Henry Felsen

Henry Gregor Felsen (August 16, 1916 – March 2, 1995) was an American writer, particularly of middle grade (MG) and teen (YA) books. He wrote both under his own name and a title under the pen name of Angus Vicker.

Biography

Felsen was born and attended school in Brooklyn, the son of Harry and Sabina Bedrick Felsen. He attended the University of Iowa for two years, where he met his first wife Penny, from whom he was later divorced.^[1]

He taught part-time at the Drake University (1964–1969), and in 1977 left Iowa to spend his remaining years travelling. His second wife Karen survived him, as did a son (Dan) and daughter (Holly) from his first marriage, and two stepchildren.

Career

After struggling financially during the Depression, Felsen sold nine books and hundreds of stories in his first eighteen months of full-time freelance writing in the early 1940s. After war service with the Marine Corps, during which he edited the Corps magazine Leatherneck and also wrote magazine articles while stationed in the Pacific, he returned to Iowa where he lived for most of the rest of his life.

His best-selling book was Hot Rod,^[2] one of a rodding series that also included Street Rod and Crash Club and sold about eight million copies in all. He wrote about 60 books, many of them moralistically exploring the evils of drugs, sexism and racism.

He is also credited with one screenplay, for the 1968 film Fever Heat, based on his novel of the same name which had been published under the pen name of Angus Vicker.

Bibliography

• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). He's in Submarines Now. McBride.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). He's in the Coast Guard Now. McBride.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). Jungle Highway. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). Navy Diver. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). Struggle is Our Brother. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). Submarine Sailor. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Vicar, Henry; Felsen, Henry Gregor (1942). The Company Owns the Tools. Westminster Press.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1943). Pilots All. Harper.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1943). Some Follow the Sea. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1947). Bertie Comes Through. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1947). Flying Correspondent. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1948). Bertie Takes Care. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1949). Bertie Makes a Break. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1950). Davey Logan, Interne. E.P. Dutton & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1950). Hot Rod. E.P. Dutton & Company. ISBN 978-0-525-32245-0.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1952). Cub Scout at Last!. Scribners.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1952). Two and the Town. Charles Scribner's & Sons.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1953). Doctor, It Tickles!. Prentice-Hall.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1953). Street Rod. Random House.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1954). Anyone for Cub Scouts?. Charles Scribner's & Sons.
• Vicker, Augus; Felsen, Henry Gregor (1954). Fever Heat. Dell. ISBN 978-0-917473-09-8.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1954). The Cup of Fury, AKA Rag Top. Random House. ISBN 978-0-917473-08-1.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1955). The Boy Who Discovered the Earth. Charles Scribner's & Sons.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1956). Medic Mirth. Ace Books.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1958). Crash Club. Random House.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1960). Boy Gets Car, AKA Road Rocket. Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-90976-9.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1962). Letters to a Teen-Age Son. Dodd, Mead & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1964). To My Son, the Teen-Age Driver. Dodd, Mead & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1965). Here is Your Hobby: Car Customizing. G. P. Putnam's & Sons.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1966). A Teen-Ager's First Car. Dodd, Mead & Company.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1966). Why Rustlers Never Win. Scholastic Book Service.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1967). To My Son in Uniform. Dodd, Mead & Company. ISBN 978-0-396-05468-9.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1971). The Spaceman Cometh. Perfection.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1971). Necktie Party, The and Some Other Comic Western Tales. Perfection.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1971). Why Outlaws Rue the Day, The Little Texas Stranger, Why Banks is Robbed in Texas. Perfection.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor (1976). Living With Your First Motorcycle. G. P. Putnam's & Sons. ISBN 978-0-399-60978-7.
• Felsen, Henry Gregor. Can You Do It Until You Need Glasses: The Different Drug Book. Dodd, Mead & Company 1977. ISBN 978-0-396-07483-0.

References

1. Welch, Holly Felsen. "About Hank". Biography. Holly Welch. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
2. Felsen, Henry Gregor (1950). "Hot Rod". Backstory. E.P. Dutton & Company. ISBN 978-0-525-32245-0.

External links

• Official website
• Henry Gregor Felsen bibliography
• University of Iowa Papers of Henry Gregor Felsen
• The Iowan Books – Hot Rod, new edition http://www.iowan.com/shop