McNELLY, Dr. Willis E(verett)

(1920-)

   US academic, sf critic and editor long based at California State University at Fullerton, where he gave what were among the earlier sf classes in the USA. His anthologies include Mars, We Love You (anth 1971; vt The Book of Mars 1976 UK) ed with Jane Hipolito, Above the Human Landscape: A Social Science Fiction Anthology (anth 1972) ed with Leon E.STOVER and Science Fiction Novellas (anth 1975) ed with Harry HARRISON; the last title had a companion work, Science Fiction Novellas: Teacher's Guide (1975) by WEM alone. He edited a collection of brief essays aboutthe increasing interest of the academic world in sf (SF IN THE CLASSROOM), Science Fiction: The Academic Awakening (anth 1974 chap).WEM's strangest work is certainly The Dune Encyclopedia (anth 1984); it purports to have been published about 5000 years after the birth of Paul Atreides, protagonist of Frank HERBERT's DUNE (fixup 1965), and presentsdata about the history and ecology of the planet Dune.

   PN