What a wonderful surprise when I was contacted by Laura De Silva of Open Road Integrated Media and presented with the opportunity to share this information: sixty-three Howard Fast titles to be published in EBook format, this month, December, 2011.

There’s so much I could say about this hero of the real America, this spokesman for the common person everywhere. If you haven’t heard of Howard Fast, there’s a good reason for it. His work was banned and effectively buried during what Fast, in his memoir, Being Red, called the “mini-terror”—the McCarthy era. And although the ban was eventually lifted, it seems that the mini-terror lives on through our propaganda driven fears—the shadow places of our collective minds— as we struggle, seemingly in vain, to rise to the consciousness of a free people.

Those of us who love and appreciate Fast’s work could go on and on, but I would ask you to let Fast tell you the story  his way. If you read just one —perhaps The American (classic struggle of the American worker), or Freedom Road (the terrible reality of post-slavery “reconstruction”), or the poignantly heartbreaking revolutionary war novel, April Morning, I think you may want to, as I have begun to do, seek out the surviving copies of his books, tattered and battered though you may find them. However, Open Road Media has done much of the work for us at this time. Lover of technology or no, the work of this incredibly prolific writer is being preserved. For that we should be very grateful.

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog. Please leave a comment if so inclined. If I decide it’s not spam, I’ll approve it.   (:<)>     Namaste, jesse s. hanson

NOTE: The video above and all of the content below is reprinted from The Open Road Blog

 

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NEWS FROM OPEN ROAD: December 13, 2011

 
Sixty-three Titles by New York Times Bestselling Author Howard Fast

Launching as Ebooks from Open Road Media

“The only thing that infuriates me, is that I have more unwritten stories in me

than I can conceivably write in a lifetime.” —Howard Fast
 

Sixty-three titles by Howard Fast (1914­­–2003), one of the most prolific American writers of the twentieth century, will be released as ebooks by Open Road Integrated Media in December. Open Road will publish both fiction and nonfiction during a three-stage rollout.
 

Howard Fast, the bestsellingauthor of more than eighty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays, grew up in New York City and published his first novel upon finishing high school in 1933. In 1950, his refusal to provide the United States Congress with a list of possible Communist associates earned him a three-month prison sentence, along with a place on the blacklist of severalmajor publishers. During his incarceration, Fast wrote one of his best-known novels, Spartacus (1951), and went on to found his own press, Blue Heron, in order to release the work. Throughout his long career, Fast matched his commitment to championing social justice in his writing with a deft, lively storytelling style. His collection of bestselling novels such as Conceived in Liberty, Citizen Tom Paine, April Morning, and The Legacy illustrate themes of freedom and human rights in a time of turbulence and global war.

On December 13, 2011, nineteen titles—including April Morning—will be released. In April Morning, on the eve of the American Revolution, the Battle of Lexington and Concord changes a boy’s life—and a nation’s history—forever. Sweeping in scope and masterful in execution, this novel is a classic of American fiction and an unforgettable story of one community’s fateful struggle for freedom. The Incredible Tito, Fast’s fascinating biography of Joseph Broz, known to the world as Tito, including his rise to power and his remarkable stand against fascism, will be offered to readers as a free download.
 

On December 20, nineteenmysteries by Howard Fast writing as E. V. Cunningham will be released as ebooks. These include the Masao Masuto mysteries, beginning with The Case of the Angry Actress, starring detective Masuto, a second-generation Japanese-American, Buddhist homicide detective. Other titles include such female-centered works as Phyllis, Sally, and others.

On December 27, twenty-five titles will complete Open Road Media’s Howard Fast ebook collection. Three of these are from Fast’s much-loved Immigrants series, an immensely popular saga that spanned six novels and over a century of the Lavette family’s story. Of this series, Open Road will release The Legacy, The Immigrant’s Daughter, and An Independent Woman. Two of the nonfiction titles—The Art of Zen Meditation, in which Fast offers readers a simple, straightforward introduction to Zen meditation, which had a profound influence on his writing and personal philosophy; and Spain and Peace, a 1951 pamphlet that contains a powerful denunciation of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco—will be offered as free downloads.

Extra content includes:
 

•  Behind-the-scenes author commentary and videos at www.openroadmedia.com/authors/howard-fast.aspx
•  An illustrated biography in each ebook, including previously unseen photographs and documents from Fast’s personal life and distinguished career
 

               
 

Amazon.com, Apple iBookstore, Barnesandnoble.com, Google eBookstore/IndieBound, Kobo Books, OverDrive, and Sony Reader Store

Availability begins on December 13, 2011:

 
The American

April Morning

The Children

Citizen Tom Paine

Clarkton

Conceived in Liberty

Departure

The Edge of Tomorrow

The Incredible Tito*

The Last Supper

Moses

The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti

Patrick Henry and the Frigate’s Keel

Place in the City

The Proud and the Free

Silas Timberman

The Story of Lola Gregg

Thirty Pieces of Silver

The Winston Affair
 

On December, 20, 2011

mysteries by Howard Fast writing as E. V. Cunningham will go on sale:

 
Alice

Cynthia

Helen

Lydia

Margie

Millie

Penelope

Phyllis

Sally

Shirley

The Assassin Who Gave Up His Gun

The Case of the Angry Actress

The Case of the Kidnapped Angel

The Case of the Murdered Mackenzie

The Case of the One-Penny Orange

The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs

The Case of the Russian Diplomat

The Case of the Sliding Pool

The Wabash Factor
 

On December 27, 2011

more titles will be added to the Howard Fast ebook collection:

 
Agrippa’s Daughter

The Art of Zen Meditation*

The Confession of Joe Cullen

The Crossing

Dinner Party

The General Zapped an Angel

Greenwich

Hunter and the Trap

The Immigrant’s Daughter

An Independent Woman

The Jews

The Legacy

Literature and Reality

Max

The Naked God

The Outsider

Peekskill USA

The Pledge

Power

Redemption

Spain and Peace*

Strange Yesterday

Time and the Riddle

Torquemada

A Touch of Infinity