MITCHELL, Edward Page

(1852-1927)

   US newspaperman and writer, associated from 1875 until his death with the New York Sun, serving as editor-in-chief 1903-20. EPM's sf, which came from the first decade of his career and most of which first appeared in his own journal, was restricted to about 30 short stories, beginning with "The Tachypomp" (1874), about a sort of humanoid calculator. Their subject matters range widely, from TIME TRAVEL in "The Clock that Went Backward" (1881) to MATTER TRANSMISSION in "The Manwithout a Body" (1877) and INVISIBILITY in "The Crystal Man" (1881). EPM's work, which in its variety and imaginative power may have influenced H.G. WELLS and others, came to be noticed in the sf field through thepublication of The Crystal Man: Landmark Science Fiction (coll 1973), edited and with a long and informative introduction by Sam MOSKOWITZ.

   JC

   See also: COMPUTERS.