Martin Grams, Jr.

Martin Grams, Jr. (b. April 19, 1977, Baltimore, Maryland) is a radio historian who has written extensively on radio, television and films. The son of magician Martin Grams, Sr. and librarian Mary Pat Grams, he was educated at South Eastern School District in York County, Pennsylvania and graduated from Kennard Dale High School in Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania in 1995. He worked a variety of jobs from factory labor to banking before settling on a writing career.^[1]

Radio research

Since 1998, Grams has documented broadcasting in the 20th century in his books: Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and Chills (1998) was followed by The History of the Cavalcade of America (1999) about the Dupont-sponsored radio and television program of the same name. After The CBS Radio Mystery Theater, co-authored with Gordon Payton for McFarland Publishers, Grams followed with Radio Drama (McFarland), The Have Gun – Will Travel Companion, co-authored with Les Rayburn, and The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion (OTR Publishing, 2000), a 660-page survey of Alfred Hitchcock Presents with a complete episode guide.

Francis M. Nevins and Grams teamed for The Sound of Detection: Ellery Queen's Adventures in Radio, a revision of the 1981 study by Nevins and Ray Stanich. Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door covered both the radio and TV series with an appendix on all of Simon & Schuster's mystery novels, three short stories based on uncirculating radio programs, plus a chapter about the Inner Sanctum movies penned by Gregory William Mank.

After the limited edition Invitation to Learning (OTR Publishing), Grams wrote The I Love A Mystery Companion, unearthing never-before-published material by Carlton E. Morse. The book covers I Love A Mystery, I Love Adventure, Adventures by Morse, Captain Post, The Return of Captain Post, The Cobra King Strikes Back, The Witch of Endor, The House of Myths and others.^[1]

Information Please (Bear Manor Media, 2005) includes a chapter on the Information Please Almanac. Gang Busters: Crime Fighters of American Broadcasting (2005) weighs in at 700 pages. In addition to magazine articles (Filmfax, Scarlet Street and Radiogram), Grams has contributed short stories, chapters and appendixes for other books, including The Alfred Hitchcock Story (Titan) and It's That Time Again (Bear Manor).^[1][2]

Bear Manor's 2007 list included two by Grams: The Railroad Hour, co-authored with Gerald Wilson, covers the 1948-54 radio program. I Led Three Lives covers the history of the TV series which starred Richard Carlson as Herbert A. Philbrick.^[1]

Awards

Grams is the recipient of the 1999 Ray Stanich Award, the 2005 Stone/Waterman Award and the 2004 Parley Baer Award for his contribution to preserving the arts. He won the 2008 Rondo Award for Best Book of the Year for The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic.

He is the convention organizer for the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, held annually in Hunt Valley, Maryland. A resident of Delta, Pennsylvania, Grams and his wife are both active in environmental protection programs; they support the funding and physical labor involved with planting new trees, recycling and alternative resources for electricity, including solar and wind.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Meet the Author"
2. ^ OTRR Articles

Bibliography

• Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and Chills Morris Publishing, 1998 ISBN 1-57502-675-9
• The History of the Cavalcade of America Morris Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-7392-0138-7
• The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook to Nine Years of Broadcasting, 1974-1982 McFarland Publishing, 1999.
• Radio Drama: American Programs, 1932-1962 McFarland Publishing, 2000.
• The Have Gun – Will Travel Companion OTR Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-9703310-0-2
• The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion OTR Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-9703310-1-0
• Invitation to Learning OTR Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-9703310-4-5
• The Sound of Detection: Ellery Queen's Adventures in Radio OTR Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-9703310-2-9
• The I Love A Mystery Companion OTR Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-9703310-5-3
• Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door OTR Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-9703310-3-7
• Information Please BearManor Media, 2003. ISBN 0-9714570-7-7
• Gang Busters: The Crime Fighters of American Broadcasting OTR Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-9703310-6-1
• The Railroad Hour BearManor Media, 2007.
• I Led Three Lives: The Television Series BearManor Media, 2007. ISBN 1-59393-092-5
• The Radio Adventures of Sam Spade OTR Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9703310-7-6
• The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic OTR Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0970331090
• The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion Pictures, Comic Books and Television OTR Publishing, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9825311-0-5

Articles

• Audio Classics Archive: Martin Grams, Jr.

External links

• MacGuffin: "Murder and Suspense" by Martin Grams, Jr. (excerpt from Grams' book on Suspense)
• Martin Grams, Jr. official site
• Radio Recall (August 2005): "Shakespeare on Radio" by Martin Grams, Jr.
• Audio Classics: "The Radio Adventures of Ellery Queen" by Francis M. Nevins and Martin Grams, Jr.
• Old Time Radio Researchers Group

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Name	Grams Jr., Martin
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Date of birth	April 19, 1977
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