A. E. van Vogt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids A. E. van Vogt
Van Vogt about 1963
Born	Alfred Vogt (1912-04-26)April 26, 1912 Edenburg, near Gretna, Manitoba, Canada
Died	January 26, 2000(2000-01-26) (aged 87) Los Angeles, California, US
Occupation	Writer
Period	1939–1986 (science fiction)
Genre	Science fiction
Literary movement	Golden Age of Science Fiction
Spouse	Edna Mayne Hull ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 1975)​ Lydia Bereginsky ​ (m. 1979)​
Signature

Alfred Elton van Vogt (born April 26, 1912 – died January 26, 2000) was a famous science fiction author from Canada who later became an American citizen. His unique and sometimes strange way of telling stories influenced many other science fiction writers, especially Philip K. Dick. Van Vogt was one of the most popular and important science fiction writers during the middle of the 20th century, a time often called the Golden Age of the genre. In 1995, the Science Fiction Writers of America honored him as their 14th Grand Master.

Early Life of A. E. van Vogt

Alfred Vogt was born on April 26, 1912, on his grandparents' farm in Edenburg, Manitoba, Canada. This was a small community near Gretna, Manitoba. He was the third of six children. Until he was about four years old, he only spoke Plautdietsch at home.

His father, Henry Vogt, was a lawyer. The family moved several times within western Canada when Alfred was young. They lived in places like Neville, Saskatchewan, Morden, Manitoba, and finally Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In the 1920s, while living in Winnipeg, his father worked for a steamship company. However, the stock market crash in 1929 caused financial problems for the family. Because of this, Alfred could not go to college. As a teenager, he worked as a farmhand and a truck driver. By the age of 19, he was working for the Canadian Census Bureau in Ottawa.

In the early 1930s, van Vogt took a writing course. He sold his first story in 1932. His early stories were often published anonymously in magazines. After a year in Ottawa, he moved back to Winnipeg. He continued to write and also sold newspaper advertising. In the mid-1930s, he added "Elton" to his name. Soon after, he added "van" to his last name, and from then on, he was known as A. E. van Vogt.

A. E. van Vogt's Writing Career

Around 1938, van Vogt decided to write science fiction, a genre he loved to read. He was inspired by a magazine called Astounding Science Fiction. He wrote a story called "Black Destroyer" and sent it to the magazine. The editor, John W. Campbell, accepted it. This story was about a scary alien hunting a spaceship crew. It later inspired many science fiction movies, including Alien (1979).

Van Vogt's "Ship of Darkness" was featured on the cover of Fantasy Book in 1948.

In 1939, while still in Winnipeg, van Vogt married Edna Mayne Hull. She was also from Manitoba and became his typist. She also wrote several science fiction stories herself.

When World War II started in 1939, van Vogt could not join the military because of his poor eyesight. He took a job as a clerk with the Canadian Department of National Defence. This meant he and his wife moved back to Ottawa for about a year and a half.

His writing career continued to grow. "Discord in Scarlet" was his second published story. Many of his most famous short stories and novels were written between 1941 and 1944. His first complete novel, Slan (1946), was very famous. It was about a nine-year-old superman living in a world where people like him were hunted down.

In May 1941, van Vogt decided to become a full-time writer. He quit his job and moved with his wife to Toronto in the fall of 1941. During this time, he wrote many novels like The Book of Ptath and The Weapon Makers.

Moving to California and Post-War Writing

In November 1944, van Vogt and Hull moved to Hollywood, California. Van Vogt lived in California for the rest of his life. In 1945, he officially changed his legal name to Alfred Elton van Vogt when he became an American citizen. His friends in the science fiction community called him "Van."

A. E. van Vogt's Writing Style and Ideas

Van Vogt had a special way of writing. He would create scenes about 800 words long, adding a new problem or solving an old one in each. He often used ideas about time puzzles in his stories. He said many of his ideas came from dreams. He even arranged to be woken up every 90 minutes during his sleep to write down his dreams.

He was also very interested in big systems of knowledge. In his first story, characters used a system called "Nexialism" to understand alien behavior. He also became interested in "general semantics," which is about how language affects our thinking.

He wrote a novel called The World of Ā (often called Null-A). This book explored ideas about different ways of thinking, like using intuition instead of just logic. The story is about a person living in a perfect world where smart people rule, but things are not always what they seem. A sequel, The Pawns of Null-A, followed later.

In his stories, van Vogt often showed a liking for absolute monarchy, where one ruler has all the power. This was seen in his Weapon Shop series and Mixed Men series. These ideas were often discussed by critics.

