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35-416: True Detective Mysteries was founded in 1924 by publisher Bernarr Macfadden . It initially focused on mystery fiction , with a mix of non-fiction crime stories. In the 1930s, Macfadden realized the popularity of the non-fiction pieces and gradually phased out fiction. As such, True Detective Mysteries became the first true crime magazine. In 1941, Macfadden changed the name to True Detective , emphasizing

70-579: A vegetarian . He quickly regained his previous health. In 1899, Macfadden founded Physical Culture (1899–1951?), an American magazine on bodybuilding, health, and fitness, and was editor up to the August 1912 issue. In May 1919, readers letters to Physical Culture magazine which told their personal stories resulted in a new magazine, True Story , and, later, True Detective , True Story , True Romance (magazine) . Aided by long-time Supervising Editor Fulton Oursler , Macfadden eventually grew

105-601: A "Physical Culture City" in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey , which folded after a few years and became the vacation-cabin neighborhood, and, later, suburban development of Outcalt. Nicknamed "Body Love Macfadden" by Time – a moniker he detested – he was branded a "kook" and a charlatan by many, arrested on obscenity charges , and denounced by the medical establishment. Throughout his life, he campaigned tirelessly against "pill-pushers", processed foods, and prudery. Macfadden made an unsuccessful attempt to found

140-679: A former actress, was a prodigious contributor to the Macfadden magazines. Several of her novels were made into films. In 1935, the Oursler family toured the Middle East and spent a week in the Holy Land . On the journey home, Oursler started writing a book titled A Skeptic in the Holy Land . "I started out being very skeptical," he wrote later, "but in the last chapter I almost converted." He assumed that once

175-863: A heart condition, he remarked, "It's better she's gone; she only would have disgraced me." Macfadden died in 1955 after refusing medical treatment for a digestive disorder. He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx , New York City. Upon his death, Edward Longstreet Bodin became the president of the Bernarr Macfadden Foundation. Macfadden has drawn criticism for suggesting in his books that readers not consult any professional physician . Macfadden supported unorthodox ideas that are widely derided as quackery , such as grape therapy supposedly healing cancer . Morris Fishbein wrote that "In his campaign, Bernarr Macfadden aligned himself with

210-450: A number of novels. These include Sandalwood (1925), Stepchild of the Moon (1926) and The World's Delight (1929). He also wrote detective stories and magazine articles under the pseudonym Anthony Abbot, as well as several plays, the most famous of which was the gimmick-filled The Spider (1928), co-written with Lowell Brentano and later filmed twice, in 1931 and 1945 . The great success of

245-411: A publishing empire, including Liberty , Dream World , Ghost Stories , the once-familiar movie magazine Photoplay , and the tabloid newspaper, The New York Evening Graphic . Macfadden's magazines included SPORT , a preeminent sports magazine prior to Time Inc. 's Sports Illustrated . Ghost Stories was a nod in the direction of the rapidly growing field of pulp magazines , though it

280-634: A religion, "cosmotarianism", based on physical culture. He claimed that his regimen would enable him to reach the age of 150. At the peak of his career, Macfadden owned several hotels and a major building in Dansville, New York . He also opened a restaurant in New York City in 1902 called Physical Culture, which was one of the city's first vegetarian venues. Physical Culture vegetarian restaurants were established in other cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago. By 1911, there were twenty such restaurants. Macfadden

315-527: A reporter's job for the Baltimore American . Oursler moved to New York City to edit The Music Trades . He freelanced for a variety of publications early on. His short stories appeared in The Black Cat , Detective Story Magazine , The Thrill Book , and especially Mystery Magazine . Many of his stories, such as "The Magician Detective", incorporate magicians and magic into the plots. In

350-523: A rush of 800 frantic inquiries into the New York office of Alcoholics Anonymous , as it was to be known. Oursler left Macfadden Publications shortly after Macfadden was ousted from the company. Oursler's tenure with the company was continuous from 1921 to 1941, except for a brief period following the success of The Spider (1928). In 1944, he became a senior editor for Reader's Digest (where his son eventually became managing editor). Oursler wrote

385-466: The Mutual radio network, from September 8, 1936 until June 2, 1958. During a gap in the late 1930s the series was instead syndicated in a transcribed form. Bernarr Macfadden Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden , August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture , a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded

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420-409: The 1920s, Oursler aided Harry Houdini in his crusade against fraudulent mediumship . He himself crusaded under the pseudonym Samri Frikell. He was the author of the book Spirit Mediums Exposed (1930), which revealed the techniques of fraud mediums. John Mulholland wrote that Samri Frikell was the pen name of Oursler when he wrote on the subject of magic and spiritualism. He made it by combining

