RIP Lou Carrigan

Lou Carrigan, master of the Spanish popular novel, has died

Antonio Vera Ramírez was active for forty years, with a total production of around one thousand one hundred titles

Vigo

By Gabriel Romero de Ávila

August 27, 2024

 

The news has emerged that Antonio Vera Ramírez, one of the most important legends of Spanish popular literature, died on July 29 at the age of 90. His work includes more than 1,100 novels, which he published mainly under the pseudonym Lou Carrigan, but also as Angelo Antonioni, Lou Flanagan and Crowley Farber.

Born on July 2, 1934, in Barcelona, he trained as a commercial expert and began working in banking, but it was always clear to him that his passion was writing. In 1959 he published his first novel: A Man Seeks Another Man, a typical western of those times of kiosks and hardcore books. Popular literature filled the establishments and the imagination of readers, with great authors such as Marcial Lafuente Estefanía ―who had already popularized the stories of the West a few years ago― and Corín Tellado ―specialized in romantic novels―. In fact, these two authors had made their debut in the Cíes publishing house, located in Vigo, which was the one that established in the forties the distribution to newsstands, of such enormous success and copied by other great ones such as Bruguera.

In 1962, the market was so flourishing and Antonio Vera had obtained such good results with his literary work ― which already exceeded twenty short novels ― that he decided to abandon his job in banking and throw himself completely into the task of writing. He was active for forty years, with a total production of around one thousand one hundred titles, which translates ―according to calculations of the author's own print runs and not counting pirated editions, which at that time were numerous― into more than two hundred million volumes signed by Vera, almost always as Lou Carrigan. He wrote adventure novels of all the genres in vogue: Western, science fiction, romantic, erotic, martial arts, war or horror. And he worked for the most significant publishers, such as Bruguera, Ceres, Ediciones B or Salvat.

His longest-running and most popular series was Baby, the Spy, which Vera presented as follows: "Brigitte Montfort is a professional journalist working for the prestigious Morning News, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and professionally recognized within the world of international journalism. He lives in a luxurious apartment on the twenty-seventh floor of the Crystal Building on Fifth Avenue, across from New York's Central Park. Integrated into New York high society, she receives numerous invitations to all kinds of high-level receptions, where she is held in very high esteem for her many and high qualities. In short, it seems that Miss Montfort leads a carefree, comfortable, happy, and seemingly selfish life, but the reality is that Brigitte Montfort is also a high-level independent spy who often works for the C.I.A., codenamed Baby. An expert in Martial Arts and the use of different weapons and vehicles, she is fluent in several languages, including French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese. Under the direct orders of Charles Alan Pitzer, head of the New York sector of American espionage and counterespionage, he sometimes receives direct orders from Mr. Cavanagh, absolute head of the World Action Group of the C.I.A., who summons Brigitte to his office in Langley, always using her in the most risky missions of world espionage."

De Baby wrote the round figure of 500 novels, which makes it perhaps the longest literary series ever written, so its author even filed a petition with the Guinness Book of Records to have that merit recognized. The fame that this character acquired broke borders and decades, especially in Brazil, where he had countless followers.

We have recently learned that Antonio Vera passed away on July 29, but he leaves us a legacy of enormous literary production and a wonderful influence at an international level. The adventure novel genre owes great honors to fast-paced creators endowed with the spark of genius, who each week produced a unique epic and equally thrilled their readers with pirate raids, time travel, ring fights or tragic love affairs. It was they who made it possible for a whole generation of Spaniards to become fond of reading and, week after week, go to the newsstand in search of entertainment.

Rest in peace, master.

CARRIGAN, Lou (Antonio Vera Ramirez)

Born: 7/2/1934, Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Died: 7/29/2024, Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

 

Lou Carrigan’s westerns – writer:

Twenty Paces to Death – 1970 [novel]

Stagecoach of the Condemned – 1970 [novel]

And the Crows will Dig Your Grave – 1971 [screenplay]

Four Candles for My Colt – 1971 [novel]

U.S. Marshal – 1972 [novel series]

Tres hacia Texas [novel]

El brazo de la fiera – [novel]

Un muerta en cada vida – [novel]

Reserva India – [novel]

Oiga, pistolero – [novel]

El valle que quedo en el olvido – [novel]

Jinetes en el cielo – [novel]

Hal llegado tio Henry – [novel]

Cuartel de rurales – [novel]

Me enterraran en Texas – [novel]

Merecio una oportunidad – [novel]

Cumple con tu deber – [novel]

Soplo de Muerte – [novel]

Rural contra rural – [novel]

Cuestion de valor – [novel]

Siempre ganan los rurales – [novel]

McNamara – [novel]

Perdon y venganza –[novel]

Tres canallas formidables – [novel]

Un revolver Tejano – [novel]

Caza hombres – [novel]

La meta del odio – [novel]

Nevada “el duro” – [novel]

Madera de pistolero – [novel]

Estafania –[novel]

Don Juan en Texas – [novel]

Jim el calamidad – [novel]

Cuervos –[novel]

Titulo de la obra –[novel]

Cuando el sol se ponga –[novel]

El tren de Wichita Falls – [novel]

Asesino de asesinos – [novel]

“Sonrisas” Gannet –[novel]

Siempre un Rural – [novel]

Dos Tejanos – [novel]

Ese Hombre Con Revolver – [novel]