, 1978, W. H. Lyles, review of Classic Movie Monsters, p. 992; February 15, 1981, George H. Scheetz, review of The Dinosaur Scrapbook, p. 442; July 1, 1982, Walter P. Coombs, Jr., review of Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Cavemen, p. 1335; February 1, 1983, Joseph Hannibal, review of The New Dinosaur Dictionary, pp. 198-199; April 1, 1984, Nancy L. Baker, review of The Frankenstein Catalog, p. 713; April 1, 1992, M. Rogers, review of The Complete Dinosaur Dictionary, p. 154; November 1, 1997, Amy Brunvand, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, p. 68; September 1, 2002, Michael Rogers, review of The Star Wars Trilogy, p. 220.

Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1988, R. Daniel Foster, "Dinosaur Devotee Sows 'Prehistoric Garden,'" p. 10.

New York Times, August 3, 1982.

Reference & User Services Quarterly, winter, 1997, Marilyn Von Seggern, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, p. 217.

Rocks & Minerals, July, 2000, Dale M. Gnidovec, review of Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, p. 274.

School Library Journal, March, 1981, Sylvia Pascal, review of The Dinosaur Scrapbook, p. 163; March, 1983, Patricia Manning, review of The New Dinosaur Dictionary, p. 192; May, 1984, review of The New Dinosaur Dictionary, p. 24.