About the Society
Our Purpose | Our Newsletter | A Brief History and Past Officers of the Derleth Society
Accomplishments | Goals and Progress

Our Purpose

The August Derleth Society is a non-profit organization formed in the late 1970's to actively preserve the rich memory of this true renaissance man. Our goal is to encourage the study of August Derleth's work and to preserve the memory of this Wisconsin writer, publisher, editor, columnist, naturist, environmentalist and teacher. We are dedicated to the prospect of bringing many of Derleth's beloved titles back into print, as we are witnessing a strong resurgence in reader interest.

As his loyal following and his expansive readership continue to grow, the August Derleth Society remains committed to its purpose to foster ongoing, two-way dialogue, promoting the best aspects of his singular personality, gentle manner, and brilliant mind.

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The ADS Newsletter

We recount the many artifacts and anecdotes of Derleth's life and times in our quarterly newsletter. Co-written with some of Aug's surviving contemporaries, his loyal readers and newest fans, the articles are selected and edited by Kay Price, Executive Secretary of the ADS.

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A Brief History and Past Officers of the Derleth Society

In 1978 Richard Fawcett, a school administrator from Connecticut, came to the Firehouse Restaurant in Prairie du Sac and held an open meeting to start the August Derleth Society. He had discovered a couple of Derleth's books in a used-book store and was so impressed he wrote the Sauk City Chamber of Commerce and asked how to join the Derleth fan club. When he was told there was no such thing he was appalled and decided he would start one.

Fawcett realized that Derleth had made a major contribution to American literature and deserved to be recognized for his fine work. Fawcett was so excited about the quality of Derleth's writing that he flew to Wisconsin to start the Society.

The Society worked hard over the next decade, managing to accomplish each of the goals that were set forth from the beginning and much more. In 1981, to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of Derleth's death, the August Derleth Society and the Baraboo campus of the University of Wisconsin joined forces to put on the "Walden West Festival." It was a big success with art displays, slide shows, photo exhibits and a bus tour of the area. A grave-side memorial service climaxed the weekend with speakers and music.

The Society started an August Derleth Prize for promising young writers at the University of Wisconsin which is awarded each year by the English Department. They are responsible for several more writing awards.

In 1988 the Society moved into its first home in the Sauk City Library and presently has a large display of Derleth memorabilia available to the public. Each October the public is invited to attend the Walden West Festival which is held in Sauk City. There is a lunch, speakers, displays, videos, etc. One year they had a Mystery Weekend instead that was a big success. Another year there was a dinner train ride.

The ADS is proud of the new "Augie's Room" located in Leystra's Restaurant in Sauk City. Tourists from all over the world have come to visit and to learn more about Augie.

Presidents of the ADS to date have been:

        Wilfred E. Beaver (1977-78)

        Gerald Heideman (1979-80)

        Kay (Mulcahy) Price (1981-82)

        Bill Dutch (1983-84)

        Bill Dyke (1985-86)

        Jim Kirchstein (1987-88)

        Walden Derleth (1989-90)

        Char Olson (1991-92)

        Paul Smedegaard (1993-94)

        Paul Meyer (1995-96)

        James P. Roberts (1997-2000)

        Jim Kirchstein (2001-02)

        Dr. George Vanderburgh (2003-04)

        Jim Schwarz (2005-06)

        Perry Huntoon (2007-

Accomplishments

The ADS...

·         Has has a membership of 450 people worldwide.

·         Produces a quarterly newsletter with original Derleth materials, essays, photos, and local news.

·         Sponsors an annual event every 2nd Sunday in October called The Walden West Festival, which is open to the public. It includes skits, music, speakers and entertainment for August Derleth fans. The Festival is expanding and now includes activities for the whole weekend, including among other things, a drive through the countryside and an evening poetry reading at Derleth’s grave.

·         Provides tours of the Derleth area, highlighting where Derleth was born, where he is buried, where he hiked, and the places he wrote about in his books. Busloads of tourists come to the area to eat, shop, and to explore Derleth’s hometown.

·         Provides speakers for tours and for schools, clubs and organizations throughout the state. There have been requests from IL, MN and IA and the demand is greater than the availability of the speakers.

·         Has created displays and exhibits, some permanent and others for temporary shows. Permanent displays are at Leystra's Restaurant in "Augie's Room," The "Derleth Room" in the Sauk City Library basement, "Augie's Display" at the Cedarberry Inn and one at the Sauk County Historical Society in Baraboo. An example of our temporary displays was the large display at Grand Avenue School in Prairie du Sac as part of our Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Celebration.

·         Established a scholarship fund for University of Wisconsin Madison students who excel in writing. The annual August Derleth Prize is given out every year by the head of the Dept. of English, Professor Ron Wallace. This prize is much sought after and valued by the winner.

·         Supports the August Derleth Young Writers Project for 3rd and 4th graders from around the area. This includes writers' workshops and writers' contests. Board members participate in judging the contest. Awards are given out at the annual Walden West Festival.

·         Hold monthly readings to discuss individual books by Derleth in Madison bookstores and in the Sauk City library.

·         Assumed responsibility for reprinting Derleth books that have gone out of print averaging 4 or 5 books per year. Also printing new materials that have never before been published, including newly discovered Derleth novels and short stories. The Midwest Book Review is currently reviewing our new book In Lovecraft's Shadow on TV, the Internet and in their monthly magazine.

