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52-615: Although Judith Merril's first paid writing was in other genres, in her first few years of writing published science fiction she wrote her three novels (all but the first in collaboration with C. M. Kornbluth ) and some stories. Her roughly four decades in that genre also included writing 26 published short stories, and editing a similar number of anthologies . Merril was born in Boston in 1923 to Ethel and Samuel (Shlomo) Grossman, who were Jewish . Her father died by suicide in 1929 soon after she began to attend school. In 1936, her mother found

104-472: A "warm, human novel" comparable to Earth Abides . Her second child, Ann Pohl, was born in 1950; she and Pohl separated in 1952 and their divorce was finalized the next year, during which she also lived with Walter M. Miller for six months. Her third marriage came in 1960, devolved into separation in 1963, but never reached a final divorce. Ann Pohl's daughter, Merril's granddaughter Emily Pohl-Weary , writes young adult fiction including science fiction and

156-459: A 'Milford Mafia' that was endangering SF's unique virtues by imposing literary standards essentially alien to the field." One anthology project Merril began in the early 1960s under contract to Lion Books in Chicago was aborted, but inspired her publisher's editor Harlan Ellison to go forward with his own version of the project, which yielded Dangerous Visions (Doubleday, 1967). As an initiator of

208-448: A civilisation of morons protected by a small minority of hidden geniuses – is used again in the final stages of Kornbluth & Pohl's Search the Sky . "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie" (1957) is supposedly written by Kornbluth using notes by "Cecil Corwin", who has been declared insane and incarcerated, and who smuggles out in fortune cookies the ultimate secret of life. This fate

260-634: A day when he was due to meet with Bob Mills in New York City to interview for the position of editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , he was delayed because he had to shovel snow from his driveway. After running to meet his train following this delay, Kornbluth suffered a fatal heart attack on the platform of the station. A number of short stories remained unfinished at Kornbluth's death; these were eventually completed and published by Pohl. One of these stories, " The Meeting " ( The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , November 1972),

312-615: A greater sense of professionalism within the field. They established the annual Milford Writers' Conference in Milford, Pennsylvania , where Merril then lived [as did Knight and his wife Kate Wilhelm ]. Manuscripts were workshopped at these avid gatherings, thus encouraging more care in the planning of stories, and a sense of solidarity was promoted, eventually leading to the formation of the Science Fiction Writers Association." However, "disaffected authors began griping about

364-490: A growing bitterness in his later stories. This reflects editorial choice more than reality, because Kornbluth also wrote delightful humor in his last years, in stories not collected here. These tales demonstrate Kornbluth's effective use of everyday individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds as well as his well-tuned ear for dialect." Kornbluth's name is mentioned in Lemony Snicket 's Series of Unfortunate Events as

416-505: A job at the Bronx House community center and moved the family to the New York City borough of the Bronx . In her mid-teens, Merril pursued Zionism and Marxism . According to Virginia Kidd 's introduction to The Best of Judith Merril , Ethel Grossman had been a suffragette , was a founder of the women's Zionist organization Hadassah , and was "a liberated female frustrated at every turn by

468-543: A list of Best Crime Fiction of the Year from 1949 to 1967, listing from 12 to 15 titles each year. He published his list as Anthony Boucher. Boucher was a poker player, a political activist, a sport fan (football, basketball, track, gymnastics and rugby), a Sherlockian in The Baker Street Irregulars and a chef. He was also an expert collector of recordings of early operatic singers. In 1964-1965 Boucher worked as

520-437: A man of odd personal habits and eccentricities. Kornbluth, for example, decided to educate himself by reading his way through an entire encyclopedia from A to Z; in the course of this effort, he acquired a great deal of esoteric knowledge that found its way into his stories, in alphabetical order by subject. When Kornbluth wrote a story that mentioned the ballista , an Ancient Roman weapon, Pohl knew that Kornbluth had finished

