Pulp Fiction

Over the course of many, many posts (see some of our history in the entries prior to this one ... hello!) The Unbelievables have made some pretty wild claims and told some pretty (shall we say) "unbelievable" tales.

"Seriously, guys: Is all the stuff you boast about true and factual? I mean ... there are things that really stretch the boundaries of plausibility and seem to carom into the world of science fiction* ..."

And you know what? We understand that. We know you wonder about this stuff.

So here's a brief anecdote about Loren "Butch" Beauchamp.

"Butch" was a nemesis of ours. He was an average, meddling villain of somewhat disreputable report. He put his hands in some pies he shouldn't have and caused a few messes. No big deal really. But we stumbled on him at barber shops working shady deals trying to convince patrons goatees were "a thing of the past." Why? Because he was the only one who wanted to be known wearing one. (His goatee was his "trademark" we came to discover.)

Well ... the guy was nothing if not annoying. So Jeff and Clark steered him into a literary field they thought might suit his creative side.

The result? Pretty spectacular. See for yourself ...

Yep. "Butch" became a sleaze pulp fiction sensation. And quite the successful one, too.

Now the kicker: I was on my annual international nude volleyball tour for a couple weeks when all this went down. Jeff and Clark were handling the case by their lonesomes in my absence. On my return they told me about "Butch" and informed me he'd be coming over for dinner. I was intrigued as all get out. Little did I know (little did the guys know) we were all in for a surprise.

The doorbell at the Unbelieva-Base rang one evening and I go to answer it. Who's at the doorstep when I open up? None other than multiple award-winning science fiction author Robert Silverberg  complete with flowers and several bottles of wine in tow. As a sci-fi buff, I recognized him right away.

A dashing (and younger) Robert Silverberg

with trademark goatee

"You're Michael ... right? How ya doin' ... ??? Jeff and Clark invited me for dinner and I wasn't about to come over empty handed ..."

Over the course of the evening, Bob regaled us of his failed decline into (a rather tepid) villainy and public goatee suppression. It was the kindly efforts of Jeff and Clark, he noted, that led him out of his doldrums and into the paperback sleaze arena (under the pseudonym Loren Beauchamp) which - in turn - put him back on track as the successful sci-fi writer we all know and love.

And there you go. A true tale we're proud to say we had a hand in ... and not only to the overall betterment of one man's life from petty, aggravated chicanery but onward toward a solid, productive career.

World? You're welcome.

* irony personified