IN NITA SOME ENJOYMENT

You have a filthy mind. I like that in a man.

Harry Whittington wrote an absolute raft of novels, under his name and more than fifteen others, producing them at a pace we suspect damaged their potential quality. 1960’s Nita’s Place, one of ten books he published that year, could have been excellent if he’d had perhaps more time to focus on it. As a concept it’s fascinating. It tells the story of Jay Wagner, forty-four but with a bad heart his doctor says will soon kill him. He’s packed up his life and moved to fictional Cape View, Florida, taking up residence at the Cape View Motel, within site of the Launch Operations Directorate on Cape Canaveral, where he and other residents, all of whom have issues, drink, swim, and watch test rockets lift off.

The mood of the book is captured by the title of the first section: “The Rim of Space.” As in a dying man on the edge of the unknown. We’d almost say Whittington was channelling “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” if his style weren’t so dissimilar. The Cape View Motel, its bar, and its pool all draw passing travelers, scientists from the launch center, and pilots from nearby Patrick Airbase. With such a mix, Wagner’s frail heart is tested by regular intrigues—but most importantly by Nita Miller, beautiful owner of the place, and Callie, her sexually voracious younger sister.

Wagner’s resigned demeanor presents as calmness and wisdom to others, and he becomes a source of advice and help. Simultaneously he allows himself—as a man with no future very well might—to be moved without resistance whichever way the wind blows. A pointless fight with a bully? Sure. A night or two in bed with Callie? Why not? But he really sees something like redemption in Nita. Whether he’ll find what he’s seeking or thinks he needs before he dies is the question. As we said, the book could be better, but through mood and setting Whittington managed to produce something okay here. We liked it. Its cover art, which is excellent, is uncredited.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1976—Gerald Ford Rescinds Executive Order 9066

U.S. President Gerald R. Ford signs Proclamation 4417, which belatedly rescinds Executive Order 9066. That Order, signed in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established “War Relocation Camps” for Japanese-American citizens living in the U.S. Eventually, 120,000 are locked up without evidence, due process, or the possibility of appeal, for the duration of World War II.

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanide—not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juice—resulting in his death in late 1937.

Unknown artist produces lurid cover for Indian true crime magazine Nutan Kahaniyan.
Cover art by Roswell Keller for the 1948 Pocket Books edition of Ramona Stewart's Desert Town.

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