572-513: A member of V.F.D. , a secret organization dedicated to the promotion of literacy, classical learning, and crime prevention. Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher ( / ˈ b aʊ tʃ ər / ), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas . Between 1942 and 1947, he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for

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624-547: A news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full-time, returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril . Kornbluth began writing at 15. His first solo story, "The Rocket of 1955", was published in Richard Wilson 's fanzine Escape (Vol. 1, No 2, August 1939); his first collaboration, "Stepsons of Mars," written with Richard Wilson and published under

676-487: A surname, Merril edited a five-page SF fanzine dated May 1945, including a letter "On Ezra Pound" by Don [sic] Zissman. She edited, and published with Larry Shaw and Dan Zissman, a 20-page fanzine dated January 1946, Science*Fiction No. 1 , including an editorial by her entitled "The Hills and the Heights". ISFDB notes, "A single issue fanzine from Judy Zissman (aka Judith Merril). It was clearly intended to continue, and many of

728-506: A very busy and productive decade for Boucher. In 1945 he launched into a spectacular three-year radio career, plotting more than 100 episodes for The Adventures of Ellery Queen , while also providing plots for the bulk of the Sherlock Holmes radio dramas. By the summer of 1946 he had created his own mystery series for the airwaves, The Casebook of Gregory Hood . ("I was turning out three scripts each week for as many shows," he stated. "It

780-616: A witch in order to hex Parliament for allowing American cruise missile testing over Canada. She also remained active in the SF world as a commentator and mentor. Her lifetime of work was honoured by the International Authors Festival at the Harbourfront Centre, Toronto . She spent much time working on her memoirs. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA renamed) made Merril its Author Emeritus for 1997 and

832-399: Is a look at a far future in which the world's population consists of five billion idiots and a few million geniuses – the precarious minority of the "elite" working desperately to keep things running behind the scenes. In his introduction to The Best of C. M. Kornbluth , Pohl states that "The Marching Morons" is a direct sequel to "The Little Black Bag": it is easy to miss this, as "Bag"

884-570: Is a professor of creative writing at the University of British Columbia . She also co-authored Merril's biography after the latter's death, using access to her drafts, notes and letters. Merril began editing science fiction short story anthologies in 1950 - including a "Year's Best" story-anthology series that ran from 1956 to 1967 - and published her last in 1985. In her editorial introductions, talks and other writings, she actively argued that science fiction should no longer be isolated but become part of

936-499: Is also something of a roman à clef about the Southern California science fiction culture of the time, featuring thinly veiled versions of personalities such as Robert A. Heinlein , L. Ron Hubbard and rocket scientist / occultist /fan Jack Parsons . Boucher also scripted for radio and was involved in many other activities, as described by William F. Nolan in his essay "Who Was Anthony Boucher?": The 1940s proved to be

988-629: Is said to be Kornbluth's response to the unauthorized publication of "Mask of Demeter" (as by "Corwin" and "Martin Pearson" ( Donald A. Wollheim )) in Wollheim's anthology Prize Science Fiction in 1953. Biographer Mark Rich describes the 1958 story "Two Dooms" as one of several stories which are "concern[ed] with the ethics of theoretical science" and which "explore moral quandaries of the atomic age": "Two Dooms" follows atomic physicist Edward Royland on his accidental journey into an alternative universe where

1040-407: Is set in the contemporary present while "Morons" takes place several centuries from now, and there is no character who appears in both stories. The titular black bag in the first story is actually an artifact from the time period of "The Marching Morons": a medical kit filled with self-driven instruments enabling a far-future moron to "play doctor". A future Earth similar to "The Marching Morons" –

1092-512: The San Francisco Chronicle . In addition to "Anthony Boucher", White also employed the pseudonym " H. H. Holmes ", which was the pseudonym of a late-19th-century American serial killer; Boucher would also write light verse and sign it "Herman W. Mudgett" (the murderer's real name). In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time. White

