Will F. Jenkins, better known by his pseudonym Murray Leintster, was born this day (June 16) in 1896. He passed away on June 8, 1975, just eight days short of his 79th birthday.
Leinster wrote for a variety of pulp magazines, but his greatest output was in the field of science fiction, beginning with “Atmosphere” in Argosy in 1918. While he wrote novels, his best work was at shorter lengths. Some of these stories include “Sidewise in Time”, “First Contact”, “A Logic Named Joe”, and “Exploration Team”. These stories have become classics in the field, and “Exploration Team” won one of the first Hugo Awards.
I’ve always enjoyed Leinster’s work. As with any prolific author, not all the stories are of equal quality, but when Leinster was good, he was very good.
Later in the summer, when things settle down, i.e., when the second summer session starts and I’m teaching, one of the things I want to do is restart the Pre-Campbell Science Fiction Challenge. Leinster will be one of the authors I’ll be reading.
Leinster somehow managed to maintain high quality throughout his long career. Good luck with finding pre-Campbell examples of his writing. Three of the four you mention were written for Campbell, and the fourth came from an early issue of Astounding.
Mad Planet might be the most famous of his Argosy works, but it is usually found in the revised, book version from the 1950s.
Between Damon Knight’s Science Fiction of the 30’s (1), Asimov’s Before the Golden Age (2) and three Murray Leinster Megapacks (more than I’m going to bother to couont), I think I’ll find something. 🙂 While his best stuff may have been written for Campbell, he did some good work before Campbell.
He also wrote some fun romps for the Thrilling Magazines while selling to Campbell. I think you’ll enjoy whatever Leinster who pick, whether pre-, post-, or midCampbell.
I agree. I’ve read quite a bit of Leinster, although that was years ago, and found it almost universally enjoyable. I’m looking forward to reading him again.