Harry Harrison (writer)

Harry Harrison

Harrison at the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005
Born Henry Maxwell Dempsey
(1925-03-12)March 12, 1925
Stamford, Connecticut, United States
Died August 15, 2012(2012-08-15) (aged 87)
Brighton, England, United Kingdom
Occupation Writer, illustrator
Nationality American
Period 1951–2010
Genre Science fiction, satire
Spouse Evelyn Harrison, div. 1951
Joan Merkler Harrison
(1954–2002, her death)
Children Todd Harrison and Moira Harrison
Website
harryharrison.com

Harry Max Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey; March 12, 1925 – August 15, 2012) was an American science fiction author, known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Harrison was (with Brian Aldiss) the co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

Aldiss called him "a constant peer and great family friend".[1] His friend Michael Carroll said, "Imagine Pirates of the Caribbean or Raiders of the Lost Ark, and picture them as science-fiction novels. They're rip-roaring adventures, but they're stories with a lot of heart."[2] Novelist Christopher Priest wrote in an obituary,

Harrison was an extremely popular figure in the SF world, renowned for being amiable, outspoken and endlessly amusing. His quickfire, machine-gun delivery of words was a delight to hear, and a reward to unravel: he was funny and self-aware, he enjoyed reporting the follies of others, he distrusted generals, prime ministers and tax officials with sardonic and cruel wit, and above all he made plain his acute intelligence and astonishing range of moral, ethical and literary sensibilities.[3]

Career

Harrison's novelette "Down to Earth" took the cover of the November 1963 issue of Amazing Stories

Before becoming an editor and writer, Harrison started in the science fiction field as an illustrator, notably with EC Comics' two science fiction comic book series, Weird Fantasy and Weird Science. In these and other comic book stories, he most often worked with Wally Wood. Wood usually inked over Harrison's layouts, and the two freelanced for several publishers and genres, including westerns and horror comics. He and Wood split up their partnership in 1950 and went their separate ways. Harrison used house pen names such as Wade Kaempfert and Philip St. John to edit magazines and published other fiction under the pen names Felix Boyd and Hank Dempsey[4] (see Personal Life below). Harrison ghostwrote Vendetta for the Saint, one of the long-running series of novels featuring Leslie Charteris' character, The Saint. Harrison also wrote for syndicated comic strips, writing several stories for the character Rick Random.

His first short story, "Rock Diver", was published in the February 1951 issue of Worlds Beyond, edited by Damon Knight;[5] the magazine had previously published his illustrations. While in New York, he socialized at the Hydra Club, an organization of New York's science fiction writers, including Isaac Asimov, whose work he would parody in Bill, the Galactic Hero and its sequels.[6] In the early 1950s, the Hydra Club included writers such as Alfred Bester, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Avram Davidson, Judith Merril, and Theodore Sturgeon.[7]

Harrison has become much better known for his later writing, particularly for his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and his novel Bill, the Galactic Hero — which satirized Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers. Priest wrote:

His most popular and best-known work is contained in fast-moving parodies, homages or even straight reconstructions of traditional space-opera adventures. He wrote several named series of these: notably the Deathworld series (three titles, starting in 1960), the Stainless Steel Rat books (12 titles, from 1961), and the sequence of books about Bill, the Galactic Hero (seven titles, from 1965). These books all present interesting contradictions: while being exactly what they might superficially seem to be, unpretentious action novels with a strong streak of humour, they are also satirical, knowing, subversive, unapologetically anti-military, anti-authority and anti-violence. Harrison wrote such novels in the idiom of the politically conservative hack writer, but in reality he had a liberal conscience and a sharp awareness of the lack of literary values in so much of the SF he was parodying.[3]

Adi Robertson agreed: "His books toed the line between science fiction adventure, humor, and satire, often with a strong anti-military bent informed by his time in the US Army Air Corps."[8]

During the 1950s and 1960s, he was the main writer of the Flash Gordon newspaper strip.[9][10] One of his Flash Gordon scripts was serialized in Comics Revue magazine. Harrison drew sketches to help the artist be more scientifically accurate, which the artist largely ignored.

Not all of Harrison's writing was comic, though. He wrote many stories on serious themes, of which by far the best known is the novel about overpopulation and consumption of the world's resources, Make Room! Make Room! (1966), which was used as a basis for the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green (though the film changed the plot and theme).

