Gardner Dozois

American science fiction editor (1947-2018)

Gardner Raymond Dozois (July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won several Hugo and Nebula awards. He won as an editor and as a writer of short fiction.

Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Born(1947-07-23)July 23, 1947
Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 27, 2018(2018-05-27) (aged 70)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationEditor, writer
NationalityAmerican
Period1966—2018

Biography change

Dozois was born on July 23, 1947 in Salem, Massachusetts.[1] He was in the Army from 1966 to 1969 as a journalist. He then moved to New York City to work as a science fiction editor. Dozois said that one reason he started reading fiction was to escape from his isolated home town.

In 2004, Dozois was badly injured in a traffic accident while going home in a taxi from a Philadelphia Phillies game. He missed Worldcon for the first time in many years because of the accident. He did make a full recovery. On July 6, 2007, Dozois had a planned heart surgery. A week later, he experienced problems and had another operation to put in a defibrillator.

On May 27, 2018, Dozios died of multiple organ failure complicated by an infection at a hospital in Philadelphia at the age of 70.[2][3][4]

Fiction change

Dozois mostly wrote short stories. He won the Nebula Award for best short story twice: once for "The Peacemaker" in 1983, and again for "Morning Child" in 1984. His short fiction has been collected in The Visible Man (1977), Geodesic Dreams (a best-of collection), Slow Dancing through Time (1990, with other authors), and Strange Days (2001, another best-of collection). He wrote fewer novels. He wrote one novel by himself, Strangers (1978). He wrote, Nightmare Blue (1977) with George Alec Effinger. Dozois also wrote Hunter's Run (2008) with George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham. After he became editor of Asimov's, Dozois wrote less fiction. Later, he began writing more. His 2006 novelette "Counterfactual" won the Sidewise Award for best alternate-history short story. Dozois also agreed to write short fiction reviews for Locus.

Editorial work change

Dozois mainly worked as an editor. He won 15 Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor, nearly every year between 1988 and his retirement from Asimov's in 2004. That is more than anyone else. He also worked in the 1970s with magazines such as Galaxy Science Fiction, If, Worlds of Fantasy, and Worlds of Tomorrow.[5]

Dozois was well known for publishing books that collected many short stories. After leaving Asimov's, he continued as the editor of the series The Year's Best Science Fiction. This has been published each year since 1984. He also edited a long series of themed anthologies with Jack Dann. Each book has a title that explains the theme, such as Cats, Dinosaurs, Seaserpents, or Hackers.

Dozois always said he was especially interested in adventure science fiction and space opera. He calls these two sub-genre "center-core SF".[6]

Michael Swanwick published a book-length interview with Dozois in 2001. The book was called Being Gardner Dozois. It was about each published piece of fiction Dozois ever wrote. Swanwick had written some stories together with Dozois. In 2002, the interview was named as a possible Hugo Award for Best Related Book winner. It won the 2002 Locus Award for Non-Fiction.[7]

Works change

Fiction (This list is not complete) change

  • "A Special Kind of Morning" (1971)
  • "Chains of the Sea" (1971)
  • "Machines of Loving Grace" (1972)
  • A Day in the Life (1973, ISBN 978-0060803070)First Edition 1978 Library of Congress number 78-160655
  • Nightmare Blue (with George Alec Effinger) (1977, ISBN 978-0006146179)
  • The Visible Man (collection) (1977, ASIN B000GZU4C8)
  • Strangers (1978)
  • "A Traveler in an Antique Land" (1983)
  • "The Peacemaker" (1983) (Nebula Award winner)
  • "Morning Child" (1984) (Nebula Award winner)
  • Slow Dancing Through Time (collection) (1990, 978-0942681031)
  • Geodesic Dreams (collection) (1992, ISBN 978-0441000210)
  • "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows" (1999)
  • Strange Days: Fabulous Journeys with Gardner Dozois (collection) (2001)
  • "The Hanging Curve" (F&SF, April 2002)
  • Morning Child and Other Stories (collection) (2004, ISBN 978-0743493185)
  • "When the Great Days Came" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec 2005)
  • Shadow Twin (2005) (with George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham)
  • "Counterfactual" (F&SF, June 2006)
  • Hunter's Run (2008, ISBN 978-0061373299) (with George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham)

Nonfiction change

Anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois (This list is not complete) change

Anthologies co-edited by Dozois and Martin that mix genres change

Themed anthology series co-edited by Dozois and Dann change

"Isaac Asimov's" Series change

Year's Best Science Fiction Series change

Notes change

  1. "Gardner Dozois: The Good Stuff," Interview, Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, Nov. 2008, issue 574, pages 68-70.
  2. "Gardner Dozois (1947-2018)". Locus Online. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  3. Tor.com (28 May 2018). "Gardner Dozois, 1947 – 2018". Tor.com.
  4. Graham, Kristen A. "Gardner Dozois, 70, acclaimed science-fiction editor". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  5. "Gardner Dozois: The Good Stuff," Interview, Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, Nov. 2008, issue 574, pages 68-70.
  6. Gardner Dozois, the Revitalization of Genre SF, and The New Space Opera by Dave Truesdale, Fantasy and Science Fiction, accessed Nov. 3, 2008.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2011-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. grrm (30 September 2010). "Another Monkey Off My Back".

Other websites change