It is difficult to overestimate the contribution that the American writer Frederick Paul made to the formation of science fiction literature. He stood at the origins of this genre, was the editor of science fiction magazines, strongly supported young writers, especially novice science fiction writers.
Biography
The future writer was born in 1919 in New York, in the family of George Paul and Anna Mason. The head of the family often moved from place to place for work, and the whole family went with him. They lived in desert Texas, in New Mexico, on the banks of the Panama Canal. Frederick went to school in Brooklyn.
He studied well, but most of all he liked literature, especially science fiction. His passion was so great that he created the Futurians fan group at his school when he was in high school. He personally knew such writers as Donald Wolheim and Isaac Asimov, was friends with Jack Robins and Dave Kyle. They came to the club to talk about their writing, and the children listened to them with their mouths open. Since then, Frederick "sick" fiction.
After leaving school, Paul entered a technical school, but did not finish it, because he began working as an editor in the science fiction magazine Astounding Stories. Later, he begins to participate in the publication of the journal "Super Science Stories". By that time, he himself began to write small works and publish them in these magazines. Surprisingly, the young writer at that time was only nineteen years old.
Frederick printed under pseudonyms, his fees were very small. However, this was his favorite pastime, and he agreed to everything, if only to work in this area.
And, apparently, Paul succeeded as editor-in-chief of the magazine: for his work, he received the Hugo Award. In total, the writer has more than a dozen different awards and prizes precisely for science fiction novels. And in 1998, he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
Apparently, he was a fairly independent person. In his youth, Paul was an active Komsomol member, and headed the local branch of the Komsomol in Brooklyn. He supported the Communists, but in 1939 his views changed, and he left the Komsomol. But this could not but affect his life, because the ideas of communism were close to him.
Writer career
Paul began writing seriously in the late 1930s, using the pseudonym Elton Andrews. He wrote short stories and poems, and then began a career as a literary agent. He was a representative of such a famous writer as Isaac Asimov, collaborated with Hall Clement. They said about him that "this clever young man represents more than half of successful science fiction writers."
With the outbreak of World War II, he quit working as a science fiction magazine editor and went into advertising. At the same time, he was involved in the creation of the Hydra club. This is a club where science fiction writers met with readers and discussed current topics, arranged disputes and had a good time.
After the war, Paul was actively engaged in advertising copywriting, and also edited non-fiction books. Then he wrote in collaboration with other authors, because he himself did not feel the strength in a full-fledged work. At the same time, the main reason was his constant employment in editorial and other work. And when he finally decided to do only writing work - everyone was surprised by this powerful creative outburst.
The first successful novel by Frederick Paul is called "The Man with the Plus" (1976). He was awarded the Nebula Prize. The novel takes place on Mars. Terrans have recently mastered this planet, and cyborgs are used for hard work. The drama of one of the artificially created creatures is the main theme of the novel. In 1994, the continuation of the novel called "Mars with a plus" was released, and it was also a great success.
Over the years, the writer's skill grew, his work became more and more popular. Readers were already waiting for Paul’s new novel and snapping it up in a few days. Among such works, the novel The Outer Space Merchants was most popular. However, the series of Star Gate and contacts with the Heechee civilization awaited the most grandiose success. The novel "Gates" was released in 1977 and a year later collected all the highest prizes in the fantasy genre.
Then he wrote the novel "Jam", as well as "Years of the City", "The Rise of the Black Star", "World at the End of Time" and many others. And he also wrote the continuation of the novel "The Gate".
