Clifford D. Simak

Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988)

One of science fiction's greatest writers, Clifford D. Simak is best known for his classic novels and short stories: All Flesh Is Grass, Way Station, Ring Around the Sun, Goblin Reservation and A Heritage of Stars. His sci-fi magazine articles, novels, anthologies and short stories have garnered him several awards, including three Hugos, the Nebula (and the Nebula Achievement Award) as well as the Grand Master lifetime achievement award from the SFWA, and the International Fantasy Award (1953). I believe he is the only author to ever win both the Hugo and the IFA.

Aside from his science fiction works, he was also a respected horror writer, winning the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1987.

In mundane life, he was a newspaperman with the Minneapolis Star and the Minneapolis Tribune from 1939 to 1976 (he made editor of the Star in 1949, and was made coordinator of the Tribune's Science Reading Series in 1961).

A long time resident of the American Midwest, even though Simak lived in Minneapolis most of his life, many of his novels are set in small rural towns, with simple townsfolk as his characters. The town drunk, the young country boy yearning to leave, the small-town businessman gone into politics - the novels all seem to start out with a Norman Rockwell painting.

Of course, they wouldn't be science fiction if the novels continued in that vein, so he adds a twist, something not quite right in the idyllic rural picture. He then adds twist after plot twist, waiting for the reader to accept the new, slightly skewed situation before tossing in another piece of the puzzle, until it all fits in; major alien invasions, sentient plants from another dimension, or what have you.

All throughout, he manages to keep his characters human; they often refuse to accept new facts, but are gradually persuaded to do something about it; reluctant heroes, if you will. It's been said that he is a master of portraying a sense of wonder; as with all good golden-age sci-fi, it's not about the science or the technology, its about the people.

Bibliography:

• The Creator (1946)
• City collection (1953) - International Fantasy Award (1953), Locus Poll (1987 and 1998)
• Cosmic Engineers (appeared in magazine series in 1939, compiled in book form in 1950)
• Empire (1951)
• Time and Again (published as Time Quarry series in 1950, compiled in 1951)
• Ring Around the Sun (appeared in magazine series from 1952-1953, compiled in book form 1954)
• Strangers in the Universe (1956)
• The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1960)
• Aliens for Neighbors (an abridged Worlds of Clifford Simak, 1961)
• Time is the Simplest Thing (published as The Fisherman in 1961, compiled in 1962) - Hugo (1962)
• The Trouble With Tycho (1961)
• All the Traps of Earth and Other Stories (1962)
• Other Worlds of Clifford Simak (1962)
• Way Station (published as Here Gather the Stars, 1963) - Hugo (1964), Locus Poll (1987 and 1998)
• The Night of the Puudly (1964]
• Worlds Without End (1964)
• All Flesh is Grass (1965) - Nebula (1965)
• Best Science Fiction Stories of Clifford D. Simak (1967)
• Why Call Them Back from Heaven? (1967)
• So Bright the Vision (1968)
• The Goblin Reservation (appeared first as magazine series in 1968) - Hugo (1969)
• Out of Their Minds (1970)
• Destiny Doll (1971)
• A Choice of Gods (1971) - Hugo (1973), Locus Poll (1973)
• Cemetary World (appeared first as magazine series from 1972-1973)
• Our Children's Children (magazine series from 1973-1974)
• The Best of Clifford D. Simak (1975)
• Enchanted Pilgrimage (1975)
• Shakespeare's Planet (1976)
• Skirmish (1977)
• A Heritage of Stars (1977) - Locus Poll (1978)
• The Fellowship of the Talisman (1978)
• Mastodonia (1978)
• Project Pope (1981) - Hugo (1982), Locus Poll (1982)
• Special Deliverance (1982)
• Where the Evil Dwells (1982)
• The Marathon Photograph and Other Stories (1986)
• Highway of Eternity (1986)
• Out of Their Minds (1987)
• Brother and Other Stories (1987)
• They Walked Like Men (1988)
• Off-Planet (1988)
• The Visitors (magazine series in 1979, compiled in 1988)
• Why Call Them Back From Heaven (1988)
• The Autumn Land and Other Stories (1989)
• Catface (1991)
• Immigrant and other Stories (1991)
• The Creator and Other Stories (1993)
• The Werewolf Principle (1994)
• Over The River and Through the Woods (1996) - Locus Poll (1997)
• The Civilisation Game and Other Stories (1997)