Forgotten Authors: Wilbur Scott Peacock

Wilbur Scott Peacock was born in Wichita, Kansas on June 27, 1915 to Walter Winfield Peacock and Vera (nee France).
Peacock married Eva Lucille Studer in 1940, although their marriage only last a couple of years and she remarried in 1943. Peacock married Gladys Lucille Malagen in 1958. Peacock and Gladys had a daughter, Sharon, and a son, Wynn.
Peacock began publishing fiction in the Fall 1940 issue of Jungle Stories with “The Ju Ju Kiss.” His story “Life Cycle” appeared in the October 1940 issue of Science Fiction and “Uranian Justice” appeared that same month in Captain Future. Over the next fourteen years, hs fiction would appear in numerous magazines, including Terror Tales, Planet Stories, Future Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Blue Book, Super Science Stories, The Phantom Detective, and Startling Stories. Although they usually appeared under bylines reflective of his real name, the story “The Silver Witch” appeared as by John Peter Drummond, a house name used for Ki-Gor stories in Jungle Stories, and shared with Jerome Bixby, Robert Turner, Stanley Mullen, and others. Peacock’s final story, Martians Twitter,” appeared in the July 1954 issue of Fantastic Story
Under the name W. Scott Peacock, he edited Planet Stories from the Fall 1942 issue through the Fall 1945 issue, succeeding Malcolm Reiss (who remained publisher) and giving way to Chester Whitehorne. According to Mike Ashley, Peacock carried on Reiss’s editorial vision and helped male Planet Stories “a thoroughly lively magazine.” He was also the editor of Jungle Stories for five issues from the Summer 1944 issue until the Summer 1945 issue. Boht magazines continued to publish Peacock’s fiction while he was the editor.
In the 1950s, Peacock had a short career writing for television, including an episode of The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, Directors Playhouse, The New Adventures of Martin Kane, and five episodes of The Cisco Kid. Two of his stories, “Night in the Warehouse” and “Last of the Outlaws” were adapted for television as well.
Peacock died in Los Angeles, California on July 7, 1979 and was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Dyersburg, Tennessee.
Steven H Silver is a twenty-two-time Hugo Award nominee and was the publisher of the Hugo-nominated fanzine Argentus as well as the editor and publisher of ISFiC Press for eight years. He has also edited books for DAW, NESFA Press, and ZNB. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace and his novel After Hastings was published in 2020. Steven has chaired the first Midwest Construction, Windycon three times, and the SFWA Nebula Conference numerous times. He was programming chair for Chicon 2000 and Vice Chair of Chicon 7.