For a time Harrison was closely associated with Brian Aldiss. They collaborated on a series of anthology projects and did much in the 1970s to raise the standards of criticism in the field, including institution of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[11] Priest wrote, "In 1965 Harrison and Aldiss published the first issue (of two) of the world's first serious journal of SF criticism, SF Horizons. Together they edited many anthologies of short stories, each one illustrating the major themes of SF, and although not intended as critical apparatus the books were a way of delineating the unique material of the fantastic. As committed internationalists, the two men created World SF, an organisation of professionals intended to encourage and enhance the writing of non-anglophone SF."[3] In particular, the two edited nine volumes of The Year's Best Science Fiction anthology series[12] as well as three volumes of the Decade series, collecting science fiction of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s respectively.[13]

In 1990, Harrison was the professional Guest of Honor at ConFiction, the 48th World SF Convention, in The Hague, Netherlands, together with Joe Haldeman and Wolfgang Jeschke.

Harrison was a writer of fairly liberal worldview. Harrison's work often juxtaposes the thinking man with the man of force, although the "Thinking Man" often needs ultimately to employ force himself.

Harrison did not win a major genre award for any specific work of fiction.[14] The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Harrison in 2004[15] and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him its 26th SFWA Grand Master in 2008 (presentation of the Damon Knight Award following in 2009).[16] He became a cult hero in Russia.[17]

Personal life

Harrison was born as Henry Maxwell Dempsey in Stamford, Connecticut. His father, Henry Leo Dempsey, a printer who was partly of Irish descent, changed his name to Harrison soon after Harry was born. Harry did not know this himself until he was 30 years old, at which point he changed his name to Harry Max Harrison in court.[18] His mother, Ria H. (Kirjassoff),[19] was Russian Jewish. She had been born in Riga, Latvia, but she grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia.[20][21] His mother's brother, Max David Kirjassoff (1888-1923), had been an American consul in Japan, but he died along with his wife Alice during the huge earthquake in Yokohama and Tokyo in 1923.[22][23][24][25][26]

Harrison resided in many parts of the world including Mexico, England, Italy, Denmark, and Ireland.[3] He was an advocate of Esperanto (which he learned, according to Christopher Priest, out of boredom during military service). He moved to Ireland in the 1970's where he built a then state of the art home in the Vale of Avoca in County Wicklow where he lived with his family for a number of years. The language often appears in his novels, particularly in his Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld series, and he had been the honorary president of the Esperanto Association of Ireland, as well as holding memberships in other Esperanto organizations such as Esperanto-USA (formerly the "Esperanto League for North America"), of which he was an honorary member, and the Universala Esperanto-Asocio (World Esperanto Association), of whose Honorary Patrons' Committee he was a member.

After finishing Forest Hills High School in 1943, Harrison was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a gunsight technician and as a gunnery instructor. Priest adds that he became a sharpshooter, a military policeman, and a specialist in the prototypes of computer-aided bomb-sights and gun turrets. "But overall the army experience vested in him a hatred of the military that was to serve him well as a writer later on."[3] Then he returned to civilian life in the United States.

He enrolled in Hunter College in New York in 1946 and later ran a studio selling illustrations to comics and science fiction magazines.[1]

Harrison married Evelyn Harrison, whom he included in a cartoon he drew of the Hydra Club in 1950. They divorced in 1951,[27] and Evelyn married the science fiction writer Lester del Rey shortly afterwards.[28]

Harrison married Joan Merkler Harrison in 1954 in New York City; their marriage lasted until her death of cancer in 2002. They had two children, Todd (born in 1955) and Moira (born in 1959), to whom he dedicated his novel Make Room! Make Room!.[28]

Priest writes that Harrison made many household moves abroad:

As the market for comics began to shrink, and then expire, Harrison started writing for science-fiction magazines. The paltry financial rewards led him ... to move from New York. The chance came with what seemed at the time like a large payment from a magazine for his first full-length novel, Deathworld. He drove his family in an antiquated camper van to Mexico and remained there for a year. It was the first of many international moves, something that became characteristic. He went from Mexico to Britain, then to Italy, then to Denmark. He liked Denmark and stayed for seven years, seeing it as a perfect place to bring up his children, but eventually he realised that unless he made a conscious decision to leave, they could easily remain there for ever. The family moved back to the US, to San Diego, California, where he reckoned heating bills would be low, but by the mid-1970s he was back in the UK.[3]

After many years of moving around and raising children, too, he spent his latter years residing in Ireland. Because Harrison had an Irish grandparent, he was able to assume citizenship, and by taking advantage of the Irish scheme for writers, he enjoyed tax-free status.[3] He also kept an apartment in Brighton for his frequent visits to England. When Joan died in 2002, his British home became permanent.