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1144-573: The BBC in 1969 for its Out of the Unknown series. In 1970, the same story was adapted by Rod Serling for an episode of his Night Gallery series. This dramatization starred Burgess Meredith as the alcoholic Dr. William Fall, who had long lost his doctor's license and become a homeless alcoholic. He finds a bag containing advanced medical technology from the future, which, after an unsuccessful attempt to pawn it, he uses benevolently. " The Marching Morons "

1196-646: The Fantasy Amateur Press Association . Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II ( European theatre ). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge , where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his discharge, he returned to finish his education at the University of Chicago under the G.I. Bill . While living in Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press,

1248-517: The New Wave movement, she edited the 1968 anthology England Swings SF , whose stories she collected while living in England for a year. In 1966 Ellison wrote an episode entitled "The Pieces of Fate Affair" for The Man from UNCLE using the names of friends as characters. One of these was a THRUSH agent who was also a literary critic named "Judith Merle" played by Grayson Hall . Merrill's daughter saw

1300-848: The New York Times Book Review , while also writing crime-fiction reviews for The New York Herald Tribune as Holmes (he also reviewed SF and fantasy (as H. H. Holmes) for the Herald Tribune ) and functioning as chief critic for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine . He edited True Crime Detective , supervised the Mercury Mystery Line and (later) the Dell Great Mystery Library; hosted Golden Voices , his series of historical opera recordings for Pacifica Radio , and served (in 1951) as president of Mystery Writers of America. As part of his reviews of mystery novels, he published

1352-561: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted her in 2013. ‡ Shadow on the Hearth and both Cyril Judd novels were reissued in an omnibus edition, Spaced Out: Three Novels of Tomorrow , ed. Elisabeth Carey (NESFA, 2008) Merril wrote the "Books" column of the monthly The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , March 1965 to February 1969. Cyril M. Kornbluth Cyril M. Kornbluth (July 2, 1923  – March 21, 1958)

1404-427: The 'A's and had started on the 'B's. According to Pohl, Kornbluth never brushed his teeth, and they were literally green. Deeply embarrassed by this, Kornbluth developed the habit of holding his hand in front of his mouth when speaking. Spider Robinson praised this collection, saying "I haven't enjoyed a book so much in years." Mark Rich wrote, "Critics judging Kornbluth by this anthology, edited by Pohl, have seen

1456-580: The English language. She donated all of the books and magazines in her possession to the library, which established the "Spaced Out Library" (her term) with Merril in a non-administrative role as curator. The library has had its own physical space from the onset. During her last decade it was renamed the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy. She received a small annual stipend as curator and, when short of money, she lived in her office at

1508-554: The Nazis and Japanese rule a divided United States. In his own world, Royland debated whether to delay progress at the Los Alamos nuclear research site or to help the atomic bomb achieve its terrifying result. Encountering both a slave village and a concentration camp in the alternative America, he comes to grips with the idea of life under bondage. Many of Kornbluth's novels were written as collaborations: either with Judith Merril (using

1560-512: The U.S. government. She was a founding resident of Rochdale College , an experiment in student-run education and cooperative living, very much part of the zeitgeist of the era. At Rochdale, she was the "Resource Person on Writing and Publishing" with her extensive personal collection of books and unpublished manuscripts. In 1970 she began an endowment at the Toronto Public Library for the collection of all science fiction published in

1612-629: The age of three and writing his own stories by the time he was seven. He graduated from high school at thirteen, received a CCNY scholarship at fourteen, and was "thrown out for leading a student strike" without graduating. As a teenager, he became a member of the Futurians , an influential group of science fiction fans and writers. While a member of the Futurians, he met and became friends with Frederik Pohl , Donald A. Wollheim , Robert A. W. Lowndes , and his future wife Mary Byers. He also participated in

