Kirby McCauley

Kirby McCauley(September 11, 1941 – August 30, 2014) was a Minnesota-born American fan of the macabre who went on to a career as a major literary agent and editor professionally based inNew York City,becoming influential in Modern Horror.

Kirby McCauley
Born	(1941-09-11)September 11, 1941 Minnesota,U.S.
Died	August 30, 2014(2014-08-30)(aged 72)
Occupation(s)	Literary agentandEditor

Early life

Kirby McCauley attended theUniversity of Minnesotaand worked as an insurance salesman in theTwin Cities.He was a fan ofH. P. Lovecraftand theWeird Talesschool of horror writers. By the mid-1960s McCauley was corresponding with his favourite supernatural writer, British ghost story greatRobert Aickman.He met the Arkham House authors in and around his native Minneapolis, includingCarl Jacobi,Donald Wandrei,andAugust Derleth.

In 1973,Etchings and Odysseysmagazine was launched in Minneapolis by McCauley, John J. Koblas, Eric Carlson, Joe West and others.

Career

When he decided to move to New York City in the 1970s to become a literary agent, writer and friendRichard L. Tierneyhelped drive him there to set up. McCauley soon had a successful agency representing authors such asStephen King,Roger Zelazny,andGeorge R. R. Martin,who credits him with helping to launch his writing career.

In the following years King's star rose steadily, a result both of his productivity and the promotion his agent provided for him. The novelPet Semataryis dedicated to McCauley, and all but the earliest of the pseudonymousRichard Bachmannovels were copyrighted in his name; for the first edition ofThinner(1984), McCauley provided him with a fake author picture of the elusive "Bachman" that actually showed his own insurance agent, Richard Manuel. King's memoirOn Writing(2000) covers the years he worked with McCauley. The success of King convinced publishers that a market existed for this sort of fiction and a host of contracts were signed by McCauley, who represented many horror writers with his agency.

In 1975, McCauley chaired the firstWorld Fantasy Convention,an event he conceived withT. E. D. Kleinand several others.

McCauley was a co-executive producer on theJohn Carpenter-directed 1983 movie of Stephen King's novelChristine.

He received special thanks on the 1987 King-based movieCreepshow 2and the 2008 documentary about the making of Frank Darabont's 2007 version of King'sThe Mist,titledWhen Darkness Came: The Making of The Mist.

Works edited

• Night Chills.NY: Avon, Nov 1975.
• Beyond Midnight.NY: Berkley, Nov 1976. Italian edition asRacconti senzo respiro. Volume primo(trans. Giuseppe Lippi). Mondadori, 1981.
• Frights.NY: St Martin's, 1976. London: Gollancz, 1977. US paperback Warner, 1977. Italian edition asRacconti senzo respiro. Volume secondo(trans. Giuseppe Lippi). Mondadori, 1981. UK paperback in two volumes asFrights 1andFrights 2,Sphere, 1979.
• Dark Forces.NY: Viking, 1980. Published simultaneously in UK by Macdonald. US paperback Bantam, 1981. Limited 25th Anniversary edition issued in 2007 by Lonely Road Books (Forest Hills, MD). German edition asAcht Stationen des Grauens(Moewig Verlag; trans Elisabeth Simon). Dutch edition asMacaber Carnaval(Loeb, 1983; reprint 1990; new edition In der Toren publisher, 1993).
• Stille Nacht, grausame Nacht(Moewig Verlag, 1979, 1985).
• Hammett, Dashiell.Nightmare Town: Stories(edited with Martin H. Greenberg and Ed Gorman). NY: Knopf Doubleday, 2000. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2000.

Awards

McCauley was the recipient of the 1996 Minnesota Fantasy Award, presented at Arcana 26 (Oct 4–6, 1996) - seeArcana (convention).

Interviews with McCauley

• "The Kirby McCauley Interview" (1978) byDavid Bischoff.ThrustNo 10 (Spring 1978)
• Dark Forces: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition(Lonely Road Books, 2007). Interview byKealan Patrick Burke

Death

He died ofkidney failureassociated with long-term diabetes in August 2014.

Awards

• 1979World Fantasy Convention Award
• 1996Minnesota Fantasy Award