Writer

Biography and Origins

While there exists no doubt that Arthur S. Halsey, Jr. (ASHjr) is a current, and secretive, writer, there are distinct questions concerning his identity, most notably a general confusion as to his absolute time spectrum. Reports have indicated that ASHjr “attended schooling” in the 1980s and is a member of Generation X, having been born in the early 1970s. This would put him in his late 30s (summer 2010), and the general consensus is that ASHjr is a current author, writing contemporary to now. (In fact, much of his material is concerned with the interaction of the 21st century networked world with that of the recent past, especially various pinpoint moments of the 20th century.)

However, there are other contradictions in the historic account. Arthur S. Halsey was known for developing a “bomb rack and control” in 1933, and his appearances had been briefly documented in both Great Britain and New England at various points in the early 20th century. It has been proposed on at least a few occasions that the real ASHjr, a visionary, had written his entire oeuvre in the past and the work is only surfacing now due to delayed agency release. This proposition does not seem likely. Other speculations indicate that some of these references are actually to ASHjr’s father, or to other persons of no apparent relation. Whatever the case, the secrecy and confusion has only elevated Halsey to cult status as a writer.

Online “disappearances”

Inexplicably, there were occasions when it appeared that Halsey had all but disappeared from the Internet. This phenomenon has not been explained and cannot be caused by brief network outages as the actual references in the links appear to have been cut, but appear later in a future time. The “disappearance” has an uncanny connection to actual situations and themes in his work, as will be shown.

Writing style and work

ASHjr is primarily known for a new fiction style described by readers and critics at times as “extraordinarily fun,” “cinematically vivid,” “extremely strange and frightening” and “thrilling.” This style appears concerned with exploring lost and contemporary ideas of history, the paranormal and the unknown in a literal “fabulist” manner, heavily atmospheric in an often noir mode, and his material (often literary in style while blatantly commercial in character and design) is sometimes described as paranoir, a genre that seems exclusive to him. A characteristic ASHjr piece involves “timebending” and “time splicing” (varous events occuring at two separate moments in time and connected, or two distinct scenes at different times occurring at the same location, or a linear scene whose principles or narrators are operating in regular time but are cutting through time and space at a different speed, or multiple isolated moments — distant in time and space — that are conjoined in the narrative to reveal plot motion and meaning); elevation or reduction to different mental states involving experimental psychology, psychotropic pharmacology and NLP; the use of stylistic and atmospheric elements from vintage commercial genres (film noir, espionage, true crime, western and classical mystery); “lost” legends, secret histories and paranormal tropes; a thematic obsession with the loss or breaking-away from reason; popular scientific models and cultural artifacts as they exist not at the narrative present but from some different time (1910s Egyptology accounts, implications of 1930s cosmic ray theory, long descriptions of rare 1967 acid rock vinyl, unsigned memoirs of 1990 Manchester “acid house” scene, Sony Discman hacks, Palm Pilots, Ray-O-Vac 9v battery flashlights as a handheld “electric torch”) juxtaposed in or on top of other eras; breakdowns of character, “character molding,” and alternate or subconscious views of the same person; “constant themes of disappearance, obscurity, resurgence and bilocation” (Hapsburg 2008); cut-up dialogue or description; philosophical puzzles or logical paradoxes that are what he calls his characters’ “barriers to entry.”

The Agency

Little has been revealed about the “agency” that ASHjr has been associated with; it is unclear if this agency is a writing group, a sponsor or benefactor, or some other type of organization who are working to develop the ideas presented in his fiction. It is known that the agency operates online and consists of a great many writers, possibly in the upper hundreds. It has been speculated that the agency exists or was formed as a counter to the prevailing postmodernism. But the precise origin and even name of the agency is not known; ASHjr fans have at times referred to it as “The Agency.”

Published fiction and excerpts

Information on published material by ASHjr has been difficult to obtain, as apparently much of his early work had been published on small press broadsides and distributed via local channels and have yet to be properly catalogued or collected. However, as of this writing (Aug 2010) there appears to be a new resurgence of his work.

