WOLLHEIM, Donald A(llen)

(1914-1990)

   US editor and writer, and one of the first and most vociferous sf fans; with Forrest J. ACKERMAN, DAW was perhaps the most dynamic member of the embryo FANDOM of the 1930s. A lifetime resident of New York City, he published innumerable FANZINES, was co-editor of theearly semiprozine FANCIFUL TALES OF TIME AND SPACE in 1936, founded the Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA), and was one of the founders in1938 of the FUTURIANS, becoming deeply involved in its pursuits and feuds. His long-standing quarrel with James BLISH - whom he does not mention in his anecdotal analysis of sf, The Universe Makers (1971), whose premises reflect 1930s enthusiasms - began at this time, and was at least partially rooted in political differences, for in the years before WWII DAW stood far to the left and Blish far to the right. DAW's part in early fandom was extensively chronicled in The Immortal Storm (1954) by Sam MOSKOWITZ and in The Futurians (1977) by Damon KNIGHT. DAW ed Operation: Phantasy: The Best from the Phantograph (anth 1967 chap), a collection of early fanzinematerial.His first published story was "The Man from Ariel" for Wonder Stories in 1934, but he did not begin to publish fiction with anyregularity until the 1940s, by which time he had already embarked on his major career as an editor. In 1941 he became editor of COSMIC STORIES and STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES, both of which he produced creditably on a minutebudget, publishing many stories by his fellow Futurians (most prolifically C.M. KORNBLUTH). He also compiled 2 pioneering sf ANTHOLOGIES: The PocketBook of Science Fiction (anth 1943) and Portable Novels of Science (anth 1945). For his short stories he often used the pseudonyms Millard Verne Gordon and Martin PEARSON, as well as the collaborative pseudonyms Arthur COOKE and Lawrence WOODS, and he once wrote as Allen Warland; as Pearson he published the Ajax Calkins series which later formed the basis of his novel Destiny's Orbit (1962) as by David Grinnell, sequelled by Destination: Saturn (1967) as by Grinnell with Lin CARTER.After WWII DAWworked for Avon Books (1947-52), for whom he edited the AVON FANTASY READER and the AVON SCIENCE FICTION READER anthology-like series (which wetreat as magazines) as well as OUT OF THIS WORLD ADVENTURES, 10 STORY FANTASY and, uncredited, the first sf ORIGINAL ANTHOLOGY, The Girl withthe Hungry Eyes (anth 1949). He subsequently moved to ACE BOOKS in 1952, where he created and for the next 20 years ran one of the 2-3 most dominant US sf lists, winning a 1964 HUGO for his work. Taking advantage of the Ace Double Novel format (DOS-A-DOS), he published the first or early works of many writers who later achieved fame, including John BRUNNER, Samuel R. DELANY, Philip K. DICK, Thomas M. DISCH, HarlanELLISON, Ursula K. LE GUIN and Robert SILVERBERG, though the bulk of the list was cannily built around colourful sf adventures with a strong emphasis on SPACE OPERA; by the 1960s, the list had begun to fade seriously, though it is clear in hindsight (see discussion of DAW BOOKS below) that he himself had lost nothing of his acumen. During the 1950s he also worked editorially on the magazines ORBIT and SATURN, and edited a great many anthologies, often for Ace; these included such theme collections as The End of the World (anth 1956), Men on the Moon (anth 1958 dos; rev 1969) and The Hidden Planet (anth 1959), the latter being ofstories set on VENUS.DAW's own writing in the 1950s and 1960s consisted largely of novels. These divided into CHILDREN'S SF published as DAW and adult novels as by David Grinnell, none of the latter being particularly notable. However, the Mike Mars series of children's books, exploring different facets of the space programme, was popular: Mike Mars, Astronaut (1961), Mike Mars Flies the X-15 (1961), Mike Mars at Cape Canaveral(1961; vt Mike Mars at Cape Kennedy 1966), Mike Mars in Orbit (1961), Mike Mars Flies the Dyna-Soar (1962), Mike Mars, South Pole Spaceman (1962), Mike Mars and the Mystery Satellite (1963) and Mike Mars around the Moon (1964).In 1965, DAW began to issue an annual "year's best" anthology, World's Best Science Fiction; this continued until the end of his life in an unbroken yearly succession, although there was some highly confusing retitling (occasioned in the first instance by his shift from Ace to DAW Books). The sequence was: \#1: World's Best Science Fiction: 1965 (anth1965) with Terry CARR (who was co-editor through the 1971 volume); \#2: 1966 (anth 1966); \#3: 1967 (anth 1967); \#4: 1968 (anth 1968); \#5: 1969 (anth 1969); \#6: 1970 (anth 1970); \#7: 1971 (anth 1971); \#8: The 1972 Annual World's Best SF (anth 1972; vt Wollheim's World's Best SF: Series One 1977) with Arthur W. SAHA (who was co-editor through the 1990 volume); \#9: 1973 (anth 1973; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Two 1978); \#10: 1974 (anth 1974; vt World's Best SF Short Stories \#1 1975 UK; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Three 1979); \#11: 1975 (anth 1975; vt World's Best SF Short Stories \#2 1976 UK; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Four 1980 US); \#12: 1976 (anth 1976; vt The World's Best SF - 3 1979 UK; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Five 1981 US); \#13: 1977 (anth 1977; vt The World's Best SF - 4 1979 UK; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Six 1982 US); \#14: 1978 (anth 1978; vt The World's Best SF - 5 1980 UK; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Seven 1983 US); \#15: 1979 (anth 1979; vt Wollheim's World Best SF: Series Eight 1984); \#16: 1980 (anth 1980; vt \#9 1985); \#17: 1981 (anth 1981); \#18: 1982 (anth 1982); \#19 (anth 1983); \#20 (anth 1984); \#21: 1985 (anth 1985); \#22: 1986 (anth 1986); \#23: 1987 (anth 1987); \#24: Donald A. Wollheim Presents The 1988 Annual World's Best SF (anth 1988); \#25: 1989 (anth 1989) and \#26: 1990 (anth 1990).In 1971, DAW left Ace and in 1972 he founded DAW BOOKS, which he continued to run until 1985, when ill-health induced him to appoint his daughter, Betsy Wollheim, president. With his new firm, he began almost immediately to shift from the format- and content-constraints that had plagued his later career at Ace: series were emphasized heavily; space opera gave way to PLANETARY ROMANCE; authors like C.J. CHERRYH and Tanith LEE, who were comfortable with science fantasy, were strongly encouraged;and he allowed his authors very considerable latitude (compared with his days at Ace) to explore moderately TABOO areas (John NORMAN moved over from BALLANTINE BOOKS, presumably to take advantage of this liberty) and to write at very varying lengths. Though he continued not to pay well enough to retain best-selling authors, he kept his firm healthy and active for the remaining years of his career.For 50 years DAW remained one of the most important editorial influences on sf, and in his later years - despite his very well known capacity to carry on disputes half a century old - he became a revered figure. His death marked - as clearly as those of Isaac ASIMOV and Robert A. HEINLEIN - the passing of the generation of the founders.

