Norman A. Daniels

Norman Arthur Danberg was born on June 3rd in 1905 in New Britain, Connecticut. He attended Columbia University as well as Northwestern and later worked as a clerk at a police station in Connecticut and as an insurance-fraud investigator.

Daniels married Dorothy Smith in 1931 and saw his first story published in the summer of that year (November cover date), a tale called The Coffin Nail.  It appeared in the first issue of Thrilling Detective Magazine under the house name of Carter Critz. With Mrs. Daniels' assistance, it is estimated that Norman A. Daniels sold over 1000 stories to pulp magazines, radio, television, comic books and paperbacks.

The following year, Daniels' stories began to appear in The Shadow magazine and in Secret Agent X in 1933. In 1934, Daniels contributed his first story to The Phantom Detective's book. It is estimated that Daniels wrote well over 30 of the Phantom Detective's tales. His contribution to Black Bat Detective Mysteries, featuring a completely different character than the one he would create in 1938, also took place that year. Between 1937 and 1943, his work would appear in Doc Savage magazine as well.

In late 1938, Daniels was asked to create a new series for Black Book Detective, a book to which Daniels had first contributed in 1933. The result was The Black Bat, about a district attorney who is blinded by criminals. He not only regains his sight but also develops the ability to see in the dark then uses the appearance of being blind to his advantage. Of the 61 stories Black Bat stories published between 1939 and 1952, all but six were written by Daniels.

With interest in the pulps fading in the 50's, Daniels directed his skills towards writing for radio, television (including a couple of episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Present) and a series of spy novels for a character named John Keith.

Mr. Daniels passed away on July 19th, 1995, after a lengthy illness. His obituary, found in the July 21st, 1995, Los Angeles Times, follows.