In 1998, Morris Publishing released SUSPENSE: TWENTY YEARS OF THRILLS AND CHILLS, a 460 page book documenting an obscure radio / television series that earned the attention of Hollywood and Broadway actors, a twenty-year run over CBS, and spawned a series of mystery magazines, comic books, novels and movies including the 1948 classic SORRY, WRONG NUMBER starring Barbara Stanwyck. The author was Martin Grams, Jr. and his SUSPENSE book became the first of many publications penned by Mr. Grams.
The April 1999 issue of Sperdvac's Radiogram commented: "Probably no other series has had such a thorough job of research done on it as Mr. Grams as done in this book . . ."
The February 2004 issue of NECROPSY: The Review
of Horror Fiction commented:
"It's no mystery why radio fans love Grams . . ."
"Mr. Grams is well known by now among fans of old-time radio as a prolific author and publisher of books detailing the life and times of a number of shows that were revered during the golden age of radio. All of his books provide welcome detail about the creation and life of these shows but they are more noteworthy for the extensive logs that make up the bulk of each volume."
Quoted Charles R. Sexton of the RLL ON THE AIR, September 2003 issue
"Martin Grams, Jr. is a name easily recognized by OTR buffs, primarily due to his prolific writing of books on the subject of old-time radio. I like to refer to him as "the Issac Asimov of OTR," as testimony to his amazingly voluminous output."
Quoted Ivan Schreve, Jr. of THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR, Nov. 7, 2003
Martin is the son of Martin and Mary Pat Grams, magician and librarian by occupation. After SUSPENSE, Martin continued writing books and to date, over fifteen publications feature his name on the front cover. A graduate of Kennard Dale High School, he presently lives in Delta, Pennsylvania and like many authors, still works a daily nine to five job while writing freelance as a "hobby."
He has written numerous magazine articles for such publications as SCARLET STREET, FILMFAX, RADIOGRAM, OTR DIGEST, ON THE AIR, RADIO RECALL, RETURN WITH US NOW among others.
He is the recipient of the 1999 Ray Stanich Award, the 2005 Stone/Waterman Award, and the 2004 Parley Baer Award for his contribution to preserving the arts.
Along with his wife, he is active in environmental protection programs and helps support the funding and physical labor that goes into planting new trees, recycling, and alternative resources for electrcity including solar and wind.
Martin is a major fan of classic Hollywood movies and owns his own private movie theater.
Since 1998 Martin Grams has authored or co-authored over a dozen books concerning television, radio and movies. This web-site features all of his accomplishments, past, present and furture efforts in hopes of preserving the dramatic arts.
Martin has also contributed chapters, appendixes and essays for . . .
VINCENT PRICE (2000, ed. Gary and Susan Svehla)
THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK STORY (2001, ed. Ken Mogg)
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN (2003, ed. Ben Ohmart)
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN 2 (2004, ed. Ben Ohmart)
LET'S PRETEND (2004, ed. Arthur Anderson)
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN 3 (2006, ed. Jim Harmon)
and various encyclopedias
Mr. Grams tours actively in book signings and helps organize the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention held annually in September in Aberdeen, Maryland.
Please visit this site regularly to keep up to date where Mr. Grams will be attending book signings near your home, get sneak peaks at his newest books, and your one-stop source for purchasing any and all of the books authored by Mr. Grams without struggling to find a bookstore that carries his books on their shelf.
