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Sam Weller (journalist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam Weller
BornLake Forest, Illinois
OccupationAuthor, journalist, lecturer
NationalityAmerican
GenreBiography, journalism, essays, fiction, arts criticism
Website
www.samweller.net

Sam Weller is an American journalist and author, best known as writer Ray Bradbury's authorized biographer.

Early life and education

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Weller was born in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was raised in Malibu, California and in Long Lake Minnesota.[1]

Career

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Weller's 2005 book, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury was a Los Angeles Times best-seller, winner of the 2005 Society of Midland Authors Award for Best Biography,[2] and a Bram Stoker Award nominee.[3] Weller’s 2010 book, Listen to the Echoes, The Ray Bradbury Interviews is a collection of interviews, photos, mementos, and artifacts and a companion book to The Bradbury Chronicles. It was also a Bram Stoker Award nominee.[4] With Mort Castle, Weller co-edited the anthology Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury. The anthology was a Shirley Jackson Award nominee.[5]

In 2014, Weller edited Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview (Melville House), which features Weller's last interview with Bradbury, and recounts Bradbury's influences, creative processes, and love for writing and reading. The book also included several previously unpublished rough draft essays by Bradbury, dictated to Weller. Also in 2014, IDW Comics released a five-issue Shadow Show comic book series curated and largely scripted by Weller and Mort Castle.[6][7][better source needed] The graphic novel compendium of this series was the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel in 2015.[8]

In September 2020, Weller's collection of short stories, Dark Black, was published by Hat & Beard Press.[9] Newcity said: "With this collection, Weller is making an argument that he’s more than Bradbury’s chronicler. Weller is arguing he’s Bradbury’s literary heir. By sheer story quality alone, Weller makes a good damn argument."[10]

Weller is the former Midwest correspondent for Publishers Weekly magazine. He has written for The Paris Review, Playboy, All Things Considered, Slate Magazine, The Huffington Post, National Public Radio and The Los Angeles Review of Books.[11]

Weller's short fiction has appeared in books, literary journals and magazines, including the Chicago Reader, Printers Row Journal, and Rosebud. His pop-cultural essays have appeared in publications including Post Road, Huffington Post Annalemma, and PopMatters.[12]

Former Paramount Studios producer and Development Chief for the Robert Evans film company said in an interview on the "Too Opinionated" podcast in 2022 that he was developing a few projects with Weller, one in the "horror space."[13]

Sexual Assault Allegations and Termination

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Weller was a tenured associate professor at Columbia College Chicago in its English and Creative Writing Department from 2005 to 2022.[14][15] On July 8, 2022, the college terminated Weller for violating its sexual harassment policies after investigating extensive allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment by a faculty colleague who recounted Weller's alleged abuse of her in a lengthy Medium post.[14][16] [17]

Bibliography

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  • Secret Chicago: The Unique Guidebook to Chicago's Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes (2000)
  • The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury (2005)
  • Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews (2010)
  • Shadow Show: All New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury (2012, editor with Mort Castle)
  • "Roadside Cross" (Short Story, 2014)
  • Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (2014)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #3" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #4" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #5" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury" Graphic Novel (2015)
  • Dark Black (2020)

References

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  1. ^ "#Uninspired: The Story of My Mediocre Grade School Education". HuffPost. April 11, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Past Winners | The Society of Midland Authors". Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "2005 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees – The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "2010 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees – The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  5. ^ Tor.com (May 3, 2013). "Nominees for the 2012 Shirley Jackson Awards Announced!". Tor.com. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  6. ^ "IDW". www.idwpublishing.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  7. ^ "Review – Shadow Show #3 (of 5) (IDW Publishing)". BIG COMIC PAGE. January 7, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "2015 Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners – The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  9. ^ "Dark Black". Publishers Weekly. April 10, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  10. ^ Buck, Brendan (May 28, 2020). "Review: Dark Black". Newcity Lit. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  11. ^ "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. April 18, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "How KISS Should End It All". PopMatters. June 22, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  13. ^ Too Opinionated Interview: James Sikura, retrieved May 22, 2023
  14. ^ a b Jennings, Noah (July 9, 2022). "BREAKING: College terminates tenured professor accused of sexual assault". The Columbia Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  15. ^ Weller, Sam (June 15, 2021). "Journalist Danny Fenster's detainment shows we are living Fahrenheit 451". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  16. ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Ofgang, Erik. "The Sideshow Magician Who Inspired Ray Bradbury—Then Vanished". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  17. ^ Dehnert, Cara. "What Happened to Me". Medium. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
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