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Books and Works by Dennis Latham
Among his many talents and interests, Dennis Latham (a.k.a. Dennis Marino) was an avid and gifted author. As we can see from his humorous columns, his tastes often ran to the dark and bizarre. There was a genuine heart beating behind that white T-shirt peeking from his Smart Guy suit. Trust me. [JTC 2021]
Sections of this Page: (click to scroll down)
The S-2 Report He counseled tens of thousands of veterans;
Stolen Stories Best proof your stories are top of the line;
Books by Dennis He wrote quirky, unique, excellent fiction.
Besides being a solid citizen on our staff, Dennis led an amazingly productive life. He was a cabaret singer, member of various historical bands, joined ultimately by his gorgeous singer-wife Dorothy on stage in Cincinnati… he was a decorated combat veteran whose monthly advice magazine (The S-2 Report) for years helped thousands of U.S. military veterans; and Dennis was an accomplished author and novelist. Because of the breadth of his achievements, only a few of which can be cited here, I am (2021) sectioning this page as shown above.
The S-2 Report. As a decorated combat veteran (U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War), Dennis had an investigative streak. He was a man on a mission: not only to help himself amid the Veterans' Administration red tape and bureaucracy, but to share insights and realizations with tens of thousands of fellow veterans. He published his monthly report for years. Often, he took questions from his readers, and published them so that we could all learn of Dennis' insights.
FYI: Intelligence Staff Designations The official U.S. military term S-2 refers to Staff 2, meaning Intelligence Staff at battalion level in the U.S. Army or Marine Corps. At the Division (general officer) level, it would be G-2. There is a good explanation at Wikipedia of all this stuff.
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Stolen Fiction. Brian Callahan and I originally published the remarkable noir short story Jumper in our professional SFFH Web-only magazine Deep Outside in 1998. We published several of his short stories, and were so impressed by his talent and teamwork that we asked him to join our all-volunteer staff. Dennis' fiction is superb, but Jumper sticks out among the pack, as events were to prove.
One day, Dennis contacted me in San Diego, CA from his home in Guilford, IN to say that he had discovered the story had been stolen by a leading someone on the editorial staff of a major Canadian literary magazine, who claimed as his own and it was published (which is how Dennis found out). This has happened to me at least once or twice, as with quite a few highly regarded (and envied) authors. It's a familiar element of the dark (sordid) side of the Internet. A prime consideration by such thieves is that maybe you're an excellent author plus not well known, so that in the mind of a predator, 'nobody will notice.' Literary history is rife with tales of plagiarism even by and against top authors already, but those come infamously to light. Long discussion; for another day. I'm not talking 'borrowing.' I'm talking outright theft, with the scavenger putting his or her name on it as if they had written it, to impress their associates at a literary magazine, a college literary department, or a highly regarded library discussion group.
In those days, authors and their supporters (including specialized lawyers) were idealistic and enthusiastic, so a typical scenario quickly ensued. As happened in 1998 with the theft of my SF novel This Shoal of Space by another such bottom feeding sociopath in Austin, TX, Dennis and I set a pack of authors, fans, and lawyers loose on the Canadian offender. At first, as happened with (I won't mention who in Austin), the reaction is anger and disbelief. Then, as the truth sinks in, along with threats of a lawsuit, typically the scoundrel's web presence is shut down by the hosting service, and the person is disgraced for life in their community. The individuals in both Austin and Canada were expelled from their organizations, their web presence was terminated within a few hours, and who knows where such creatures continue on to wreak their insidious crimes. Well anyway, stories that were deemed great enough to steal by highly-placed phonies in top-line legitimate organizations… such stories have proven their mettle. As did Dennis Latham with many short stories and several memorable novels. He was a true original. We miss him. [JTC 2021]
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Major Works by Dennis Latham. Click book cover images for info at Amazon online. Here I will list primarily his novels, not his nonfiction and short story collections. I'll start with one or two but hope to list more soon. Stand by for more info. Dennis published with a number of small presses, including Clocktower Books. Ultimately, he launched his own independent imprint, YSG (Young Stud Gazelle). You just had to know Dennis to comprehend even that bit of wry humor from a happily married, aging family man. [JTC]
More Info Coming. Please visit Dennis Latham's Amazon page to see all of his books. Click on the cover of *Driving With Ace* to reach his Amazon publishing page.
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