Sam Moskowitz

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Sam Moskowitz

Born June 30, 1920(1920-06-30)[1]
Newark, NJ
Died April 15, 1997 (aged 76)[1]
University Hospital Newark, NJ
Pen name Sam Martin
Genres Science Fiction

Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920-April 15, 1997) was an early fan and organizer of interest in science fiction and, later, a writer, critic, and historian of the field. As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized science fiction clubs in the New York City area. At this time, Moskowitz had an association with Donald A. Wollheim in the NYC science fiction clubs, but Wollheim's desire for an overt political direction for science fiction fandom caused a temporary rift between the two. While still in his teens, he became chairman of the first World Science Fiction Convention held in New York City in 1939, during which he had several politicized Futurians expelled from the convention, an event jocularly referred to by historians of fandom as the "Great Exclusion Act"[2],[3]

Moskowitz later worked professionally in the science fiction field. He edited Science-Fiction+, a short-lived genre magazine owned by Hugo Gernsback, in 1953. He compiled about two dozen anthologies, and a few single-author collections, most published in the 1960s and early 1970s. Moskowitz also wrote a handful of short stories (three published in 1941, one in 1953, three in 1956). His most enduring work is likely to be his writing on the history of science fiction, in particular two collections of short author biographies, Explorers of the Infinite and Seekers of Tomorrow. While Moskowitz has been justly criticized for eccentrically assigning priorities and tracing influences regarding particular themes and ideas based principally on publication dates, as well as for inaccuracy,[4] his exhaustive cataloguing of early sf magazine stories by important genre authors remains the best resource for nonspecialists.

Moskowitz's most popular work may be The Immortal Storm, a historical review of internecine strife within fandom. Moskowitz wrote it in a bombastic style that made the events he described seem so important that, as another fan historian quipped, "If read directly after a history of World War II, it does not seem like an anticlimax."[5][6]

Moskowitz was also renowned as a science fiction book collector, with a tremendous number of important early works and rarities. His book collection was auctioned off after his death.

As "Sam Martin", he was also editor of the trade publications Quick Frozen Foods and Quick Frozen Foods International for many years.[1][7][8]

First Fandom, an organization of science fiction fans active before 1940, gives an award in Moskowitz' memory each year at the World Science Fiction Convention.

Moskowitz smoked cigarettes frequently throughout his adult life. A few years before his death, throat cancer required the surgical removal of his larynx. He continued to speak at science fiction conventions, using an electronic voice-box held against his throat. Throughout his later years, although his controversial opinions were often disputed by others, he was indisputably recognized as the leading authority on the history of science fiction.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Retired QFFI editor and SF historian Sam Martin, 1920-97, dies in Newark. Editor Biography. Quick Frozen Foods International @ AllBusiness.com (1997-07-01). Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  2. ^ Kyle, David. "The Great Exclusion Act of 1939," Mimosa #6
  3. ^ Kyle, David. "SaM -- Fan Forever," Mimosa no. 21, pp. 7-10, Dec. 1997 [1]
  4. ^ According to the late fan and usenet poster Gharlane of Eddore, the biography of E.E. Smith in Seekers Of Tomorrow is "error-ridden": LensFaq section 7. Gharlane provides no details, but Moskowitz does get as basic a fact as the editorship of Amazing in 1927 wrong, on page 15.
  5. ^ Harry Warner's All Our Yesterdays. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  6. ^ Resnick, Mike (December 1997). The Literature of Fandom. Mimosa 21 17-24. Nicki and Richard Lynch. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  7. ^ Moskowitz, Sam (November 1996). The First College-Level Course in Science Fiction. Science Fiction Studies #70 Volume 23 Part 3. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  8. ^ Quick Frozen Foods International. Sam Martin death article not found. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.

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