Judith Merril - Misplaced Pages Continue

1664-415: The contents of the next issue are described, but a 2nd issue was never released—likely as a result of the collapse of her marriage to Don Zissman." Judith Merril began writing professionally, especially short stories about sports, starting in 1945, before publishing her first science fiction story in 1948. A number, but by no means all, of her contributions were to magazines edited by fellow ex-Futurians. She

1716-607: The early 1980s, Merril donated to the National Archives of Canada her voluminous collection of correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, and Japanese science fiction material – eventually the Judith Merril Fonds. Merril became a Canadian citizen in 1976 and became active in its Writers' Union . From the mid-1970s until her death, Merril spent much time in the Canadian peace movement, including traveling to Ottawa dressed as

1768-533: The episode and brought a lawsuit against the series for defamation of character . The audio track was later adjusted renaming Hall's character "Jody Moore" and the episode was kept out of syndication for many years. Merril was among those who in 1968 signed an anti-Vietnam War advertisement in Galaxy Science Fiction . In the late 1960s, Merril moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, citing what she called undemocratic suppression of anti-Vietnam War activities by

1820-505: The ground in 1949 and saw it take hold solidly by 1950. This was a major creative challenge and although I was involved in a lot of other projects, I stayed with F&SF into 1958." Throughout his years with the magazine, Boucher was involved in many other projects. He wrote fiction for the SF and mystery markets (primarily short stories). He taught an informal writing class from his home in Berkeley. He continued his Sunday mystery columns for

1872-595: The library, sleeping on a cot. From 1978 to 1981 Merril introduced Canadian broadcasts of Doctor Who . As the "Undoctor", Merril presented short (3-7 minute) philosophical commentaries on the show's themes. Merril was an active organizer and promoter of science fiction in Canada. For example, she founded the Hydra North network of writers. In 1985 she launched and edited the first Tesseract , an occasional anthology of Canadian science fiction from Press Porcépic (Toronto). In

1924-450: The literary mainstream. Early in her editing career, Anthony Boucher described her as "a practically flawless anthologist". She had a role as Books Editor for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) from 1965 until 1969. According to science fiction scholar Rob Latham , "throughout the 1950s, Merril, along with fellow SF authors James Blish and Damon Knight had taken the lead in promoting higher literary standards and

1976-539: The long-running Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction anthology series, from 1952 to 1959. Among Boucher's critical writing was also contributing annual summaries of the state of speculative fiction for Judith Merril 's The Year's Best SF series; as editor, he published the volumes in E. P. Dutton 's The Best Detective Stories of the Year annual volumes published in 1963–1968, succeeding Brett Halliday and followed, after his death, by Allen J. Hubin in that task. Boucher's first short story saw print when he

2028-473: The name "Ivar Towers", appeared in the April 1940 Astonishing . His other short fiction includes " The Little Black Bag ", " The Marching Morons ", "The Altar at Midnight", "MS. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie", "Gomez" and "The Advent on Channel Twelve". " The Little Black Bag " was first adapted for television live on the television show Tales of Tomorrow on May 30, 1952. It was later adapted for television by

2080-605: The pseudonym Cyril Judd ), or with Frederik Pohl. These include Gladiator-At-Law and The Space Merchants . The Space Merchants contributed significantly to the maturing and to the wider academic respectability of the science fiction genre, not only in America but also in Europe. Kornbluth also wrote several novels under his own name, including The Syndic and Not This August . Kornbluth died at age 34 in Levittown, New York . On

2132-528: The same year, was one of the first winners of the MWA's Edgar Award for his mystery reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle . He was a founding editor (with J. Francis McComas ) of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 1949 to 1958, and attempted to make literary quality an important aspect of science fiction. He won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine in 1957 and 1958. Boucher also edited

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2184-554: The world in which she found herself". In 1939, Judith graduated from Morris High School in the Bronx at 16 and rethought her politics under the influence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (August 23), shifting to a Trotskyist outlook. She married Dan Zissman the next year, less than four months into a relationship that started when they met at a Trotskyist Fourth of July picnic in Central Park . Their daughter Merril Zissman

