Today, November 26, is Frederik Pohl’s birthday.
Pohl pretty much did everything in the field a person could do except art. I’m not aware of him engaging in any visually artistic activities. He was a fan (member of the Futurians), editor of both pulps and books, agent, and writer.
I grew up reading Pohl. The Best of Frederik Pohl was one of the first books I bought when I joined the Science Fiction Book Club the summer before I started high school. Most of his other collections were out of print at the time but easily available in second hand bookstores. Ah, those were the days.
I always preferred Pohl’s short fiction to his novels, but he was excellent at all lengths. If you haven’t read Gateway, you should. I’ll raise a glass in his memory tonight and try to work in a short story if I can.