A Tiny Bit About Jack Williamson

We toss around the term “Sci-Fi Grand Master” around here on DarkCargo to designate those authors whom, after having read, we believe set the bar for good literature in the genre. Actually, Jack Williamson *is* a Grand Master of Science Fiction as designated by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

I have been reading though our January YOBC list and a lot of the material is so dry it makes my eyes water. But Jack Williamson I can dig. He discusses science through his characters’ actions, while in most of the other stuff I’ve read, the characters are a secondary point to the science or sociological discussion. Also, I can relate to him, having spent time out in these open, arid, still-wild places; growing up with the sound of the trains along the Rio Grande, and been several days’ walk from another thumb-endowed being. It is both lonely and empowering.

Out near Portales, NM

He arrived with his family to Eastern New Mexico on a covered wagon in 1915–wow, how’s that for authentic “Old West”? The family tried to make a living in the very northern part of Mexico (as defined by the modern borders, New Mexico was a Territory at this time) but with the Mexican Revolution raging decided that a US territory might be a bit more stable, cattle ranching on land that is still owned by the family. Living was not lush: water is not a reliable resource, neighbors can be a day or more away, the space is large but the grazing is sparse. He was shy and read a lot, the ever-persistent equation for social wall-flower. He was reading fiction available through the pulp magazines at the time, and A. Merritt’s The Moon Pool excited him enough to want to spend his life as a Science Fiction Writer. He borrowed money from his sister to subscribe to one of these magazines. He decided to pursue college and arrived in Albuquerque via hitching a hobo-style ride on a train car, but realized that the college programs available at that time weren’t going to benefit his career as a Science Fiction Writer and gave that up.

In 1928 he published his first short story, The Metal Man, in Amazing Stories, and by 1930 was considered to be an established writer in the genre, encouraging Asimov to carry on with his writing by sending a congratulatory postcard.

He was an emotionally-wracked kinda guy (nowadays we call this “sensitive”?) and checked himself into treatment as money allowed. He learned to deal with these emotional turmoils through his writing.

Display windows at the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library

He served in WWII as a radio operator, and after the War, enrolled in Eastern New Mexico State University where he was to stay for the next forty years or so, becoming a Professor Emeritus and teaching the first real science fiction as literature courses. The ENMU knew what a treasure they had in Williamson, and not only did they designate an ongoing Lecture Series, a scholarship, and a Liberal Arts building, but funded a frigging Science Fiction Library with over 15,000 (yes, thousand) volumes.

I think he’s an interesting guy for a few reasons. I like his “solve this problem” attitude toward his emotional distresses. I also think he’s neat because he was a long time in making his way in the world. Born in 1908, it wasn’t until the 1950′s that he earned his degree and was established on his career. In 1952 he was employed by the New York Sunday News writing a comic strip called Beyond Mars which ran from 1952 to 1955. You can still get a collected reproduction, here.

Here’s a nice layout of his bibliography: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/jack-williamson/

In addition to the designation as Grand Master of Science Fiction, he won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. His most-known works are The Humanoids and The Legions.