·         Has gathered together short stories and poems by Derleth, long out of print and unavailable to readers, and raised money to create many books and publish them for his fans.

·         Has created a new interest in Derleth in the grade and high schools providing new readers of Derleth material for future generations.

·         Has established places to sell and buy Derleth books, making them available to readers everywhere.

·         Works with the Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind in Milwaukee to provide Derleth books in Braille. We will do more titles this year.

·         Provides a mail order source for Derleth books. People order books and we pack them up and send them around the world.

·         Provides support for the author Zona Gale fans in Portage. Provide speakers for Zona Gale Days. Provided Derleth memorabilia to the Portage Historical Society last summer when they had a Derleth/Gale exhibit. Show support for their local activities. Presently planning to reprint Still Small Voice, a biography of Zona Gale, by Derleth.

·         Stays in touch with other authors groups who had correspondence or personal friendships with Derleth, including the Hamlin Garland group in West Salem and the Jesse Stuart Foundation in Greenup, Kentucky.

·         Has gathered a collection of Derleth memorabilia including copies of his books, letters, photos, and personal items.

·         Has received, based upon our reputation,  the gift of H.P. Lovecraft’s priceless telescope. (Lovecraft is to the 20^th century what Edgar Allen Poe was to the 19^th century.) We have countless requests, either to see the telescope, or to know more about it, from science fiction/fantasy fans around the world. A recent request was for slides and measurements, for a lecture to be held at Brown University's Ladd Observatory in Providence, Rhode Island.

·         Received permission to name the Sauk City bridge crossing the Wisconsin River the August Derleth Bridge and had a big dedication ceremony.

·         Created an exciting web site on the Internet (http://www.derleth.org.) so our members, and all Derleth fans have access to information about Derleth and all things relating to him. We keep the web site current and active.

·         Supported Professor of Horn Douglas Hill, from the University of Wisconsin's School of Music in his efforts to turn Derleth poetry into music. He started out creating music for four French horns and a soloist. With Prof. Hill's tireless effort, the music evolved into a second piece with full chorus and orchestra. The World Premiere of "A Place for Hawks" was held at the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison, and it became a part of the Centennial Celebration of the University of Wisconsin's School of Music. Another performance recently took place at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. This music, born of the poetry of Derleth, will continue to be played and sung by musicians from all over the world.

·         Provides resources for media and newspapers, often sending out press releases and answering questions for reporters. We appear on TV and radio to talk about Derleth and to promote his books. We handle mail and phone calls that require the efforts of a full time employed worker. We are barely able to keep up with the demand.

·         Has made Derleth multimedia presentations to numerous groups, mainly library groups, and at Walden West Festivals.

·         Has maintained audio and video history of events, members, associates and friends of Derleth.

·         Has done extensive research and accumulated many audio and video clips.

·         Has turned many of Derleth’s novels into Books on Tape.

·         Has created slide shows for use in schools and for seminars.

·         We took part in the PBS video "Gathering Like the Waters" which was partially filmed on the Sauk City railroad bridge and shown nationwide several times on the educational channel. We spoke about the history of the Wisconsin River and the significance of Derleth’s writings about the river.

·         Held Memorial Celebrations with largely attended weekend events to mark the 10^th, 20^th and 25^th anniversaries of Derleth’s death.

·         For the 10^th Anniversary we worked closely with the University of Wisconsin Center at Baraboo. We received a grant and produced the largest woodcut exhibit ever shown of Derleth illustrator Frank Utpatel. We put together a panel of educators for a presentation, created a slide show of places Derleth wrote about in his books, and provided a full weekend of events.

·         For the 25^th Anniversary we conducted a tour of Derleth’s home, Place of Hawks. This was the first time the home was opened to the public since Derleth’s death in 1971. Bus loads of visitors toured the house and went to the marsh barn where Derleth often sat and wrote his poetry.

Goals and Future Projects

The ADS is non-profit organization. If your are looking for a way to promote and preservef Derleth's work , we accept tax-free donations and gifts in our endowment fund. We established an Endowment Fund to raise money to preserve the "Old Harness Shop," on Water Street. This historic building is the site of Derleth's daily visits, and it is often mentioned in detail in his writings. When Derleth's long time friend Hugo Schwenker, passed away in 2001 the Harness Shop was given the August Derleth Society. Hugo worked closely with the society to support their many efforts. He was a thinly disguised 'Sim Jones' in many of Derleth's novels.

For the 1999 Walden West Festival, the ADS had as their guest speaker the premiere British horror fantasy author, Ramsey Campbell. This event brought people from all over the country. Campbell came coming to Sauk Prairie to pay tribute to his mentor, August Derleth. It is the highest of compliments.  The founder of the Derleth Society, Richard Fawcett of Uncasville, Connecticut also attended.

The August Derleth Society members are from all over the world. Only a handful of volunteers do all the work. With a few people, and lots of good will, they have achieved all of the above. They are doing much to promote the area and the image of the local community. If you want to join the Society, remember them in your will, contribute to their endowment fund, or show your support, write to The August Derleth Society, Box 481, Sauk City, WI 53583. If you have questions call 608-643-3242. Membership in the Society is $15 per year for individuals, $20 for families, and $30 for businesses and libraries.

The primary remaining goal of the Society is to promote the reprinting of selected Derleth works that are currently out of print. This is our most difficult task in view of the realities of the world of book publishing today. Without available books, the memory of an author must gradually fade and in time disappear.