response 125 of 224:

Nov 9 10:52 UTC 2003

Not A.A. Milne.  Our author is American.

Here's another quote:

    I have startling news this evening, listeners.  News from
    the vast reaches of outer space.  Our latest satellite,
    orbiting the earth over two thousand miles out, has sent
    back the most amazing pictures ever seen.  It peeked
    around the edge of the moon from away out at the apogee
    of it's swing, and what do you think it saw?  Another
    moon!  Another moon that hides in the dark sky beyond
    our regular moon.  The moon is smaller than our regular
    moon, but -- oh brother! Is it rich!  It's not 
    a *silvery* moon -- it's a *golden* moon!  Scientists
    checked its spectrographs and verified that it is...
    TWENTY-FOUR CARAT SOLID GOLD!

response 127 of 224:

Nov 9 19:04 UTC 2003

Interesting guess, but not Asimov.

Another hint:  The author's most creative period extended from the early
1940s to around 1960.

Another quote:

    Two thousand years ago, a Mayan ruler tossed his crown
    into a "well of sacrifice."

    "We must appease the angry gods.  They made the
    mountains rain fire on our city.  Perhaps our
    jewels and groceries will soothe them."

    But the gods stayed grumpy, and the great Mayan city
    slowly became a deserted ruin.  Soon no one could tell
    that a city once stood by the dark pool that had been
    a "well of sacrifice."

response 129 of 224:

Nov 9 20:18 UTC 2003

Not Steinbeck.

response 131 of 224:

Nov 9 22:15 UTC 2003

Not H. Allen Smith.

I can't emphasize enough how popular this author's works were.  I've
been unsuccessful so far in tracking down sales figures, but I'd guess
that the original editions sold in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps
millions.  And this author turned out a *lot* of stuff.

Another hint:  The author is deceased.

Another quote:

    Ladywimmin an gints, I never expected to see this here
    gold agin, so I'm gonna do a right handsome thing with
    it!  I'm gonna spend the WHOLE MILLION for MORE PENICILLIN
    for these brave boys to fly to more sick Eskimos!

response 133 of 224:

Nov 9 22:26 UTC 2003

Not Baum.  He died in 1919, long before penicillin and orbiting
satellites.

response 135 of 224:

Nov 10 02:02 UTC 2003

Not Heinlein.

response 137 of 224:

Nov 10 04:36 UTC 2003

Walt Kelly?

response 139 of 224:

Nov 10 14:13 UTC 2003

Hmmm, I had been thinking that this might be a cartoonist.

response 141 of 224:

Nov 10 18:01 UTC 2003

*Exactly* like Carl Barks.  Excellent!  We have a winner.

Carl Barks wrote and drew most of the "duck stories" (Donald
Duck and associated characters) that appeared in Walt Disney
comic books from the early 1940s until his retirement in 1965.
He created Scrooge McDuck, Gladstone Gander, the Junior
Woodchucks, and the Beagle Boys.

The quotes above are from Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck stories
originally published from the late 1940s through the late 1950s
in ten-cent Walt Disney comic books.  They range in length from
ten-page Donald Duck stories in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
magazine to longer adventure pieces with titles like "Crown of
the Mayas" and "The Golden Helmet" in the Donald Duck and Uncle
Scrooge magazines.

In my opinion, althought his name is not as well known,  Barks'
artistic and narrative abilites were comparable to those of Walt
Kelly, who also worked for Disney as an animator (Kelly's name
is in the "Dumbo" credits) and comic book illustrator during
the 1940s.

Kelly broke free of Disney with his "Pogo" character, first in
comic book form, then as the classic newspaper strip.  At that
point, he got to sign his work, and his name became known to
the public at large.  Barks, by contrast, remained in the Disney
stable and thus had to work anonymously - artists and writers for
Disney comic books didn't get to claim any credit for their work
in those days.  As a result, he developed a large collection of
fans who loved his stuff and recognized it as distinctly superior
to that of other cartoonists writing and drawing duck stories,
but who had no idea who he was and who referred to him simply as
"the good artist".

Soon before or after Barks' retirement from Disney, some
persistent fans managed to uncover his identity.  After that
he became a frequent guest at comic book conventions, his duck
stories were reprinted and anthologized, and the original comic
books containing his work became valuable collectors items (a
mint-condition copy of a 1940s comic book containing a Barks
story would probably sell for thousands of dollars today).
In his later years he turned out a series of oil "duck paintings"
based on the original stories that themselves are now collectors
items commanding high prices.  A few years ago, when he was in
his 90s, he was guest of honor at an elaborate celebration of
his work at one of the Disney theme parks.  Belated, but much
deserved, recognition.  Barks died in 2000 at the age of 99.

Barks' stories do tend to exhibit adherence to a formula -
typically some sort of adventure in an exotic land and involving
a long lost treasure.  In his later years, Barks remarked that
if he'd known that there would be any kind of long term interest
in his work, he'd have put more effort into varying his plots.

Okay.  Bhoward guessed it, so he's up for the next quote.

response 143 of 224:

Nov 10 18:45 UTC 2003

Dunno, but probably not Barks.  Doesn't seem like his style.

response 145 of 224:

Nov 12 00:06 UTC 2003

No fair, Lawrence tricked me into blurting that out :-)

Excuse me while I rummage for an interesting quote.
Unfortunately, I'm at work so you'll just have to wait until
(your) tomorrow morning.

response 147 of 224:

Nov 20 10:02 UTC 2003

(thanks polygon...I've been a bit distracted this week
preparing for a trip back to the states)

response 149 of 224:

Nov 20 14:29 UTC 2003

(By the way, I assume that the "Landor" referenced in the quote is
Walter Savage Landor.  His dates were 1775-1864, so it looks like he
didn't quite make it to ninety, contrary to what the quote says.)