Sparkling Stars #24

This issue of Sparkling Stars includes a non-fiction sports feature on Joe Cronin, the Boston Red Sox manager who led the team to their first American League pennant since 1918, alongside profiles of young chess prodigy Larry Evans and his opponent Walter Shipman. The piece highlights Cronin's unusual path to baseball stardom, including an early tennis championship, and traces his record-setting career from his teenage years through his many achievements as a player and manager.

A visionary exploration of an ambitious new technology, "Ocean Airfields Are Coming" presents the concept of massive seadromes—floating airports anchored safely in the open ocean. The story examines how these structures could serve as vital refueling stations across the Atlantic and protect aircraft operations during peacetime emergencies and wartime threats, drawing on the enthusiasm of inventors and leaders who believe they'll reshape aviation and exploration. This 1947 feature demonstrates how American innovation might transform maritime travel and defense.

Inspector Click Hunt and night-club entertainer Arizona Lee stumble into a cemetery mystery when they discover a creaking coffin concealing something far more sinister than a ghost—a criminal operation run by the notorious "Trigger" Rock and his gang. As they investigate the underground passage beneath the mausoleum, they find themselves trapped and at the mercy of Rock's men, until an encounter with the unstable "ghost-girl" who's been haunting the graveyard changes everything. A tense night of danger, dynamite, and unexpected revelations unfolds in the darkness.

Saxie fills in for Teck during the final round of a student-teacher golf tournament at Ridge High, but what should be a straightforward match becomes anything but when the gang's chaotic antics keep landing the ball in increasingly impossible places—including the professor's back pocket. With the rule that the ball must be played from wherever it lands, Saxie has his hands full trying to complete the round without turning the course into complete pandemonium.

Lauren Bacall's journey from Broadway hopeful to Hollywood sensation unfolds as director Hawks molds her into a star through intensive training in front of the camera. After her breakout role in "To Have and to Have Not," she earns her nickname "the Look" and builds her career opposite major leading men, while her life off-screen becomes just as captivating. "The Look" charts her rise through perseverance and talent, shaped by the people and moments that defined her early stardom.

In 1932 the Bronx, Anthony Marino and his associates devise a scheme to collect insurance money by selecting vulnerable targets—and they think they've found the perfect mark in Mike Malloy, a down-on-his-luck drinker. What Marino doesn't expect is that Malloy proves remarkably difficult to kill, surviving everything from poisoned food and toxic alcohol to being struck by a taxi. As their increasingly desperate attempts fail, Marino's operation begins to unravel, setting in motion a chain of events that will catch up with them all.

When a hurricane wrecks a ship off the Australian coast, Grace Bussell and her horse Rip race into treacherous waters to rescue stranded passengers, battling both the fury of the sea and a rope tangled around the horse's leg. With courage and determination, she makes multiple harrowing trips through the crashing waves to bring every survivor to safety.

Stewart Iglehart picked up polo at just seven years old and quickly rose through the ranks, competing in tournaments by his teens and leading the U.S. team to international supremacy in 1946. A versatile athlete, he's also made waves in hockey, becoming the rare competitor to excel at two of the fastest games in sport. Rated at the highest designation in polo, Iglehart stands as one of the most accomplished athletes of his era.