Frederik Pohl was born in New York City on November 26, 1919. More interested in writing than in school, he dropped out of high school in his senior year and took a job with a publishing company. After serving as a public relations officer in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, he returned to publishing as copywriter for Popular Science, a literary agent for several sci-fi writers, and the editor for the magazines Galaxy and If from 1959 until 1969, with If winning three successive Hugo awards. His first published work, a poem entitled Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna, was printed in Amazing Stories magazine in 1937 under the pen name Elton Andrews. His first science fiction novels… were published in the mid 1960's, some written in collaboration with other writers, others created alone. During his lifetime, he won over 16 major awards for his writing (much of which was published pseudonymously) including six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. His works include Gateway, which won the Campbell Memorial, Hugo, Locus SF, and Nebula Awards, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, and Jem, which won the National Book Award in 1979. He also embraced blogging in his later years, using his online journal as an ongoing sequel to his autobiography, The Way the Future Was. He died on September 2, 2013 at the age 93.
James A. Miller is professor of English and American studies and chair of the American Studies Department at George Washington University.
Shelley Fisher Fishkin received her B.A. from Yale College. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. at Yale University. She taught American Studies and English at the University of Texas from 1985 to 2003, and was Chair of the Department of American Studies. Since 2003 she has been a professor at the English Department of Stanford University. She has been awarded an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, was a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer in Japan and was the winner of a Harry H. Ransom Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Texas. Much of her work is focused on Mark Twain but she has also published works on writers such as Frederick Douglass and Theodore Dreiser. Her research… interests have lead her to focus on the influence of African American voices on American literature. Dr. Fishkin is the author, editor or co-editor of over forty books and has published over eighty articles and reviews. Her book Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African-American Voices was selected as an "Outstanding Academic Book" by Choice in 1993.