Probably not a lot of people these days, which is a shame. Miller (1923-1996) was born on Jnauary 23. He was once a prominent figure in the filed.

Miller wrote the classic post nuclear war novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz. It was originally published in three parts in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1955,1956, and 1957 and collected in book form iin 1959.

Miller wrote a sequel, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. He arranged with Terry Bisson for Bisson to finish the novel in case he died before he could complete it. Which is what happened. The book was published in 1997.

Miller did most of his work at shorter lengths, mostly short stories, novellettes, and novellas. I’ve not read much of his shorter work, but I did read “The Darfsteller” in eighth grade in The Hugo Winners, Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Issac Asimov. The only thing I remmeber about it was that the protagonist’s landlord kept calling him a “bom”. I was going to try and reread it for tonight’s post, but it is seventy pages of fairly small print in The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr., and I didn’t have that much time.

Miller shacked up with Judith Merrill for a short time.  Her birthday was two days ago.

Miller wrote consistently through the ninteen fifties. I’m not sure why he stopped writing. It may have been writer’s block. I know he struggled with it while writing Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.

Terry Bisson has stated that Miller usffered from depression. He became a recluse after the publication of Canticle. He wrote over thirty pieces of short fiction. Several collections of his work have been published, but they all reprint the same handful of stories, with few exceptions. It would be nice if someone would published a more extensive collection of his work, even if it was POD.

Miller died of an intentional self-inflicted gunshot on Jnauary 9, 1996, not long after his wife died.