Editing Charles Fort (section)

==Literary influence==
More than a few modern authors of fiction and nonfiction who have written about the influence of Fort are sincere devotees of Fort. One of the most notable is British philosopher John Michell, who wrote the introduction to the edition of ''Lo!'', published by John Brown in 1996.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fort |first=Charles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43197036 |title=Lo! |date=1997 |publisher=John Brown |others=X. |isbn=1-870870-89-1 |location=London |oclc=43197036}}</ref> Michell says: "Fort, of course, made no attempt at defining a world-view, but the evidence he uncovered gave him an 'acceptance' of reality as something far more magical and subtly organized than is considered proper today." [[Stephen King]] also uses the works of Fort to illuminate his main characters, notably ''It'' and ''Firestarter''. In ''Firestarter'', the parents of a [[Pyrokinesis|pyrokinetically]] gifted child are advised to read Fort's ''Wild Talents'' rather than the works of baby doctor [[Benjamin Spock]].

[[Loren Coleman]] is a well-known [[Cryptozoology|cryptozoologist]], author of ''The Unidentified'' (1975) dedicated to Fort, and ''Mysterious America'', which ''Fortean Times'' termed a Fortean classic. Coleman terms himself the first Vietnam era conscientious objector to base his pacificist ideas on Fortean thoughts. [[Jerome Clark]] has described himself as a "skeptical Fortean".<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine=Magonia | date=1983 | last=Clark | first=Jerome | title=Confessions of a Fortean Sceptic | url=http://magoniamagazine.blogspot.com/2013/11/confessions-of-fortean-sceptic.html}}</ref> [[Mike Dash]] is another Fortean, bringing his historian's training to bear on all manner of odd reports, while being careful to avoid uncritically accepting ''any'' orthodoxy, be it that of fringe devotees or mainstream science. Science-fiction writers of note including [[Philip K. Dick]], [[Robert Heinlein]], and [[Robert Anton Wilson]] were also fans of the work of Fort. [[Alfred Bester]]'s teleportation-themed novel, ''The Stars My Destination'', pays homage to the coiner of the term by naming the first teleporter "Charles Fort Jaunte".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: jaunt |url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/2382/jaunt |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=sfdictionary.com}}</ref>  Fort's work, of compilation and commentary on anomalous phenomena has been carried on by [[William R. Corliss]], whose self-published books and notes bring Fort's collections up to date.<ref name=":4" />

In 1939, [[Eric Frank Russell]] first published the novel which became ''[[Sinister Barrier]]'', in which he names Fort explicitly as an influence. Russell included some of Fort's data in the story.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Eric Frank |title=Sinister Barrier |publisher=Paperback Library (#52-384) |year=1966 |location=New York}}</ref> In chapter 3 of [[William Gaddis]]’s 1955 novel ''[[The Recognitions]]'', protagonist Wyatt Gwyon twice quotes from Fort’s ''The Book of the Damned''--“By the damned, I mean the excluded”;  “By prostitution, I mean usefulness”—and paraphrases him from the same book: “Charles Fort says maybe we’re fished for, by supercelestial beings.”<ref>[https://www.williamgaddis.org/recognitions/I3anno1.shtml ''The Recognitions'' (Harcourt Brace, 1955), pp. 81, 87]</ref> [[Ivan T. Sanderson]], Scottish naturalist and writer, was a devotee of Fort's work, and referenced it heavily in several of his own books on unexplained phenomena, notably ''Things'' (1967), and ''More Things'' (1969). [[Louis Pauwels]] and [[Jacques Bergier]]'s ''[[The Morning of the Magicians]]'' was also heavily influenced by Fort's work and mentions it often. Author Donald Jeffries referenced Charles Fort repeatedly in his 2007 novel ''The Unreals''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vareli |first=Mary |date=2017-04-28 |title=Forteana, The Mysterious World of Charles Fort |url=https://www.paradoxethereal-magazine.com/forteana-mysterious-world-charles-fort/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131143058/https://www.paradoxethereal-magazine.com/forteana-mysterious-world-charles-fort/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=Paradox Ethereal Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Joe Milutis writes a short chapter in his book ''Failure, a Writer's Life'' on Charles Fort, characterising Fort's prose as "well-nigh unreadable, yet strangely exhilarating".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/818462403 |title=Failure, a writer's life |date=2013 |publisher=Zero Books |others=Joe Milutis |isbn=978-1-78099-704-9 |location=Winchester, UK |pages=13 |oclc=818462403}}</ref>

Noted UK paranormalist, Fortean, and ordained priest [[Lionel Fanthorpe]] presented the ''[[Fortean TV]]'' series on [[Channel 4]], between 1997 and 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Robert |title=Fortean TV (DVD review) |url=https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/fortean-tv |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=STARBURST Magazine |date=November 11, 2022 |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Paul Thomas Anderson]]'s popular movie ''[[Magnolia (film)|Magnolia]]'' (1999) has an underlying theme of unexplained events, taken from the 1920s and '30s works of Charles Fort. Fortean author Loren Coleman has written a chapter about this motion picture, entitled "The Teleporting Animals and ''Magnolia''", in one of his recent books.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coleman |first=Loren |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46798826 |title=Mysterious America |date=2001 |publisher=Paraview Press |isbn=1-931044-05-8 |edition=Rev. |location=New York |oclc=46798826}}</ref> The film has many hidden Fortean themes, notably "falling frogs". In one scene, one of Fort's books is visible on a table in a library and an end credit thanks him by name.<ref name="coleman">{{cite news | last = Coleman | first = Loren | title = Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation's Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures | publisher = [[Simon & Schuster]] | year = 2007 }}</ref> In the 2011 film ''[[The Whisperer in Darkness (film)|The Whisperer in Darkness]]'', Fort is portrayed by [[Andrew Leman (actor)|Andrew Leman]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Branney |first=Sean |title=The Whisperer in Darkness |date=2011-05-19 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1498878/ |type=Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller |publisher=HPLHS Motion Pictures, Fungi |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref>

American crime and science-fiction author [[Fredric Brown]] included an excerpt from Fort's book ''Wild Talents'' as an [[Epigraph (literature)|epigraph]] to his novel ''Compliments of a Fiend''. In that quote, Fort speculated about the disappearance of two people named Ambrose and wondered "was someone collecting Ambroses?" Brown's novel concerns the disappearance of a character named Ambrose, and the kidnapper calls himself the "Ambrose collector" as an obvious ''homage'' to Fort.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Fredric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VaJFEAAAQBAJ |title=Compliments of a Fiend |date=1950 |publisher=MysteriousPress.com |isbn=978-1-5040-6825-3 |oclc=1273982012}}</ref>

In [[Blue Balliett]]'s bestselling children's novel, ''[[Chasing Vermeer]]'', Fort is given several mentions throughout the book, such as Fort's ''Lo!'' being found and thoroughly read by one of the book's protagonists, and being an inspiration to the main characters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Balliett |first=Blue |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51172514 |title=Chasing Vermeer |date=2004 |publisher=Scholastic Press |others=Brett Helquist |isbn=0-439-37294-1 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=51172514}}</ref>