The seventh knifemaker from the 1981 Knifemakers Guild Directory is a mild mannered man named Pierce Franklin Beck, Jr. I know he’s mild mannered because according to his bio he worked as “a maintenance mechanic at a nuclear energy facility” and if I’ve learned anything from comic books, it’s that Pierce Beck Jr. is, at night, a superhero. His whole self-presentation seems designed to occlude his secret identity. Dull haircut? Check. Big glasses? Check. Uninspiring striped shirt? Check. Strong jawline? … Check! It’s a blade, it’s a knife, it’s a machete… it’s Pierce Man, coming to remove the blight of crime from this fair city with one piercing knife attack after another. That bulletproof vest can’t protect you from Pierce Man’s trusty array of molecularly sharp knives, forged in the very atom smasher that gave him his super powers.

And you know what else? He wasn’t alone at that nuclear facility, George E. Herron (page 85) was “one of his fellow workers.” It sounds like we’ve found ourselves a sidekick.

Ok, that’s probably not really what Pierce Beck is like. He was a voting member of the guild, so they must have respected his work. And according to his bio he was bringing his two sons into the business with him; that doesn’t really seem super-hero-y. I guess he’s probably just a regular knifemaker… or is that what he wants me to think?

Click to big-ify.

Pierce Franklin Beck, Jr. today

Sadly, despite much research online, I can’t find anything out about the present status of Pierce Franklin Beck, Jr. There’s two P F Beck’s living in South Carolina, but I have no way of knowing if he’s either of those. He no longer appears to be a member of the Guild and I can’t anything about his present status. There used to be a BeckKnives.com, but that appears to have been run by a Dave Beck and probably isn’t related to the Pierce Man or either of his sons (Paul or Robbie). It’s too bad. Perhaps he’s changed to a new secret identity… maybe he knew I was on to him?

Previous knifemaker: John (Mike) Bassney
Next knifemaker: Ray Beers

Other 1981 Knifemaker’s Guild Directory Pages: first page, all pages, all pictures.