by Marla Baxter [Connie Menger]
First edition of scarce UFO romance
New York: Vantage Press, 1958. First edition, first printing of the UFO romance novella written by Constance Weber Menger under a pseudonym. [2], [4, photo insert], [3]-72 pp. Bound in publisher's yellow paper-covered boards lettered in black on the spine. Near Fine, previous owner signature and date '59 to front free endpaper, vintage bookseller ticket to title page. In a Very Good dust jacket, moderately rubbed, toned spine panel with splits along folds mended with archival tissue on verso.
The very rare fictionalized account of Connie Menger's romance with the man who was to become her husband. The American contactee Howard Menger claimed that his first encounter with an alien came in 1932, when he was just ten years old. A beautiful blonde space woman wearing a shimmering bodysuit told him that her name was Marla. She returned in 1946, informing Menger that it was his destiny to teach others about outside worlds. After Menger began an affair with a supporter named Connie Weber in the 1950s, he announced that she was the sister of the Marla who had appeared to him in the past.
In Connie's science autofiction, Howard, given the pseudonym Alyn, tells her that he is a volunteer from Saturn. "I have been in close contact with my people and people from other planets since I was a child. I have seen their craft in our skies as far back as I can remember. When I was about ten years old, I was wandering through the woods, one day, when I came upon a beautiful Venusian woman, with long blond hair, just like yours....She was like an angel to me, and I loved her very much. When she went away, she told me that someday another like her would come to take her place, and we would be one."
After Alyn informs Marla that she is actually from the planet Venus, he overcomes her hesitations and the two become one. Saturnians are great lovers, as the chapter heading informs the reader, and the relationship does wonders for Marla's physical and mental health. The book ends with two songs written by G. H. Van Doren and set to music by Howard R. Menger, who had released an album of "Authentic Music from Another Planet" the previous year. A fascinating and difficult-to-find contribution to UFO lore, illustrated with five photographs depicting Marla, Alyn, a luminescent alien presence, and a flying saucer.