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Williamson, Jack
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Jack Williamson is, beyond any doubt, the Dean of the Science Fiction Writers, with his career spanning from 1928 to the present. Born in 1908, Williamson traveled to New Mexico by covered wagon. In 1928 he sold his first story, "The Metal Man," and has continued to write through 2005, with his latest novel being The Stonehenge Gate. He earned a B. A. and M. A. degree from Eastern New Mexico University, and a Ph. D. from the University of Colorado. In the course of his career, Williamson has been honored with a First Fandom Science Fiction Hall of Fame Award, the Pilgrim Award of the Science Fiction Research Association, the Grand Master Award for Lifetime achievement of the Science Fiction Writers of America, Hugo awards in 1985 and 2001, and a Nebula Award 1n 2001. Historian Sam Moskowitz noted that Williamson "pioneered superior characterization in a field almost barren of it, realism in the presentation of human motivation previously unknown, scientific rationalization of supernatural concepts for story purposes, and exploitation of the untapped story potentials of antimatter." As an academic, Williamson helped legitimize science fiction as a literary field of study, and publicized the many courses in science fiction in American universities. He is truly a "Grand Master" of science fiction and fantasy.
Jack Williamson (1908-2006) was one of the great masters of 20th-century American science fiction. Born in Arizona Territory in 1908, he spent his early childhood in western Texas before moving to New Mexico in 1915. He received both a B.A. and an M.A. from Eastern New Mexico State University, and a PhD in English literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Williamson was a writer from an early age, selling his first story "The Metal Men" to _Amazing Stories_in December 1928. That story launched Williamson's long and legendary career as an author. His first novel was the serialized The Green Girl, which ran in _Amazing_in 1930 (and was published as a stand-alone novel in 1950), and was followed by a great many serialized and stand-alone novels, including, among others, The Legion of Space(serialized 1934, published 1947); The Humanoids(1947), The Legion of Time(serialized 1938, published 1952); Golden Blood(serialized 1933, published 1964); _Rogue Star_w/Frederick Pohl (serialized 1968, published 1969), _The Singers of Time_w/Frederick Pohl (1991); and The Stonehenge Gate(2005). He also wrote a vast number of short stories and essays.
Williamson earned many accolades over the course of his career, including the 1968 First Fandom Science Fiction Hall of Fame Award, the 1985 Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book ( Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction), the 1985 Skylark Award, the 1994 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the 1997 Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the 2001 Hugo Award for Best Novella and 2002 Nebula for Best Novella ("The Ultimate Earth"), and the 2006 Robert A. Heinlein Award. In 1976 he was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Williamson died on November 10, 2006, at his home in Portales, New Mexico.