Calvin Alden

Calvin Alden

Calvin Alden (b. December 21, 1895, d. April 1954)) is the American author of the popular Harry Love series of occult mysteries.

Biography

Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Alden is a former war correspondent and the author of a popular series of mystery novels. He studied literature and philosophy at Miskatonic University, graduating in 1916. Alden began his writing career as a reporter during the Great War. After repeated attempts to join the RAF in 1918, a British Army general offered Alden the chance to travel with him throughout the European theater as an American observer. While touring Europe and witnessing the war firsthand, Alden wrote a series of letters which were published in his hometown newspaper, the Santa Fe Reporter. The letters were later collected and published as a book, Behind the Front (1920).

Before the war Alden and his father had purchased several oil and gas wells in New Mexico. These wells became the largest producers in the state and made Alden a very wealthy man. In 1921 he moved to California and purchased property in the hills above Los Angeles. He began to pursue screenwriting and worked under contract with several studios, but only one film was produced from his numerous scripts. Dark Gods is a suspense thriller set in an unknown Polynesian island, where the passengers and crew of a shipwrecked pleasure cruise discover a tribe who worship terrible creatures that live beneath the ocean. The film is notable for a number of unique elements: a protagonist who is inept and fails to save the day, characters who are petty and who doom themselves with their selfishness, and an unethical scientist who attempts to save himself at the expense of the others. Dark Gods is most known for its unhappy ending – none of the central characters survive, the hero is beheaded and eaten by cannibals, and the heroine – a gorgeous redhead Hollywood actress named Emily Redmond – is in the end sacrificed to the titular gods.

Professional Career

In 1921 Alden began publishing a series of mystery novels featuring a protagonist named Harry Love. The detective investigates cases which have a definite occult flavor, often involving devil-worshipers and evil sorcerers. The first two volumes of the series contained no supernatural elements and merely used the occult milieu as atmospheric background.

Alden received some attention during a 1923 scandal involving a Hollywood starlet and a secret sex cult. He was arrested and charged with manufacturing alcohol, but the charges were dropped before trial. Later that year Alden released Harry Love and the Temple of Darkness, the first Harry Love novel to involve overt supernatural elements, rather than using the occult as atmosphere. Many speculated his rumored involvement with the cult had influenced this turn in his writing.

In the fourth volume, Harry Love and the Beast of Bunker Hill (1924), Alden introduced a telepathic character known only as "Parker." A psychologist and occult expert, Parker had the ability to touch objects and see their past and future. This volume became the best-selling of the series and was the first to go into repeat printings. Alden has indicated that Parker will appear in future Harry Love novels as the detective's partner.

Alden went on to complete a total of eight books in the Harry Love series, with the titular hero finally meeting his demise in the aptly named, Harry Love and the Mountain of Doom.

During the 1930s Alden wrote and produced four feature length films based on his novels. The films enjoyed mild popularity. Finding the film production life unsatisfying, Alden began traveling extensively with his wife in the 1940s and 1950s, collecting antiques from around the world.

Personal Life

In 1923, Alden became engaged to Georgia Roderick, daughter of industrialist Nathan Roderick. As a wedding gift for his wife, Alden commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a house. The Mayan Revival Style mansion, to be completed in mid-1924, is located in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Los Angeles.

Alden was well-known for the lavish parties held at his mansion. Friends and guests frequently stayed over for days or weeks at a time. Alden was also a popular patrons of the arts, often providing local artists with funding as well as a place to work and live. His early life in Los Angeles was very social, compared to his later years when he was much more withdrawn from public scrutiny.

Books by Calvin Alden

1920	Behind the Front
1921	Harry Love and the Tomb of Despair
1922	Harry Love and the Cult of the Serpent
1923	Harry Love and the Temple of Darkness
1924	Harry Love and the Beast of Bunker Hill
1926	Harry Love and the Order of the Silver Chalice
1927	Writing Fiction (non-fiction)
1930	Harry Love and the Dragon of Paris
1932	Harry Love and the Black Sun Cult
1935	Harry Love and the Mountain of Doom
1938	Miskatonic Memories (edited by Alden, a collection of essays and memoirs from Miskatonic University graduates)

Screenplays by Calvin Alden

1934	Harry Love and the Cult of the Serpent
1936	Harry Love and the Tomb of Despair
1938	The Silver Chalice
1940	Harry Love and the Mountain of Doom

Death

In April 1954, Alden and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in New Mexico. The exact date of their death is not known. Their plane disappeared while en route to California and was not found for several weeks when early search efforts were impeded by unusual and sudden inclement weather conditions.

Alden died without an heir to his fortune, but his will provided a trust fund to enable research at the Promethean Foundation. The will also established a separate trust, the Alden Foundation, which provides scholarships and research funding in a verity of fields.

In 1958 the Alden Foundation and University of Southern California announced the founding of the Alden Chair for Creative Fiction, a permanently-endowed fellowship established for genre fiction authors.