2236-697: Was a co-founder of the Hydra Club in this period. Her story "Dead Center'" ( F&SF , November 1954) is one of only two stories taken from any science fiction or fantasy magazine for the Best American Short Stories volumes edited by Martha Foley in the 1950s. Groff Conklin described her first novel, Shadow on the Hearth , as "a masterly example of sensitive and perceptive story-telling". Boucher and McComas praised it as "a sensitively human novel, terrifying in its small-scale reflection of grand-scale catastrophe". P. Schuyler Miller found it

2288-481: Was a mix of hard work and great fun.") With respect to his scripting of the Sherlock Holmes radio dramas, Nigel Bruce , who played Dr. Watson, said that Boucher "had a sound knowledge of Conan Doyle and a great affection for the two characters of Holmes and Watson." Boucher left dramatic radio in 1948, "mainly because I was putting in a lot of hours working with J. Francis McComas in creating what soon became The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction . We got it off

2340-601: Was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories of all time. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 . Boucher was the friend and mentor of science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick and others. His 1942 novel Rocket to the Morgue , in addition to being a classic locked room mystery ,

2392-405: Was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians . He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin , S. D. Gottesman , Edward J. Bellin , Kenneth Falconer , Walter C. Davies , Simon Eisner , Jordan Park , Arthur Cooke , Paul Dennis Lavond , and Scott Mariner . Kornbluth was born and grew up in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood , in New York City. He

2444-491: Was born in Oakland, California , and went to college at the University of Southern California . He later received a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley . After a friend told him that "William White" was too common a name, he used "H. H. Holmes" to write and review mysteries and "Anthony Boucher" for science fiction and fantasy. He pronounced Boucher phonetically, "to rhyme with voucher". Boucher (as he

2496-579: Was born in December 1942. In this period, she also became one of the few female members of the New York City-based group of science fiction writers, editors, artists and fans, the Futurians , which included Kornbluth. The Zissmans separated about 1945; in 1946 Frederik Pohl , another Futurian, began living with her. After her divorce from Zissman became final in 1948, she married Pohl on November 25; they divorced in 1952. Using her daughter's given name as

2548-575: Was fifteen years old in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales . Titled "Ye Goode Olde Ghoste Storie," it was the only story to appear under his real name, William A. P. White. Boucher went on to write short stories for many pulp fiction magazines in America, including Adventure , Astounding , Black Mask , Ed McBain's Mystery Book , Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine , Galaxy Science Fiction , The Master Detective , Unknown Worlds and Weird Tales . His short story " The Quest for Saint Aquin "

2600-532: Was more commonly known) wrote mystery, science fiction, and horror. He was also an editor, including science fiction anthologies, and wrote mystery reviews for many years in The New York Times . He was one of the first English translators of Jorge Luis Borges , translating " The Garden of Forking Paths " for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine . He helped found the Mystery Writers of America in 1946 and, in

2652-476: Was of Polish-Jewish descent, the son of a World War I veteran and grandson of a tailor, a Jewish immigrant from Galicia . The "M" in Kornbluth's name may have been in tribute to his wife, Mary Byers; Kornbluth's colleague and collaborator Frederik Pohl confirmed Kornbluth's lack of any actual middle name in at least one interview. According to his widow, Kornbluth was a "precocious child", learning to read by

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2704-565: Was the co-winner of the 1973 Hugo Award for Best Short Story ; it tied with R. A. Lafferty 's "Eurema's Dam." Almost all of Kornbluth's solo SF stories have been collected as His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Science Fiction of C. M. Kornbluth ( NESFA Press , 1997). Frederik Pohl, in his autobiography The Way the Future Was , Damon Knight , in his memoir The Futurians , and Isaac Asimov , in his memoirs In Memory Yet Green and I. Asimov: A Memoir , all give descriptions of Kornbluth as

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