455-428: The 1960s, out-competed by television and increasingly cheap paperback books. Many magazines went out of business. True Detective continued publication, though with increasingly sensational and sexualized content and declining quality. By the 1980s, it was one of only 11 true crime magazines still in print. The magazine went through several publishers; in 1995, it was bought out by Globe Communications , which shuttered

490-649: The Jungle (1929) and Love and War Stories (1930), originated as Good Story magazines. In 1931, Macfadden purchased the assets of the Mackinnon-Fly magazine publishers, which gave him the pioneering sci-fi pulp Amazing Stories , and several other titles; they were published under the Teck Publications imprint. This apparently made Good Story expendable and financial support was withdrawn almost immediately. The Teck titles lasted under Macfadden control until being sold in

525-620: The Tarrytown School read: "To Meet the Needs of a Nation at War". The boys at the Tarrytown School wore uniforms and were subject to military-type discipline and corporal punishment. The Macfadden School operated from 1936 to 1950, and the Tarrytown School operated from 1943 to 1954. The Macfadden Foundation also operated Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee. The foundation began in 1931 when he gave $ 50 million to it. Macfadden

560-460: The body. For example, one photograph showed Macfadden lifting a 100-pound dumbbell over his head immediately after a seven-day fast. Macfadden acknowledged the difficulties of fasting and did not support it as an ascetic practice, but rather because he believed its ultimate benefits outweighed its costs. He was particularly opposed to the consumption of white bread, which he called the "staff of death". Macfadden established many "healthatoriums" in

595-462: The book was published, he would forget about religion. However, perceiving the growing threat of Nazism and Communism , he found himself increasingly drawn to Christian ethics . Astounded at how little people knew about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ , he decided that he would write the story of Jesus and "try and make it as interesting as a serial story in a popular magazine." He would call it The Greatest Story Ever Told . In 1943, Oursler

630-651: The border-line cultists that oppose scientific medicine and devote themselves to the promotion of some single conception of disease causation, prevention, and treatment." Some of Macfadden's publications also drew criticism for their erotic and sexual content. He was targeted by the Society for the Suppression of Vice for producing "pornographic" posters to promote one of his Physical Culture Exhibitions. Macfadden's legacy after his death has largely been tarnished by details of his private life. James Whorton , PhD, notes that

665-431: The eastern and midwestern states. These institutions offered educational programs, such as "The Physical Culture Training School". Although he gained his reputation for physical culture and fitness, he gained much notoriety for his views on sexual behavior. He viewed intercourse as a healthy activity and not solely a procreative one; this was a different attitude than most physicians had at the time. He also attempted to found

700-476: The glamorous and eccentric character of Macfadden's life has led to a predilection for "the amusing tale or shocking incident" in describing it. Whorton argued that this distracts from Macfadden's real beliefs and significance, causing research to be directed "to the outer person, to actions rather than motives." Macfadden wrote over 100 books. This is a partial list of titles: Fulton Oursler Charles Fulton Oursler Sr. (January 22, 1893 – May 24, 1952)

735-457: The late '30s, after which Macfadden was absent from the pulp field. Macfadden also contributed to many articles and books including The Virile Powers of Superb Manhood (1900), MacFadden's Encyclopedia of Physical Culture (1911–1912), Fasting for Health (1923), and The Milk Diet (1923). Macfadden popularized the practice of fasting that previously had been associated with illnesses such as anorexia nervosa . He felt strongly that fasting

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770-463: The long-running magazine publishing company Macfadden Publications . Born in Mill Spring, Missouri , Macfadden changed his first and last names to give them a greater appearance of strength. He thought "Bernarr" sounded like the roar of a lion, and that "Macfadden" was a more masculine spelling of his last name. As a young child, Macfadden was weak and sickly. After being orphaned by the time he

805-434: The magazine's move away from mystery fiction. True Detective 's non-fiction stories retained some of the tone and style of noir fiction and mystery writing, laying the ground for subsequent true crime genre conventions. The magazine had few ambitions to purvey serious literature, although it did publish early work by respected writers like Dashiell Hammett , Jim Thompson , and Ann Rule , among others. It appealed to

840-481: The magazine. After the American magazine shut down, British publishers continued True Detective under a new format, with an increased focus on Australian, European, and historical crimes. Various radio series based on the magazine have run over several decades. The CBS radio network briefly ran the first radio version from May 16, 1929 to May 8, 1930. This was followed by a long association at various times and forms on

