Frederik Pohl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frederik Pohl
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Pohl in 2008 at the J. Lloyd Eaton Science Fiction Conference
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| Born | Frederik George Pohl Jr. November 26, 1919 New York City, United States |
| Died | September 2, 2013 (aged 93) Palatine, Illinois, United States |
| Pen name | Edson McCann, Jordan Park, Elton V. Andrews, Paul Fleur, Lee Gregor, Warren F. Howard, Scott Mariner, Ernst Mason, James MacCreigh, James McCreigh, Dirk Wilson, Donald Stacy |
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| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1937–2011 |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Notable awards | Campbell Memorial Award 1978, 1985 Hugo Award (novel) 1976, 1977 |
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (born November 26, 1919 – died September 2, 2013) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was also a big fan of science fiction. His career lasted almost 75 years!
Pohl wrote his first published work, a poem, in 1937. His last novel came out in 2011. From 1959 to 1969, he edited two popular science fiction magazines, Galaxy and If. If magazine won the Hugo Award three times in a row for being the best professional magazine.
His 1977 novel, Gateway, won four major awards for best novel. These included the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. He also won a National Book Award for his 1979 novel, Jem. Pohl received many awards during his life, including four Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
In 1993, he was given the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for his amazing work in science fiction. He was also added to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2010, he won another Hugo Award for his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs."
Contents
Frederik Pohl's Early Life and Family
Frederik Pohl was born to Frederik George Pohl Sr. and Anna Jane Mason. His father worked many different jobs. Because of this, the Pohl family lived in many places. They lived in Texas, California, New Mexico, and even the Panama Canal Zone.
When Pohl was about seven, his family settled in Brooklyn, New York. He went to Brooklyn Technical High School but left school at age 17. Later, in 2009, he received an honorary diploma from the school.
Joining the Futurians
As a teenager, Pohl helped start a science fiction fan group in New York called the Futurians. Through this group, he became lifelong friends with other writers and editors. These friends included Isaac Asimov and Damon Knight. Pohl said that many of the friends he met through fandom stayed his friends for life. He even published his own science fiction fan magazine called Mind of Man.
In 1936, Pohl joined the Young Communist League. He joined because he supported labour unions and was against racial prejudice and leaders like Adolf Hitler. He left the group in 1939 when its views changed.
World War II Service
During World War II, Pohl served in the United States Army. He was in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He became a sergeant and worked as a weatherman. He was mainly stationed in Italy.
Pohl's Family Life
Frederik Pohl was married five times. He had four children: Ann, Frederik III, Frederik IV, and Kathy. His grandchildren include the writer Emily Pohl-Weary.
From 1984 until he passed away, he lived in Palatine, Illinois. Before that, he lived in Middletown, New Jersey for a long time.
Frederik Pohl's Amazing Career
Pohl started writing in the late 1930s. He often used different names, called pseudonyms, for his early stories. His first published poem came out in 1937. His first story, written with C.M. Kornbluth, appeared in 1940.
Editor and Agent Work
Pohl began working as a literary agent in 1937. After World War II, he became a full-time agent. He also edited two pulp magazines, Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories, from 1939 to 1943.
His own stories often appeared in these magazines, but never under his real name. He used names like S. D. Gottesman or Paul Dennis Lavond for stories he wrote with others. For his solo work, he used names like James MacCreigh.
Pohl also worked as a writer for advertisements. He later became a writer and book editor for Popular Science magazine. In the early 1960s, he became the editor of Galaxy Science Fiction and Worlds of if magazines. Under his leadership, if won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine three times.
In the 1970s, Pohl also helped acquire and edit novels for Bantam Books. He also put together many science fiction anthologies, which are collections of stories.
Becoming a Famous Novelist
By the 1970s, Pohl became well-known as a novelist. He wrote books like Man Plus and the Heechee Saga series. He won the Nebula Award two years in a row for Man Plus (1976) and Gateway (1977). Gateway also won the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1978.
Two of his short stories also won Hugo Awards. His novel Jem (1979) won the National Book Award.
Pohl wrote not only science fiction but also articles for Family Circle magazine. He also wrote non-fiction books. For a time, he was the official expert for Encyclopædia Britannica on the Roman Emperor Tiberius.
Some of his short stories made fun of consumerism and advertising. For example, "The Tunnel under the World" showed a town where people were controlled by advertising researchers. In his 1969 novel, "The Age of the Pussyfoot", Pohl imagined a future where everyone had a small handheld device like a smartphone to access knowledge and talk to others. He thought this might happen in 50 years, not 500!
Pohl was a frequent guest on radio shows. He also gave talks around the world. He helped with the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and was involved with the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas.
In 2009, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Science Fiction. His work has inspired many other science fiction writers. His last novel, All the Lives He Led, came out in 2011. At the time of his death, he was working on another autobiography.
Working with Other Writers
Pohl was also famous for writing with other authors. He wrote many stories and novels with his friend Cyril Kornbluth. One famous book they wrote together was The Space Merchants. This book was a dystopian story about a world controlled by advertising companies.
In the mid-1950s, he started working with Jack Williamson. They wrote 10 novels together over five decades. He also wrote with Lester Del Rey and Thomas T. Thomas. He even finished a novel started by Arthur C. Clarke, called The Last Theorem, which was published in 2008.
Frederik Pohl's Passing
Frederik Pohl passed away on September 2, 2013, at the age of 93. He went to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing.
Images for kids
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Pohl in 2008 at the J. Lloyd Eaton Science Fiction Conference
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Frederik Pohl (center) with fellow scifi authors Donald A. Wollheim and John Michel in 1938
See also
In Spanish: Frederik Pohl para niños
