Paul Dallas (1921-1984) was a radio broadcaster from the UK who moved to America and wrote Science Fiction for three brief years. All of his stories appeared in Paul W. Fairman’s Amazing Stories and Fantastic. Surprisingly he was not a pseudonym of Robert Silverberg, Milton Lesser or Henry Sleasor. He began his career with his only novel, The Lost Planet, a juvenile novel in the Winston SF series. The novel has Earth and the tentacular aliens of Poseida poised for war. Fortunately the children of both species have more sense.
Fantastic, where most of Dallas’s work appeared, had many different phases. As Fantastic Adventures, under Ray A. Palmer, it was low-grade SF with an Edgar Rice Burroughs flavor. Howard Browne would change it to a stronger magazine but allowed it to slip into a muddle written several hasty writers under several house names. Later under Cele Goldsmith it would become a haven for Sword & Sorcery and good SF. During Fairman’s short reign before Goldsmith, it dropped to its lowest nadir with gimmicky covers mean to shock and outrage the buyer into purchasing it. Dallas didn’t really participate in that, and so never got any covers.
He wrote eight stories before disappearing.
“The Idiot” (Amazing Stories, November 1956) (as Paul V. Dallas) What good is a Machine Friend if you don’t let him do any work?
“Operation Female” (Fantastic, June 1957) The invaders of Earth did not come with spaceships but as women.
“Hell’s Own Parlor” (Fantastic, May 1957) What if when we die we don’t go to Hell but appear as a fly?
“Gas!” (Fantastic, July 1957) (as Paul V. Dallas) Tom McCormack’s got little men in his gas and no one believes him.
“The First Invader” (Amazing Stories, January 1958) When the Martians show up they may not be slavering squidgies but a guy looking for a drug store.
“Mission Accomplished” (Amazing Stories, May 1958) Sometimes the electric chair is just what you need to finish your assignment of killing the primitives.
“Time Squeeze” (Fantastic, September 1958) Time travel and space travel bring an important message to the men of Earth.
“FigureX” (Fantastic, October 1958) What happens when the inventor’s robots evolve emotions?
Conclusion
The Science Fiction magazines are filled with authors, usually young men, who write half a dozen or so stories then disappear. The pay was very low and the fame was even more dubious. As in the case of Paul Dallas, he wrote for one editor in particular, someone who offered a place to begin a career. Unlike the Asimovs and Williamsons, Dallas did not make the leap from Fairman’s magazines to better publications. It surprises me that Winston took him on at the beginning of his career, with no real credits, to write The Lost Planet. The SF book market in 1956 was only getting started so I understand why he had to move to magazines after that book. If Winston didn’t want another one, there really weren’t many places to sell a Science Fiction novel.
Paul Dallas, like Wilm Carver, Abner J. Gelula, D. L. James and many other flames, burned for a moment in Science Fiction’s history, then went out. We have his small body of work to enjoy and wonder. What more could he have done?