“The Dreamreapers,” a new story, has been collected in The Lifted Brow no. 7 (Aug 2010); it chronicles the work of agent Arthur Munfrey and has been noted as part of a larger “story-cycle”; the unnamed “agency” that Munfrey is or has been employed by is thought to be a fictitious parallel of the secret agency that Halsey works for.

Various quotations have been attributed to ASHjr, most notably the early phrase “Become who you hate,” but the original context of this quotation is not known.

Other quotation-graffitis that are known as ASHisms:

• TAKE OFF THE LOGIC CHAIN

• MOVE BEYOND REASON

For futher reference

In development.

The Herter’s Catalog

The motto of Herter’s, Inc. showed up on every printed page of their annual catalogs: Where wildlife cannot live, humans cannot survive. Back in the day, the company’s products were used and cherished by hunters, fishermen, trappers, boaters and outdoorsmen of all persuasions. If you spend enough time on fishing forums today, you’ll run into the older folks reminiscing on their youthful days perusing through a Herter’s, such as these nostalgic thoughts and memories of the 1974 Herter’s catalog. The catalogs liberally included Herter’s essays and advice, which were heeded by them all — such as his informative and quixotic “How to Buy an Outdoor Knife.” [full text, scroll down]

Pages from the Herter’s Catalog

While no entire catalogs have been digitized and put online, you can catch tantalizing glimpses of some of the catalogs online if you know where to look. Try here for images of some pages: a page from the 1955 Gun Accessory Catalog,
a full-page scan of the Herter’s minibike (the “Herter’s Hudson Bay Hunter, Fisherman, Beach, Tundra, Trapper and Camper Bikes”), a box for the “world-famous tiger tail” (scroll down), and
a color cover.

The various goods and products themselves were of generally high quality, and are sought-after collectibles today. [search]

Herter’s, Inc. was nominated as part of the MN150 exhibit, (150 people, places and things that shape the state of Minnesota): Whether you were 10 or 100, a pilgrimage to Herter’s captured every young sportsman’s imagination through the latter half of the 20th century.”

http://discovery.mnhs.org/MN150/index.php?title=Herter’s%2C_Inc.

While the Herter’s showroom is gone, vestiges remain; GLH made arrangements so that Cabela’s would now handle distribution of their products and to this day Cabela’s continues to handle the world famous herters.com Internet domain. You can browse the remaining inventory, which at this wrigin includes outdoor camouflage clothing and world-famous life-size duck decoys.

Herter’s books today

Some books were written and published in conjunction with his wife, Berthe E. Herter. George Herter enjoyed talking about his associations with Ernest Hemingway, and in fact he made thousands of original claims. He claimed to have the true knowledge of the Martini cocktail and its originator, who (claimed Herter) also invented another “world-class” cocktail, the Martini Verboten, whose second ingredient is apple cider vinegar.

While Herter produced large quantities of his books, some titles can be difficult to obtain. Collectors hoard and cherish their copies. Many remain in the possesion of individuals who first purchased them, or passed on to their families, but some are finally beginning to become available. Check eBay [search] and Amazon, where many of the important Herter titles can still be obtained at reasonable prices:

• How to make the finest wines at home in old glass or plastic bottles and jugs for as little as 10 [cents] a gallon has little about old bottles and jugs but much entertaining reading on beer, wine, cocktails, recipes and home-brewing.

• How To Get Out Of The Rat Race And Live On $10 A Month

• Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices is GLH’s Masterwork and could be the oddest most insane cookbook ever written. First sentence: “I will start with meats, fish, eggs, soups and sauces, sandwiches, vegetables, the art of French frying, desserts, how to dress game, how to properly sharpen a knife, how to make wines and beer, how to make French soap and also what to do in case of hydrogen or cobalt bomb attack, keeping as much in alphabetical order as possible.” Huge! Profusely Illustrated! [more] Note that some editions also contain Herter’s descriptions and information concerning the various and most important Famous Restaurants and Night Clubs of the World!