875-451: The names of two magicians, Samri Baldwin and Wiljalba Frikell . He was supervising editor of the various magazines and newspapers published by Bernarr Macfadden , from 1921 to 1941. Macfadden urged him to drop the "Charles" from his name. He became editor of Liberty after Macfadden acquired it in 1931. In the fall of 1939, Fulton Oursler, as editor of Liberty , printed a piece in his magazine called "Alcoholics and God," which brought

910-462: The play attracted four plagiarism suits, which were successfully defended by Oursler's private attorney, Arthur Garfield Hays . While still in his teens, Oursler married Rose Karger. They had two children. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1925, Oursler married Grace Perkins , who had been raised Catholic but lapsed in her teens. They had two children, April and Tony. They practiced no religion and did not raise their children in any faith. Perkins,

945-469: The same working class audience as its pulp fiction competitors and became a massive hit, evidently selling around 2 million copies per month in the 1930s and '40s. Its success inspired many imitators. MacFadden created a sister publication, Master Detective , and around 200 other true crime magazines emerged by the 1960s. Within the genre, True Detective was regarded as the standard bearer of quality and reliability. The pulp magazine industry declined in

980-432: Was 11, he was placed with a farmer and began working on the farm. The hard work and wholesome food on the farm turned him into a strong and fit boy. When he was 13, however, he moved to St. Louis and took a desk job. Quickly his health reverted again and by 16 he described himself as a "physical wreck". He started exercising again with dumbbells , walking up to six miles a day with a lead weight in his clothes, and he became

1015-614: Was a large-size magazine that preserved Macfadden's confessional style for most of its stories. In 1928, Macfadden made more overt moves into the pulps with, for example, Red Blooded Stories (1928–29), Flying Stories (1928–29), and Tales of Danger and Daring (1929). These were all unsuccessful. In 1929, Macfadden underwrote Harold Hersey 's pulp chain, the Good Story Magazine Company . Macfadden titles like Ghost Stories and Flying Stories continued as Good Story publications. Other intended Macfadden pulps, like Thrills of

1050-705: Was a proponent of raw foodism and a follower of Sylvester Graham 's philosophies. His Macfadden Foundation established two boarding schools for young boys and girls in Westchester County, New York : the Macfadden School in Briarcliff Manor (Scarborough), originally for ages 4 – 12, and the Tarrytown School in Tarrytown . On March 7, 1943, the advertisement in The New York Times Magazine for

1085-531: Was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot , he was an author of mysteries and detective fiction. His son was the journalist and author Will Oursler (1913–1985). Oursler was born and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland , the son of a poor city transit worker. His childhood passions were reading and stage magic. He was raised in a devout Baptist family, but at 15, he declared himself an agnostic . While still in his teens, he got

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1120-901: Was married four times and had eight children. His son Jack appeared on Groucho Marx 's show You Bet Your Life (December 31, 1953) and talked about his father, who was then 84 years old. He met his third wife, Mary Williamson Macfadden, in England when she won a contest "for the most perfect specimen of England womanhood," sponsored by Macfadden; she was a champion British swimmer. The couple had eight children: Helen, Byrne, Byrnece, Beulah, Beverly, Brewster, Berwyn, and Braunda. Bernarr and Mary separated in 1932, and they divorced in 1946. Macfadden had ambitions for political office. He sought election as Mayor of New York City , US Senator from Florida , and even US president. Two of Macfadden's children died for lack of medical care, as Macfadden viewed all doctors as quacks. When one of his daughters died of

1155-510: Was one of the surest ways to physical health. Many of his subjects would fast for a week to rejuvenate their body. He claimed that through fasting "a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame". He saw fasting as an instrument with which to prove a man's superiority over other men. Macfadden had photographs of himself taken before and after fasts to demonstrate their positive effects on

1190-610: Was received into the Catholic Church . The following year, his son converted to the Catholic faith, and his wife returned to her childhood faith a year later. His daughter converted in 1948. The Greatest Story Ever Told was published in 1949. It was followed by The Greatest Book Ever Written in 1951, and The Greatest Faith Ever Known , completed by his daughter, April Oursler Armstrong, and posthumously published in 1953. The film, The Greatest Story Ever Told , based on Oursler's book,

1225-508: Was released in 1965. Oursler also wrote, as Abbot, the Reader's Digest article that was made into the movie Boomerang! (1947). Another book was Father Flanagan of Boy's Town , 1949, the story of Fr Edward J. Flanagan 's work with young men. The book was co-authored by Fulton's son Will , also a noted writer. Oursler died in New York City in 1952, while halfway through writing his autobiography. Oursler left his estate to his second wife on

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