The Adventures of
Stately Homes and Sherman Horn Being the Compleat Sherlockian Writings of Arthur
Porges
Arthur Porges and Richard Simms
Introduction by Michael
Kean
Arthur Porges was born
in Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 1915. One of four brothers, he was educated
at The Illinois Institute of Technology where he achieved a Masters Degree in
Mathematics. During the Second World War he served in the U.S. Army as an
instructor, stationed for some time at the Camp White military installation in
Oregon. After the war Porges moved to California and spent several years in Los
Angeles as a mathematics teacher at college level. During this period he wrote
and sold short stories as a sideline. In 1957, Porges retired from teaching to
write full-time. He went on to publish hundreds of short stories in numerous
magazines and newspapers. Many of his stories appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's
Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Amazing Stories and The
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His fiction spanned several genres,
with tales ranging from science fiction and fantasy to horror, mysteries, and so
on. At his most prolific his work was appearing in three or four periodicals in
one month alone. Among his best known stories are "The Ruum," "The Rats," "No
Killer Has Wings," "The Mirror" and "The Rescuer." Two previous book collections
of his short stories have been published: Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche
(1988) and The Mirror and Other Strange Reflections (2002). A keen birdwatcher
and an avid reader, Porges also wrote many articles, essays and poems, most of
which were published in the Monterey Herald. After spells in Laguna Beach and
San Clemente, Porges moved north, eventually settling in Pacific Grove. He
passed away, at the age of 90, in May 2006.