Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 34, No. 13 & 14, Winter 1989

Editor’s Notes by Cathleen Jordan

Welcome to our New Special Winter Double Issue, which takes the place of the Mid-December issue of previous years. It’s a collection of stories numerous enough, we hope, to take you through a number of those “long winter nights” mentioned on the cover, a combination of new and vintage tales.

We’re pleased, by the way, to welcome four authors to our pages for the first time. Geoffrey Hitchcock, whose delightful tale, “What’s Afoot?” opens the issue, hails from New Zealand. Now retired and able to devote more time to writing, he says, “I’ve worked at being an electrical engineer, a fruit farmer, and a scientist. And a sort of soldier.” Herb Henson, author of “Paquette’s Birthday,” is also familiar with the engineering game, and is also a soldier; he’s a technical writer for an electronics engineering firm and is a retired Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer, was a Green Beret, and served in the Marine Corps. “I have,” he says, “a special affection for the Far East and the Pacific islands where I have spent a significant part of my life.” It shows, we think, in his charming treatment of Paquette’s friends and neighbors.

Both Mr. Henson’s and Ed Poole’s stories are their first published stories — rather remarkable, we think. Mr. Poole, author of “A Day at the Lake,” is a denizen of Louisiana and a computer systems programmer, his first job in that field being with the U.S. Navy. (Is there something about the military that creates writers? Hmmm.) And C. J. Hursch, author of “A Meaningful Relationship,” has a Ph.D. in psychology, is a former private investigator, writes novels and short stories, writes also on a variety of nonfiction subjects including computer books, and collects fossilized sharks’ teeth.

We’re glad to have all of them with us, and will pursue the military angle. (We’ve noticed a computer angle, too.) We’ll let you know...

Finally, we especially want to thank Carol Inouye for her delightful illustrations for this special issue. It’s unusual for us to assign all the art in one issue to one artist, but Carol rose to the occasion and then some. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

Cathleen Jordan, Editor