Harrison's website announced his death on August 15, 2012[29][30] at his apartment in Brighton, England.

On learning of his death, Harlan Ellison said, "It's a day without stars in it."[9]

Harrison was atheist.[31]

Bibliography

Novels

Harrison's novels
Year Title Author Credit Series Notes
1960 Deathworld Harry Harrison Deathworld
1961 The Stainless Steel Rat Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat Story later adapted as a comic strip for 2000 AD.
1962 Planet of the Damned Harry Harrison Brion Brandd Variant title: Sense of Obligation (1967); serialized under this variant title in 1961.
1964 Vendetta for the Saint Leslie Charteris Ghostwritten by Harrison, credited to Leslie Charteris, and based upon Charteris's mystery series The Saint.
1964 Deathworld 2 Harry Harrison Deathworld Originally serialised as The Ethical Engineer
1965 Plague from Space Harry Harrison Expanded and reissued as The Jupiter Plague (1982)
1965 Bill, the Galactic Hero Harry Harrison Bill, the Galactic Hero
1966 Make Room! Make Room! Harry Harrison Basis for the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston
1967 The Technicolor Time Machine Harry Harrison
1968 Deathworld 3 Harry Harrison Deathworld Originally serialised in 1968 as The Horse Barbarians
1969 Captive Universe Harry Harrison
1970 The Daleth Effect Harry Harrison Variant title: In Our Hands, the Stars, 1970. Serialised 1969-70 under this variant title.
1970 The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1970 Spaceship Medic Harry Harrison
1972 Tunnel Through the Deeps Harry Harrison Variant title: A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!
1972 Montezuma's Revenge Harry Harrison Tony Hawkin
1972 The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat Story later adapted as a comic strip for 2000 AD.
1972 Stonehenge Harry Harrison and Leon Stover This version was heavily cut from the manuscript; 1983 edition, titled Stonehenge: Where Atlantis Died, restores the full original text.
1973 Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers Harry Harrison
1974 Queen Victoria's Revenge Harry Harrison Tony Hawkin
1975 The California Iceberg Harry Harrison
1976 Skyfall Harry Harrison
1977 The Lifeship Harry Harrison and Gordon R. Dickson Variant title: Lifeboat
1978 The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1980 The QE2 is Missing (aka The QEII is Missing) Harry Harrison Non-science fiction. A political thriller about South American politics, Nazis and arms dealers set on a cruise ship.[4]
1980 Homeworld Harry Harrison To the Stars
1981 Wheelworld Harry Harrison To the Stars
1981 Starworld Harry Harrison To the Stars
1981 Planet of No Return Harry Harrison Brion Brandd
1982 Invasion: Earth Harry Harrison
1982 The Stainless Steel Rat for President Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat Story later adapted as a comic strip for 2000 AD.
1983 A Rebel In Time Harry Harrison
1984 West of Eden Harry Harrison Eden
1985 A Stainless Steel Rat is Born Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1986 Winter in Eden Harry Harrison Eden
1987 The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1988 Return to Eden Harry Harrison Eden
1989 Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Robot Slaves Harry Harrison Bill, the Galactic Hero
1990 Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Bottled Brains Harry Harrison and Robert Sheckley Bill, the Galactic Hero
1991 Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Tasteless Pleasure Harry Harrison and David Bischoff Bill, the Galactic Hero
1991 Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Zombie Vampires Harry Harrison and Jack C. Haldeman II Bill, the Galactic Hero
1991 Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars Harry Harrison and David Bischoff Bill, the Galactic Hero Variant title: Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Hippies from Hell
1991 Bill, the Galactic Hero: The Final Incoherent Adventure Harry Harrison and David Harris Bill, the Galactic Hero
1992 The Turing Option Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky
1993 The Hammer and the Cross Harry Harrison and John Holm The Hammer and the Cross "John Holm" is a pseudonym of Tom Shippey.
1994 The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1994[32] One King's Way Harry Harrison and John Holm The Hammer and the Cross "John Holm" is a pseudonym of Tom Shippey.
1996 The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
1997 King and Emperor Harry Harrison and John Holm The Hammer and the Cross "John Holm" is a pseudonym of Tom Shippey.
1998 Stars and Stripes Forever Harry Harrison Stars and Stripes
1998 Return to Deathworld Harry Harrison and Ant Skalandis Deathworld Only published in Russian, Lithuanian and Polish.
1998 Deathworld vs. Filibusters Harry Harrison and Ant Skalandis Deathworld Only published in Russian, Lithuanian and Polish.
1999 The Creatures from Hell Harry Harrison and Ant Skalandis Deathworld Only published in Russian, Lithuanian and Polish.
1999 The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat
2000 Stars and Stripes in Peril Harry Harrison Stars and Stripes
2001 Deathworld 7 Harry Harrison and Mikhail Ahmanov Deathworld Only published in Russian and Lithuanian.
2002 Stars and Stripes Triumphant Harry Harrison Stars and Stripes
2010 The Stainless Steel Rat Returns Harry Harrison The Stainless Steel Rat

