Paul Frederick: biography and work of the writer

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Frederick George Paul is a talented American science fiction writer and editor. His writing career spanned over 75 years, from his first published poem in 1937 to his latest novel All the Lives He Led (2011) and articles and essays published in 2012.

Frederick Paul is the winner of many prestigious awards: Skylark, Hugo, Locus, Nebula, Forry, Milford and others. In 1998 for his great contribution to the development of the science fiction genre The writer became a recipient of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Below is a biography of Frederick Pohl and traces his creative path.

Early years

Paul was born to Frederick Paul and Anna Mason. His father held various positions, so the family moved frequently. As a child, Frederick lived in Texas, California, New Mexico and the Panama Canal Zone. When the boy was about 7 years old, the Paul couple settled in Brooklyn.

Frederick went to technical high school in Brooklyn, but at the age of 17 he left it, deciding to focus entirely on his main hobby and vocation - sciencefantasy. It is interesting to note the fact that in 2009 the writer received a diploma from the Brooklyn Technological University for his creative merits.

As a teenager, Frederick Pohl co-founded the Futurians in New York. At this stage of his life, he met talented people who became his true friends: Donald A. Wollheim, Isaac (Isaac) Asimov and others.

Pre-war and war years

In 1936, Frederick joined the communist organization. He shared the views of the communists, opposed the racial policy of the fascist leaders A. Hitler and B. Mussolini. However, after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1939, the party line changed, and Frederik Pohl could no longer support the interests of the party.

From April 1943 to November 1945 Paul served in the United States Army. After completing training in the US states of Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado, he was sent to serve in Italy.

Work as a literary agent and editor

Paul began publishing in the late 30s, using pseudonyms for his early work. His first poem, Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna, was published under the name of Elton Andrews in the popular American science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. In 1940, Frederik Pohl co-wrote the short story Before the Universe with writer Cyril Kornblat.

Paul started his literary careeragent in 1937, but his agency did not receive the financial support necessary for full-fledged work, and in the early 50s he was forced to close it. Paul was an agent for Isaac Asimov and other talented writers. Between 1939 and 1943 he was editor of Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories. The stories of Frederick Paul were often published in these magazines, but the writer always used pseudonyms, did not reveal his real name. In his autobiography, he wrote that he completed his work as an editor in 1941, with the outbreak of hostilities between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

From the early 60s until 1969, he was the editor of the so-called tabloid magazines Galaxy Science Fiction and If. In the mid-70s, he edited novels and continued his writing career.

Career blossoming

After the end of the Second World War, Frederick Pohl was engaged in copywriting of advertising texts, and then worked in the authoritative scientific journal Popular Science. After the war, he began publishing under his own name.

In the 1970s, Paul wrote Man Plus and the Heechee book series. Frederick Paul's book "Gateway" (Gateway) from the "Heechee" series received three honorary American awards: "Nebula", "Hugo" and "Locus". Another famous novel of the writer, "Jam" (1980), won the National Book Award.

Frederik Pohl's writings include not only short stories and science fiction novels, but also articles for such world-famousthe world of magazines like Playboy and Family Circle, as well as academic papers. For some time, the writer was the official expert of the Encyclopædia Britannica on the personality and activities of Emperor Tiberius.

From 1995 until his death, Paul collaborated with James Gunn and Judith Merrill, among other gifted artists. Interesting works of one of the most famous American science fiction writers of the 20th - early 21st centuries: the novels "Man Plus" and "Gate", the stories "Fermi and the Cold" and "Meeting", the trilogy "Child of the Stars", the dilogy "The Cuckoo Saga".

Private life

Paul Frederick has been married five times. His first marriage took place in August 1940. The wife of the future writer was Leslie Perry, who, like Paul, was a member of the Futurian society. The marriage was short-lived, and the couple divorced in 1944.

In August 1945 in Paris, Frederick married Dorothy LeTina. At this time, a bloody war was going on all over the world, Frederick and Dorothy served together in the army in Europe. Paul's second marriage was annulled in 1947, and the very next year he married the writer Judith Merrill, who bore him a daughter, Ann. Paul and Merill divorced in 1952, and in 1953 he married Karol Mitkal Ulf, with whom he had three children. The marriage to Karol Mitkal was annulled in 1983.

Since 1984, Paul has been married to science fiction researcher Professor Elizabeth Ann Hull, with whom he shared common interests.

Last years of life

The famous writer died on September 2, 2013 at the age of 93, leaving behind a rich creative legacy. Until his death, the writer Frederick Pohl did what he loved, to which he devoted most of his life. In 2011, his last novel, All the Lives He Led, was published. In 2012, Paul was writing articles and essays. By the time of his death, he was working on completing the second volume of his autobiography, The Way the Future Was (1979).