Raymond A. Palmer
Raymond Arthur Palmer (1910-1977) was the influential editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949, when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to form his own company. Palmer was also a prolific author, publishing stories under many pseudonyms.
Biography
According to Bruce Lanier Wright, "Palmer was hit by a truck at age seven and suffered a broken back." An unsuccessful operation on Palmer's spine stunted his growth (he stood about four feet tall), and left him with a hunchback.
Palmer found refuge in science fiction, which he read voraciously. He rose through the ranks of science fiction fandom and is credited, along with Walter Dennis, with editing the first fanzine, The Comet, in May, 1930.[1] Ziff-Davis acquired Amazing Stories in 1938, sacked then editor T. Connor O'Sloane and, on the recommendation of popular author Ralph Milne Farley, offered the editorship to Palmer. When Ziff-Davis moved its magazine production from Chicago to New York City in 1949, Palmer resigned and, with Curtis Fuller, another Ziff-Davis editor who did not want to leave the midwest, founded Clark Publishing Co. and began issuing FATE magazine 1n 1949. [ref Harry Warner, Jr. "All Our Yesterdays", pgs 75-78]
His tenure at Amazing Stories is notable for his purchase of Isaac Asimov's first professional story, "Marooned Off Vesta", and for the controversial Shaver Mystery, which was based around a series of stories by Richard S. Shaver. In 1939, Palmer began a companion magazine to Amazing Stories entitled Fantastic Adventures, which lasted until 1953.
As an editor, Palmer tended to favor adventurous, fast-moving, often poorly-written space opera-type stories. Lanier notes that "Much of this tired derring-do was churned out under house names by a shifting cast of hacks including Palmer himself. Hard-core SF fans were disappointed by the new Amazing, and most of its prose was fairly dire even by pulp standards, but it was lively and well-received by the casual newsstand readership, the one yardstick that interested its owners."
Palmer also began his own ventures while working for Ziff-Davis, eventually leaving the company to form his own publishing house, Clark Publishing Company, which was responsible for his titles Imagination and Other Worlds, among others, although none of them lived up to the success of Amazing Stories during the Palmer years. He eventually published Space World magazine until his death.
Palmer's support of Shaver's stories (which maintained that the world is dominated by insane inhabitants of the hollow earth) caused him to be shunned by many in the science fiction community. It is unclear how much Palmer believed of his own propaganda, or to what extent he was just pandering to the desires of his readership.
Palmer published Kenneth Arnold's reports of "flying discs," as well: he was instrumental in popularizing the beliefs in flying saucers. In 1948, Palmer started Fate, which ran many articles touting unpopular or paranormal beliefs, and one of his science fiction titles evolved into the magazine Flying Saucers.
Tributes
The secret identity of DC Comics superhero the Atom - introduced by science fiction writer Gardner Fox in 1961 - is named after Palmer.
See also
References
- ^ Moskowitz, Sam (1994). "The Origins of Science Fiction Fandom: A Reconstruction". Science Fiction Fandom. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 17–36.
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External links
- Raymond A. Palmer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Shavertron magazine about Ray Palmer involvement in the Shaver Mystery
- Blog dedicated to Ray Palmer and Richard Shaver
- Fear Down Below: The Curious History of the Shaver Mystery, by Bruce Lanier Wright
- I Flew In A Flying Saucer A PDF scan of an 'Other Worlds' Sci Fi magazine story from 1951