Novellas

Short story collections

See List of short stories by Harry Harrison

Omnibus volumes

Comics

Miscellanea

Non-fiction books

Anthologies (as editor)

References

  1. 1 2 Meikle, James (15 August 2012). "Death of Harry Harrison, science fiction author, aged 87". The Guardian. London. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ "PASSINGS: Harry Harrison, Nellie Gray". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Tribune Company. August 17, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Priest, Christopher (15 August 2012). "Harry Harrison obituary". The Guardian. London. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Von Ruff, Al. "Harry Harrison - Summary Bibliography". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ Harry Harrison at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-04-04. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  6. ↑ Gaughan, Gavin (25 August 2012). "Harry Harrison: Writer of sci-fi novels who created the popular anti-hero the Stainless Steel Rat". The Independent. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Alfred Bester". Library of America. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  8. ↑ Robertson, Adi (August 16, 2012). "Harry Harrison, author of 'Deathworld' and the book that inspired 'Soylent Green,' dies at 87". The Verge. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Debucquoy-Dodley, Dominique; Chris Kokenes (August 15, 2012). "Sci-fi writer Harry Harrison, whose book inspired movie 'Soylent Green,' dies at 87". CNN. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Harry Harrison, 1925-2012". Tor Books. August 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  11. ↑ Philmus, Robert M. (November 1984). "Notes and Correspondence". Science Fiction Studies. Greencastle, Indiana: DePauw University. 11 (3) (34). ISSN 0091-7729. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  12. ↑ The Years Best Science Fiction at The Official Harry Harrison Website, accessed March 2, 2012
  13. ↑ Decade series at The Official Harry Harrison Website, accessed March 2, 2012
  14. ↑ "Harrison, Harry". The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index to Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  15. ↑ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame". Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Retrieved 2012-04-25. This was the official website of the hall of fame to 2004.
  16. ↑ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  17. ↑ Martin, Douglas (August 17, 2012). "Harry Harrison, a Prolific Writer of Satiric Science Fiction, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  18. ↑ Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  19. ↑ Report of the Board of Education of the City of Waterbury (p. 118)
  20. ↑ Paul Tomlinson 2002, p. 15.
  21. ↑ Interview with Harry Harrison in Moscow
  22. ↑ Yokohama Burning (p. 242)
  23. ↑ American Jewish Year Book (p. 162)
  24. ↑ Jewish Telegraph Agency (p. 233)
  25. ↑ Yale University Alumni Biographies (Meyer Wolf, p. 233)
  26. ↑ Max Kirjassoff Biography
  27. ↑ Asimov, Isaac (1979). In Memory Yet Green, The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954. Doubleday. pp. 614, 620.
  28. 1 2 The Hydra Club by Harrison
  29. ↑ The Official Harry Harrison Website, accessed August 15, 2012
  30. ↑ Martin, Douglas (August 17, 2012). "Harry Harrison, a Prolific Writer of Satiric Science Fiction, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  31. ↑ "Harry Harrison is a self-confessed atheist" per official website HarryHarrison.com
  32. ↑ "One King's Way". Iol.ie. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  33. ↑ Slade, Joseph W. (2000). Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide, Volume 2. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 527. Harry Harrison identifies the sexy illustrations and magazine covers that helped to build an American audience for science fiction in Great Balls of Fire! A History of Sex in Science Fiction Illustration.
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