• European and American Professional Sourdough Cooking and Recipes is charmingly illustrated and would make a fine holiday gift for any occasion.

• Professional guide’s manual

• George the Housewife and How to Diet and Never be Hungry contains Herter’s unique approach to dieting, a method and technique quite possibly not used by any other program ever devised. Does not produce hunger!

• PROFESSIONAL FLY TYING, SPINNING AND TACKLE MAKING MANUAL and MANUFACTURERS’ GUIDE

• George The Housewife …

• Secret Fresh and Salt Water Fishing Tricks of the World’s Fifty Best Professional Fisherman (Plus The Professional Secrets of Fishing Rods and How Fishing Rods are Made). Completely Illustrated. Fantastic thoughtful and uniquely “retro” gift for the sport fisherman or outdoorsy type guy.

• How to Live with a Bitch. A practical guide on marriage. Personal advice and tips, based on Real World Experience.

• Herter’s Professional Course in the Science of Modern Taxidermy (with Myron E. Barrie).

• Condensed Professional Loading of Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun Cartridges Including Pressures and Velocities and Reloading Data for Gun and Ammunition Manufacturers Professional and Amateur Target Shooters, Game Hunters and Guides (with Jacques Pierre Herter).

• Professional and Amateur Archery Tournament and Hunting Instructions and Encyclopedia (with Russell Hofmeister).

Reminisces and articles

“The greatest cook book writer in history” — so begins Mark Gelbart’s 2005 article on The Bull Cook.

Also that year, Stephen Bodio posted a GLH reminiscence that discusses some of the books. Bodio points out a few Herterisms, including this gem, from 1963’s The Truth About Hunting in Today’s Africa: “Most people don’t realize that being eaten by a hyena doesn’t hurt very much.”

Bob Zimmerman wrote an essay on his memories of the Herter’s catalog back in the 1960s.

The article “Classic Cookbooks Create Some Wild Conjecturing” contains a recipe for Steak Aflame.

Don’t miss Out Your Backdoor’s memories of Bull Cook and the Herter’s catalog — he talks about how it contained silk, gems, cured salmon and maple syrup (!) and postulates that Herter’s began to decline once the ban on selling guns through mail-order went in place.

From Guns Magazine, April 2005: “… in my youth their catalog was the wish book for all things outdoors.”

George Campbell’s 2007 reminiscence of a boyhood poring over the Herter’s catalog, “Remembering Herter’s — An Iconoclast’s History” (scroll down) reminds us that George Herter was a master marketer.

In 2008, Herter was profiles in the New York Times (Dec 7 2008).

More reminisces and memories of the Herter’s store…

For further reference

In 2006, a farmer working in his field discovered what is the largest underground tomb known in Greece, from the Hellenistic age (ca. 300BC, around the death of Alexander the Great and near his birthplace) [BBC] [Fox]

In 2008, the tombs were included on the World Monuments Fund’s Watch List 2008 as one of the 10 most-endangered monuments in the world.

A history of the island of Cephalonia

Guide to archeological finds in Kefalonia. The tomb is still being excavated.

including fluorescent sharks, six-foot squids, giant light-detecting crabs, fluorescent shrimp and other animals at 1,800 feet and never before seen. [pic] [pic] [pic]

200 lb, 7-foot-tall secured camera turned upside down by a deep-sea predator

“Camera Helps Identify Unknown Sea Creatures” (Sep 2005)

“Operation Deep Scope”

Operation Deep Scope 2005 has a log with photos from the trip, which happened during Hurricane Katrina.

list of explorers from 2004, with photos/bios

[home page] [bio (German)] [google]

Wrote a detailed travelogue (in Czech, English summary) [6.6MB PDF]

[article] [photo archive]

Mentioned in this article (with good illustrations of historical documents) from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Addis Ababa and this article: “Czechs, who conquered the world behind the steering wheel” …