In Laymon's Terms

Gradually, over the course of future conversations, I raised the possibility of Leisure publishing some of Dick’s work. Now, you have to remember this was in the beginning of Leisure’s horror line. The line had been started but wasn’t all that well established yet. We’d published some great authors, but to a lot of people Leisure was definitely an unknown quantity. And we didn’t have a giant corporation behind us, like the other mass market houses. There was really, when you get right down to it, no reason why he should trust Leisure after he’d been stung by larger houses. Dick was, indeed, a little reluctant at first, but, for whatever reason, in the end he was amenable and we agreed we would start with Bite...

Now we jump ahead to (I believe) the following year’s World Horror Convention. The organizers of the con had asked if I would present a little half-hour intro to Leisure Books early one morning and I had agreed. It was only when I got there that they told me they had changed it to an hour. And they had put it in a lecture hall.

So there I am at what felt like the crack of dawn, in a room that looked to me like an amphitheater, with not nearly enough prepared material to fill an hour. I remember walking down the steps from the back of the lecture hall to the stage, looking at a pretty crowded room, and knowing I didn’t have very much interesting to say. Classic nightmare material. When I got to the stage I looked over the audience and I saw some recognizable faces, including, in the front row over to the right, Dick Laymon.

If I ever knew what I said in the first part of that presentation, I’ve long since forgotten it. I imagine it was a general introduction to me and Leisure, the kind of books we published, how to go about submitting, etc. I rambled on for as long as I could, then I opened things up to Q & A. That’s the part I remember.

There were a couple polite questions from folks in the audience. Then I saw Dick’s hand in the air. I couldn’t imagine what Dick would want to ask, but I called on him. I remember he stood up at his seat in the front row...and turned to the audience. (I’m paraphrasing here, but if I’m misquoting it’s not by much.) He said, “I’m Dick Laymon. I think a lot of you know me, and you may know about some of my experiences with editors.” Not just my heart but every one of my internal organs froze. This could go real bad real fast. I immediately started thinking of every conversation I’d ever had with Dick. I couldn’t think of anything that had gone wrong, but still I braced myself. I could see curious and expectant expressions on the faces of most of the people in the audience. Dick Laymon talking about an editor! Oboy! Here we go!

It wasn’t a big thing. It wasn’t anything dramatic, so if you’re hoping for some juicy dirt here, sorry. All Dick said was, “Well, I’ve worked with Don a bit and so far he’s been OK.” Then he sat down.

Now, to you this may not seem like much. You may even be thinking, “I read three pages worth of build-up for this?” And if almost anyone else had said it, I’d probably agree with you. But this was Richard Laymon. This was someone whose work I loved and whom I really admired, someone whose opinion meant a lot to me. And someone who certainly didn’t feel the need to say nice things about editors, especially to an audience. As far as editors were concerned, Dick was the ultimate tough critic.

So to me this meant something.

Some older people may remember a TV commercial for a particular rye bread from the 1970s. It featured the owner of the Carnegie Deli in New York City eating a sandwich made with the bread in question and saying, “It makes a nice sandwich. A nice sandwich.” At which point the voice-over narrator informed us, “And from a deli owner that’s a rave!”

I doubt anyone would consider Dick’s simple “He’s OK” a rave, but it was sure good enough for me. It was like one of the cool kids in school waving to the new kid. Dick didn’t have to do it. No one had asked him to. But that simple little gesture, especially coming when and where it did, sort of summed up Dick for me. It was a thoughtful, generous, and damn kind thing to do. The kind of thing Dick did a lot of, for a lot of people. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about Dick helping out young writers with advice, criticism, or encouragement. I guess he didn’t mind even helping out an editor now and then, too.

Dick and I continued to work together, getting his books into the hands of American fans and introducing him to new readers. As I write this, it’s been nearly ten years and twenty-four books since we started. My goal all along has been to see to it that Dick and his books get all the respect and admiration they deserve. From the day I met him to the day he passed away (fifteen minutes after sending me an email) Dick was never less than wonderful to me.