Writing Break and "Fix-ups" (1950–1961)

From 1951 to 1961, van Vogt focused on other interests and did not write many new stories. However, during this time, he created many novels by combining his older, previously published short stories. He called these books "fix-ups." He would sometimes add new parts to connect the stories. When the original stories were similar, these "fix-ups" worked well. One of his most famous "fix-up" novels was The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950), which combined four short stories.

Even though he wasn't writing new stories, van Vogt published a new book almost every year during this period. These were all "fix-ups," collections of old stories, or older books republished with new titles.

Return to Writing and Later Years (1962–1986)

After almost 12 years, van Vogt started writing new fiction again in 1962. His first new novel was not science fiction. It was a mainstream book called The Violent Man (1962), set in Communist China. He had read many books about China to research it. After this, he returned to writing science fiction.

From 1963 through the mid-1980s, van Vogt regularly published new material. He also continued to release "fix-ups" and reworked older stories. Some of his later novels included The Beast (1963) and Rogue Ship (1965). He also expanded short stories into novels, like The Darkness on Diamondia (1972).

Van Vogt also started writing novels that were not based on older stories. These included Children of Tomorrow (1970) and The Battle of Forever (1971). A sequel to his classic Null-A series, Null-A Three, was published in 1984.

In 1979, the movie Alien came out. People noticed that its plot was very similar to van Vogt's stories "Black Destroyer" and "Discord in Scarlet," which were in his 1950 book Voyage of the Space Beagle. Van Vogt sued the movie company for plagiarism and received a payment of $50,000.

Van Vogt published his last short story in 1986. His health became more fragile in his final years.

Personal Life

Van Vogt's first wife, Edna Mayne Hull, passed away in 1975. He married Lydia Bereginsky in 1979, and they were together until his death.

Death

A. E. van Vogt died on January 26, 2000, in Los Angeles from Alzheimer's disease. He was 87 years old.

Recognition and Awards

In 1946, A. E. van Vogt and his first wife, Edna Mayne Hull, were honored guests at the fourth World Science Fiction Convention.

In 1980, van Vogt received a "Casper Award" for his lifetime achievements in writing. This award is now known as the Canadian Prix Aurora Awards.

The Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) named him their 14th Grand Master in 1995. This is a very high honor for living science fiction writers.

In 1996, van Vogt received a Special Award from the World Science Fiction Convention for his "six decades of golden age science fiction." That same year, he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He was one of the first people to be included, along with writer Jack Williamson and editors Hugo Gernsback and John W. Campbell.

Van Vogt's books were translated into many languages, including French. The French writer Boris Vian translated The World of Null-A, and van Vogt's works were seen as important literature in the surrealist style.

Works

Novels and Novellas

Special Works Published as Books

• Planets for Sale by E. Mayne Hull (1954).
• The Enchanted Village (1979). A short story published as a small book.
• Slan Hunter by Kevin J. Anderson (2007). A sequel to Slan, based on van Vogt's unfinished ideas.
• Null-A Continuum by John C. Wright (2008). Another continuation of the Null-A series.

Collections of Stories

• Out of the Unknown (1948), with Edna Mayne Hull
• Masters of Time (1950)
• Triad (1951) (includes The World of Null A, The Voyage of the Space Beagle, Slan)
• Away and Beyond (1952)
• Destination: Universe! (1952)
• The Twisted Men (1964)
• Monsters (1965)
• A Van Vogt Omnibus (1967)
• The Far Out Worlds of Van Vogt (1968)
• The Sea Thing and Other Stories (1970)
• M33 in Andromeda (1971)
• More Than Superhuman (1971)
• The Proxy Intelligence and Other Mind Benders (1971), with Edna Mayne Hull
• Van Vogt Omnibus 2 (1971)
• The Book of Van Vogt (1972)
• The Three Eyes of Evil Including Earth's Last Fortress (1973)
• The Best of A. E. van Vogt (1974)
• The Worlds of A. E. van Vogt (1974)
• The Best of A. E. van Vogt (1976)
• Away and Beyond (1977)
• Pendulum (1978)
• Futures Past: The Best Short Fiction of A.E. Van Vogt (1999)
• Transfinite: The Essential A.E. van Vogt (2002)
• Transgalactic (2006)

Nonfiction Books

• The Hypnotism Handbook (1956, with Charles Edward Cooke)
• The Money Personality (1972)
• Reflections of A. E. Van Vogt: The Autobiography of a Science Fiction Giant (1979)
• A Report on the Violent Male (1992)

Images for kids

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  A. E. van Vogt's signature

See Also

In Spanish: A. E. van Vogt para niños