   JC/MJE

   Other works: The Secret of Saturn's Rings (1954), The Secret of the Martian Moons (1955), One Against the Moon (1956) and The Secret of the Ninth Planet (1959), all juveniles; Two Dozen Dragon's Eggs (coll 1969); The Men from Ariel (coll 1982); Up There and Other Strange Directions (coll 1988).As David Grinnell: Across Time (1957); Edge of Time (1958); The Martian Missile (1959); To Venus! To Venus! (1970 dos).As Editor: The Fox Woman \& Other Stories (coll 1949), stories by A. MERRITT; Flight into Space (anth 1950); Every Boy's Book of ScienceFiction (anth 1951); Prize Science Fiction (anth 1953; vt Prize Stories of Space and Time 1953 UK); Adventures in the Far Future (anth 1954 dos); Tales of Outer Space (anth 1954 dos); The Ultimate Invader and Other Science Fiction (anth 1954); Adventures on Other Planets (anth 1955) and More Adventures on Other Planets (anth 1963); Terror in the Modern Vein (anth 1955; vt in 2 vols as Terror in the Modern Vein 1961 UK and More Terror in the Modern Vein 1961 UK); The Earth in Peril (anth 1957 dos); The Macabre Reader (anth 1959) and More Macabre (anth 1961); Swordsmen in the Sky (anth 1964); Ace Science Fiction Reader (anth 1971; vt Trilogy of the Future 1972 UK); The Best from the Rest of the World (anth 1976); The DAW Science Fiction Reader (anth 1976).

   See also: CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL WORKS ABOUT SF; GALACTIC EMPIRES; GOLDEN AGE OF SF; GREAT AND SMALL; HISTORY OF SF; NEAR FUTURE; NEW WAVE; OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM; PUBLISHING.