WELLEN, Edward (Paul)

(1919-)

   US writer, almost exclusively of short stories, mostly in the mystery genre. His first sf was a "non-fact article", "Origins of Galactic Slang" for Gal in 1952, and was followed by a sequence of Galactic Originsspoofs. His actual fiction was concise, literate, cynical and frequently anthologized, and is overdue for collection. In his only novel, Hijack (1971), told with a delicate balance of spoof and splatter, the Mafialearns that the US Government is secretly preparing to escape the Solar System because the Sun is going nova, and muscles in on the action. In theend, a representative sample of humanity heads toward the stars.

   JC

   See also: MESSIAHS.