William Gray Beyer
(???? -- )
Little is known today about Beyer. He worked his way through the Drexel Institute (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by selling radio receivers. He subsequently worked at many other jobs including taxi driving, sales, railroading, and police work. At one time he was captain of the Philadelphia police radio and communications department.
He was active as a writer from 1939 to 1951, and his stories appeared in the pulp magazines of that period, principally Argosy.
His science fiction novel, Minions of the Moon: A Novel of the Future, originally appeared in Argosy, and was published in book form by Gnome Press in 1950.
Beyer also signed his work William Beyer, Bill Beyer, and Wm. Gray Beyer. At least one reference source lists him as William Grey Beyer, but this spelling of Gray is undoubtedly a misprint.
Novel-length stories published in Argosy Magazine include Minions of the Moon (1939), Minions of Mars (1940), Minions of Mercury (1940), Minions of the Shadow (1941), Death of a Puppeteer (1946), Murder by Arrangement (1948) [aka Eenie, Meenie, Minie – Murder!], and The Deadly Thinkers (1951).
Published genre books include Minions of the Moon: A Novel of the Future (Gnome Press, 1950) [dustjacket by Edd Cartier], and Minions of the Shadow (Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2003).
Beyer is almost completely forgotten today, with only his Minions of the Moon ever mentioned in the genre literature. At one time, however, his stories were very popular, especially the ones that ran as serials in Argosy. These SF novels were fast-paced and had a certain appeal.
A "neglected genre author" article on Beyer by Jon D. Swartz was published in August 2018 issue National Fantasy Fan.
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