Robert Emmett McDowell

Born in Sentinel, Oklahoma, on April 5, 1914, he was raised in Louisville, Kentucky, which remained the center of his life and work. During World War II he served in the Merchant Marine, and that experience helped launch his fiction career.

Writing as Emmett McDowell as well as Robert E. McDowell, he published stories in magazines such as Amazing Stories, Astounding Science Fiction, Planet Stories, and Jungle Stories. Alongside that pulp output, he became especially respected for writing and researching Kentucky history.

Later in life he was closely connected with the Filson Club in Louisville and served as editor of The Filson Club History Quarterly from 1971 until his death in Louisville on March 29, 1975. His reputation today rests on that unusual blend of popular magazine storytelling and serious historical work.