27 Facts About Walter Breen

Walter Breen was known among coin collectors for writing Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins.

Walter Breen was known for activity in the science fiction fan community and for his writings in defense of pederasty as a NAMBLA activist.

From 1964 to 1990 Walter Breen was married to popular science fiction and fantasy author Marion Zimmer Bradley; it was later revealed that Bradley had been aware of his crimes.

Walter Breen spent the first several years of his life in Texas with his parents.

At the time they met, both of Walter Breen's parents were married to other people and living next door to each other in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Later in life, Walter Breen sometimes denied they were his birth parents and claimed to have been adopted by them as a foundling child.

The 1940 census shows young Walter Breen living in a Catholic orphanage in West Virginia, with his divorced mother living as a housekeeper in a Catholic church rectory less than two miles away.

Walter Breen's father was by that time living with another woman in Chicago; for a while after their separation his mother resumed her maiden name and young Walter Breen went by the name William Brown.

Walter Breen strove to distinguish himself academically from a young age, attending a Catholic high school in Wheeling, West Virginia, and continued excelling academically throughout his postsecondary education.

Alternatively, Walter Breen claimed that a severe head injury suffered in a World War II plane crash led to the development of his photographic memory.

Walter Breen received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1952.

Walter Breen later claimed he finished four years of coursework in approximately ten months, concealing the fact that as a high-IQ teenage prodigy he had already completed two years at Georgetown University during World War II, followed by a brief stint at a small Catholic college in Texas.

Walter Breen had a longtime interest in studying high-IQ youth, which included taking out advertisements in the early 1960s for a projected private school for gifted children which Walter Breen hoped to launch in New York City, a project which came to nothing in the end.

Walter Breen was listed as a collaborator on William Herbert Sheldon's seminal work on early date large cents, Penny Whimsy, which was his revision of 1949's Early American Cents.

Walter Breen began working on his Complete Encyclopedia of United States Coins around 1976, and after 12 years it was released.

Walter Breen spent considerable time compiling information on the history of homosexuality and pederasty.

Walter Breen dedicated the book to his wife, Marion Zimmer Bradley, who edited it.

Walter Breen published a journal, The International Journal of Greek Love, under the same pseudonym.

Walter Breen was initially convicted of child molestation or lewd behavior in Atlantic City in 1954, resulting in a probationary sentence.

Shortly thereafter, Walter Breen married Bradley, who was cognizant of his behavior but chose not to report him.

Walter Breen was again arrested on child molestation charges in 1990.

Walter Breen accepted a plea bargain, which resulted in three years' probation.

Walter Breen died in prison in Chino, California, on April 27,1993.

Walter Breen wrote for fanzines, and took over editorship of the fanzine Fanac from Terry Carr and Ron Ellik.

Walter Breen married science fiction writer Marion Zimmer Bradley on June 3,1964, her 34th birthday.

Walter Breen regularly wore his Phi Beta Kappa key as a zipper pull on the fly of his pants.

Walter Breen joined Mensa in 1958 or 1959, possibly the first American to do so.