Romanus Frederick Starzl was born in Le Mars, Iowa on December 10th, 1899.

Starlz started his career as a reporter for his father’s newspaper the Le Mars Globe Post which was formerly the German-language newspaper, Der Herold.

His quest to help run and eventually own the newspaper incentivised him into finding ways to raise the necessary funds. Writing for the pulps seemed an easy and obvious way to accomplish this.

Between 1928 and 1934 he had 24 stories published in the various thriving Pulp magazines. His work was never as inspired as some of the real creative genius’s who flourished at the pulps but it was more than decent and he had a particular flair for inventing monsters and plot twists, though sometimes they may have been ‘inspired’ by the works of others.

His initial offering is perhaps his best remembered, “Out of the Sub-Universe” (Summer 1928 Amazing Stories Quarterly) where a man and woman descend into a sub-atomic world and 30 minutes later (by Earth-time) several hundred descendants return because a million years have passed in their world. 9 of his stories feature the Interplanetary Flying Police but none are linked. Each of his stores may hold elements of the others but stand as individual and separate works. He managed to stand out among his peers though through a skill with words and a penchant for creative ideas.

He became a partner in the Globe-Post in 1934 and with it ceased his writing career. Whether that was because his funds were now raised and his interest diminished or the increased workload of running the newspaper took up his time is not known.

By 1940 he was the sole owner and publisher. This continued until 1968, when his printing plant was razed by fire.

He was a member of both the German Rocket Society and the American Rocket Society. Later in life, he developed an interest in right-wing politics.Romanus Frederick Starzl died in Le Mars, Iowa on April 8th, 1976.

Roman Frederick Starzl

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