SHIRAS, Wilmar H(ouse)

(1908-1990)

   US writer whose first novel, Slow Dawning (1946) as by Jane Howes, was not sf or fantasy. She began publishing sf with "In Hiding" (1948 ASF), the first of several stories assembled as Children of the Atom (1948-50 ASF; fixup 1953). This concerns a number of radiation-engendered child geniuses who initially hide their abilities from the world, then reveal themselves, taking the risk that in trying to help normal humans they may merely end as martyrs. The story is sensitively told, avoiding most of the CLICHES of pulp-sf SUPERMAN stories. WHS remained active as a story writer until the 1970s.

   JC

   See also: ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM IN SF; CHILDREN IN SF; INTELLIGENCE; MUTANTS; WOMEN SF WRITERS.