Helen Nielsen

[Christa Faust]

I’m writing a short piece on 50’s era pulp mystery author Helen Nielsen. My fixation on Nielsen started because of this photo on the back of the Dell edition of DEAD ON THE LEVEL (aka Gold Coast Nocturne):

I just love that challenging, tough guy stare. She looks like she could take more than half of her male contemporaries in a fair fight.

I could go on, (and on and on) but I’m saving it for the write up. I’m also trying not to get too lost in the digging, which is it’s own kind of tantalizing mystery. After all, it’s only a short 400 word piece.

I do want to float an open question to the invisible cybermasses. Is there anyone out there who knew Helen Nielsen personally? Anyone who was friends with her or knew her through any writers organizations? If so, please drop me a line at faust (at) christfaust (dot) com.