Hugh Zachary Papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-MS-145

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Hugh Zachary Papers contain materials pertaining to Zachary's career as a writer and consist of research materials, notes, manuscript proposals, outlines, and drafts of his work. The bulk of the materials included in this collection pertain to Zachary's research for the White Indian book series, of which he authored 14 books under the pen name, Donald Clayton Porter. The collection also contains manuscripts for both published and unpublished novels written by Zachary including two works authored under the pen name, Abby Trent. Additional materials documenting his career and interactions with his agent are also present. The bulk of the materials date from 1992-1998.

Dates

Creation: 1992-1998

Creator

Zachary, Hugh, 1928-2016 (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright Statement

Copyright retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Biographical Note

Hugh Zachary was born on January 12, 1928 in Holdenville Oklahoma. Zachary's interest in writing began in high school when he won a patriotic essay contest regarding students' feelings about World War II. While serving in the United States Army, he continued writing by submitting poems for publication. He claimed that he had 273 rejections before he finally sold a poem to a magazine called "Driftwood" and received a check for $10.

Zachary attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Throughout school and for many years after, he worked for radio and television stations including in Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. He completed his first book, One Day in HellOne Day in Hell, in 1961 and sold it to Novel Books.

In 1963, Zachary made the decision to become a full-time writer and he and wife, Elizabeth, moved to Long Beach, North Carolina. While he struggled with making money as a writer, Elizabeth supported the family. Eventually, Zachary found a niche in writing wholesale paperback books. Over the course of his career he has written books in numerous genres including science fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, and romance. Much of his work has been completed under various pen names and he is well known for his contributions to science fiction and historical fiction series including White Indian, Rack the Healer, Children of the Lion, and America 2040. During his career, Zachary sold over a hundred books and received awards such as the Southern Book Award and First Runner-up for the West Coast Review of Books award.

Zachary passed away at the age of 88 on September 5, 2016 in Winter Springs, Florida.

Pen names used by Hugh Zachary include: Zach Hughes, Elizabeth Hughes, Evan Innes, Pablo Kane, Peter Kanto, Donald Clayton Porter, Gerald Canfield, William Stuart Long, Marcus Van Heller, and Peter Danielson.

Extent

3 Containers (Contains 3 document boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

This collection is arranged in three series.

Series 1: White Indian Research Materials This series contains Hugh Zachary's research materials, outlines, and correspondence pertaining to the White Indian book series. This series, published by Book Creations Inc. (BCI), was originally written by Noel Gerson under the pen name, "Donald Clayton Porter." Gerson was responsible for authoring the first twelve books, after which Zachary assumed the same pen name and authored books 13-26. The final two books in the series were authored by BCI editor Paul Block.

Series 2: Manuscripts This series contains manuscripts and drafts of novels written by Hugh Zachary. The only manuscript in this series to be published was Deep Freeze. All other manuscripts appear to never have been published.

Series 3: Correspondence and Notes This series contains materials pertaining to Hugh Zachary's career as a writer. Included are print-outs from his website, outlines of proposed manuscripts, and notes.