MOSKOWITZ, Sam

(1920-)

   US sf historian and anthologist; he also worked, as Sam Martin, as an editor of trade magazines for the frozen-foods industry, retiring in 1985. For a long time SM, a prominent member of sf FANDOM since 1936, hasbeen among the best known of all historians and commentators from within GENRE SF; his work in this field antedates that of nearly all non-genrehistorians of the field, with the notable exception of J.O. BAILEY. His first book was The Immortal Storm (1951 mimeographed; 1954), a history of early sf fandom which recounted the feuds of the late 1930s among the then-tiny group of sf fans with a passion and detail quite unabraded by the passing years, and which won a 1955 HUGO. More important were SM's profiles of sf authors and discussions of sf themes, which appeared in various sf magazines, primarily AMZ, from 1959. Many of these were collected (and revised) in 3 vols: Explorers of the Infinite (coll 1963), which concentrates on the period up to 1940; Seekers of Tomorrow (coll 1966), which concentrates on writers 1940-65; and Strange Horizons (coll1976), about such sf themes as RELIGION, women (WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN SCIENCE FICTION), Blacks and antisemitism in sf. SM's scholarship and criticism were not to everybody's taste, and these works have at times been criticized within the genre and by academics for inaccuracies and a not always fluent style. But the fact remains that, though some of his data and conclusions have been argued, SM did more original research in this field than any other scholar of his period and few since; no later history of sf has not made use of SM's painstaking work, especially his research into the early HISTORY OF SF in periodical publications. Much of this work appeared in 3 further vols which gave long historical introductions to collections of stories: Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines,1891-1911 (anth 1968), Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of the Scientific Romance in the Munsey Magazines, 1912-1920 (anth 1970) and The Crystal Man (coll 1973) by Edgar Page MITCHELL, ed SM. 3 later booksin the same vein are Far Future Calling: Uncollected Science Fiction and Fantasies (coll 1980) by Olaf STAPLEDON, ed with a long biographical studyby SM, Science Fiction in Old San Francisco: Vol. 1, History of the Movement from 1854 to 1890 (anth 1980) ed SM, and Into the Sun and OtherStories: Science Fiction in Old San Francisco, Vol 2 (coll 1980) by Robert Duncan MILNE, ed SM. Although SM is not an academic, and does not always lay out his findings as carefully as academics might like - being sometimes rather cavalier in withholding his sources of information - the above books are a major contribution to sf scholarship. This contribution won him a PILGRIM AWARD in 1981.SM's professional connection with sf includes a brief stint as a writer, with 3 stories in 1941, the first being a SPACE-OPERA novella of distant galaxies, "The Way Back" for Comet Stories, and a couple more in the mid-1950s. He was an sf literary agent1940-41, and managing editor for the last GERNSBACK magazine, SCIENCE FICTION PLUS, 1952-4. He also edited a brief, 4-issue revival of WEIRD TALES 1973-4. He ghost-edited a number of ANTHOLOGIES, including 4 which appeared as ed Leo MARGULIES, 2 as ed Roger ELWOOD and 3 as ed Alden H. Norton. He was special consultant on and largely responsible for Contact(anth 1963) ed Noel Keyes and The Pulps (anth 1970) ed Tony Goodstone.SM also ed the following: Life Everlasting (coll 1947) by David H. KELLER with intro by SM; Editor's Choice in Science Fiction (anth 1954); The Coming of the Robots (anth 1963); Exploring Other Worlds (anth 1963); AMartian Odyssey and Other Classics of Science Fiction (coll 1966) by Stanley G. WEINBAUM with intro by SM; Modern Masterpieces of Science Fiction (anth 1966; vt in 3 vols Doorway into Time 1966, Microcosmic God 1968 and The Vortex Blasters 1968; vt in 2 vols as Doorway into Time 1973 and The Microcosmic God 1975); Strange Signposts (anth 1966) with Roger Elwood; Three Stories (anth 1967; vt A Sense of Wonder 1967 UK with introseverely cut; vt The Moon Era 1969 US); The Human Zero (anth 1967) with Elwood; Masterpieces of Science Fiction (anth 1967); The Time Curve (anth1968) with Elwood; The Man who Called Himself Poe (anth 1969; vt A Man Called Poe 1972 UK), a collection of essays, poems and stories about Edgar Allan POE, plus 2 stories arguably by Poe; Other Worlds, Other Times (anth 1969) with Elwood; Alien Earth (anth 1969) with Elwood; Great Untold Stories of Fantasy and Horror (anth 1969) with Alden H. Norton; Futures to Infinity (anth 1970); The Citadel of Fear (1970) by Francis STEVENS, intro by SM; Ghostly by Gaslight (anth 1971) with Norton; The Space Magicians (anth 1971) with Norton; Ultimate World (1971) by Hugo GERNSBACK, intro bySM, a late and dreadful novel by Gernsback ed to half manuscript length by SM; Horrors Unknown (anth 1971); When Women Rule (anth 1972); Horrors in Hiding (anth 1973) with Norton; Horrors Unseen (anth 1974); The Raid of "Le Vengeur" (coll 1974), hitherto uncollected stories by George GRIFFITH, intro by SM; Out of the Storm (coll 1975) by William Hope HODGSON with a 25,000-word critical biography by SM; "A Dream of X" (1977) by Hodgson,illus Stephen E. FABIAN, a short version of The Night Land (1912), intro by SM; A. Merritt: Reflections in the Moon Pool (coll 1985), Merritt marginalia, with long biographical intro by SM; Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Nils Helmer Frome: A Recollection of One of Canada's Oldest Science Fiction Fans (anth 1989), letters, articles, etc., by and about Frome,many about his relationship with Lovecraft.SM's other work includes his editorship of the 2 useful HYPERION PRESS series of reprints of sf classics in 1974 and 1976; the Hyperion series includes also reprints of 6 of SM's most important historical works.

   PN

   Other works: Peace and Olaf Stapledon (1949), Hugo Gernsback: Father of Science Fiction (1959), A Canticle for P. Schuyler Miller (1975) and Charles Fort: A Radical Corpuscle (1976), four privately printed pamphlets.

   See also: COLLECTIONS; CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL WORKS ABOUT SF; DEFINITIONS OF SF; GENERATION STARSHIPS; NEW WAVE; OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM; SF IN THE CLASSROOM; SOCIOLOGY.