Greetings loyal airman.  I'm sure my title had you thinking I was going to launch into an essay on Marvel's killing off their iconic hero, Captain American, a few days ago.  That particular marketing gimmick caught the news media on a slow day and made national headline.  What didn't get half as much press was the passing away of a true, American hero; Olympic winner and actor, Herman Brix, at the age of 100.

He was born in Tacoma, Wash. in 1906, was a track star at the University of Washington, where he also played football and was in the 1926 Rose Bowl game.  In 1928, he won the Olympic silver medal in the shot put.  After moving to Los Angeles the next year, he became friends with actor Douglas Fairbanks, who arranged a screen test. In 1934, tired of the Hollywood version of his famous apeman, writer Edgar Rice Burroughs picked Brix to star his onw production of “The New Adventures of Tarzan.”  It was the first time the classic pulp hero would appear on screen as he was in the books, cultured, bio-lingual, both a civilized and savage man in one.  Brix played him perfectly and remains to this day, my favorite film Tarzan.

                                         
             
This led Brix to a chain of starring roles in some of the finest serials ever produced, such a “The Fighting Devil Dogs”, “Daredevils of the Red Circle”, and “The Lone Ranger.”  All for Republic Studios.  That's Brix at top far right, with his fellow rangers.  Eventually tired of the B movies, he later changed his name to Bruce Bennett and went on to make many excellent feature films for various studios.  A friendship with Humphres Bogard led him to his most famous role as the ill-fated prospector in “The Treasure of the Siearra Madres.”

Brix never gave into the Hollywood party set and during his entire career remained a devoted husband and loving father.  He retired from the movies in the 1960s and then had a successful business career in real estate until his retirement in the mid-80s.   A quiet, good man, who in his lifetime won an Olympic medal and portrayed some of my favorite heroes on the silver screen.  It was no shock to me that he lived to see 100.  He was really a class act and the world is a better place for his having been here.

                           

Last week I announced the creation of my new pulp book outfit, Airship 27 Production and our partnership with Adamant Entertainment.  A few days ago, we released our last new book with our old publisher, Wild Cat Books.  It is the tenth book we produced with WCB over the past two years and clearly one of our finest.   SECRET AGENT X Vol II sports a gorgeous cover by artists Rob Davis and Chris Carney, and has four brand new Agent X thrillers by writers Kevin Olson, Greg Gick, Tom Johnson and Sean Ellis.  All wonderfully put together by our Design manager, Anthony Sciavino.  If you'd like to take a preview look at it, go to our WCB link on our links pages.  It's another classic pulp winner.

And there you have it, airmen, another week.  And thanks to all of you who wrote concerned about our bout with the stomach flu last weekend.  We all appreciated your well-wishes for our speedy recovery.  Happily those awful couple of days are long gone now.  We change the clocks tomorrow night and the Red Sox are playing good baseball in Ft.Myers.  All marvelous signs that Spring is finally on its way. Thank God.

Ron,over and out.