Obituary: In Memorium

Sam Moskowitz

by Robert A. Madle

If ever there was a Renaissance Man in science fiction, that man was Sam Moskowitz. He discovered SF in 1933 and it consumed his entire life. Over a period of 64 years, he was first a reader and collector, then a super-active fan, then briefly was an author for the pro-mags of the early 40’s, then an editor and anthologist, and eventu­ally a researcher, in which he was so superior to others, that comparison is futile.

Sam was born of Russian/Jewish immigrant parents who left Russia about 1900 and settled in Newark, NJ, where they eked out a very modest living. Born in June, 1920, Sam led a normal de­pression-era life until he discovered SF, when he saw the March 1933 Wonder Storiesin a candy store window. He and fellow fan Robert Bahr formed a chapter of the Science Fiction League in 1935. This led to the discovery of “fanmags” (as they were known then; “fanzines” came much later).

Among the first fanmags he encountered were Science Fiction League chapter organs, such as The Brooklyn Reporterand Chicago’s Fourteen Leaflet. He was incredibly fascinated by their detailed discussions of the SF scene. And it should be pointed out that SF fandom of 1929-36 revolved entirely around SF magazines (Wonder, Amazing, Astoundingand to some extent, Weird Tales). Soon after, Sam discovered Fantasy Magazine, the marvelous early printed magazine of Conrad H. Ruppert and Julius Schwartz. This led to other fanmags, such as William Crawford’s Marvel Tales, and Sam was in deep forever.

Like most early fans, Sam had an urge to write and communicate with others. The fanmags gave him this opportunity. The first time I heard of Sam was in early 1937, when John V. Baltadonis received an article for his Science Fiction Collector, “Case History”, discussing the impor­tance of Hugo Gernsback to SF. The article was hand-written; Baltadonis and I felt that being hand-written, it was too adolescent to use (we were all of 16 at the time). Two years later I featured this in my fanmag Fantascience Digest, as “the first article ever written by Sam Moskowitz.”

In the brief space of two years, Sam had become one of the most, if not themost, prolific of fan writers. His articles appeared everywhere; they were almost invariably well-done and orig­inal. He wrote about the history of SF, collecting, publishing, fan activities and all aspects of the field. He not only contributed to the fan presses, but he also developed a fan manuscript bureau, collecting articles from fans and authors and sending them to fan presses. There were many fanmags that Sam, personally, kept alive.

Much has been written about the fan feuds of the late 30’s, which developed in the pages of fanmags: there were about 100 active fans and about 50 fanmags. Cliques developed for many reasons. I guess the chief feuder was Donald A. Wollheim. When someone did something he opposed, he’d make every effort to expel him from fandom.

The main reason for the feuds was the sponsorship of the First World Convention, in 1939. Originally Wollheim’s idea, he dissolved the organization that was to sponsor it, the Inter­national Scientific Association (ISA). However, he immediately formed The Committee for the Political Advancement of Science Fiction to fill the slack. In retaliation, Sam and his group formed New Fandom. I, with other Philadelphia fans, was allied with Sam, Will Sykora and James V. Taurasi. Sam had every reason to believe he was right in excluding Wollheim and his group—but I, personally, felt that no one should be refused admittance even though some extremely negative situations had developed between the Philadelphia group and the Wollheim group (the Michelists, later the Futurians). New Fandom eventually put on the convention and the Futur­ians were excluded. Sam, to his final days, felt that they’d have done everything possible to disrupt, disorganize and by legal or illegal means, see the convention fail. But it was held and was successful, and it was the template for all future Worldcons.

All of the above—and much, much more—is covered in vivid detail in Sam’s remarkable history of fandom, The Immortal Storm. I feel this will be what Sam will be most remembered for: his crowning achievement. Only Sam could have written this book and, unfortunately, he has been criticized for it. Academic researchers (who discovered SF 30 years after Sam did) have stated it isn’t research because he was there! Not only was he there, he had all of the research material available at his fingertips—and he knew what was on every page of every document. And he wrote it all down in staggering detail (when Tony Boucher reviewed the book, he said, “Never before has so much been written about so little.”) On the other hand, L. Sprague de Camp called it an excellent example of a small group relationships. Another reviewer, Damon Knight, referred to him as “Micro-cosmic Moskowitz.”

During World War II, Sam spent 1942-44 in the Army, but was released for physical reasons. This enabled him to keep up his activity when most active fans couldn’t. For two years he edited and published Fantasy Times, a weekly newszine of top quality (James V. Taurasi, the original editor, got it back in 1946). And during this period he wrote The Immortal Storm, which ran serially in A. Langley Searles’ Fantasy Commentator.

David H. Keller had always been one of Sam’s idols. After the war, Sam and Will Sykora published the first hardcover Keller collection, Life Everlasting and Others(1947, Avalon). In 1950 Sam invited Hugo Gernsback to speak to the Eastern SF Association (ESFA). Gernsback, very impressed with Sam’s knowledge of SF—particularly of Gernsback himself—gave Sam the job as managing editor of Science Fiction Plus. A marvelously produced bed-sheet size magazine with slick paper and colored illustrations, it lasted seven issues in 1953 and folded just about the time it started to make a profit. It printed Anne McCaffrey’s first story, a little one-pager called “Freedom of the Race.”

Sam told the story about the only night he worked overtime while editor. About 8pm, he left his desk to get a breath of fresh air. He walked out into the hall and at that very moment, the janitor walked by pushing a cart with about ten original Frank R. Paul cover paintings in it. The janitor told him that Gernsback had told him to clean out the basement. All the Paul originals went home with Sam that night.

Another very important aspect of Sam’s long-time relationship with the ESFA was that he met his future wife, Christine Haycock, MD—the only female surgeon in the state of New Jersey—at one of the meetings. They were married in 1957.

About this time Julius Schwartz told Sam that he’d cleaned out his desk and Sam could have what was left in it. Among the many interesting items Schwartz had accumulated was a letter from Wonder Stories, dated September 1931, announ­cing the October issue would be the final issue. It was signed by managing editor David Lasser.

However, October wasn’t the final issue—November appeared in large-size on slick paper; that issue announced the formation of the Science Fiction League, from which SF fandom sprang. Conjecture on the incredible importance of this letter. If Gernsback had followed through, the SFL never would have been organized. Fandom, as we know it, may never have developed. Inter­estingly enough, Schwartz didn’t remember re­ceiving it and Lasser didn’t remember writing it!

Sam was called, “The world’s foremost author­ity on Science Fiction.” There’s no question that this is true. His knowledge of the field was vast; his many anthologies go a long way to prove this. Not only did he delve deeply to select stories which had never been anthologized, but he wrote detailed author-background articles. He not only researched the stories—he researched the authors as well. His almost 40 anthologies under his own name, plus 10 ghost-edited anthologies, comprise a wondrous group of books that tell the history of SF itself. Other anthologists couldn’t do this, because they didn’t have the background know­ledge required.

According to Sam, everything he did, every­thing he accomplished, was because he was an SF fan. The fact that he made more money writing than most professionals is irrelevant. He wrote about SF and, in so doing, his research was spectacular. From the aspect of fandom, I would rate Sam as one of the two top fans of all time, the other being Forrest J. Ackerman. They are different in many ways, but they both gave their entire lives to the field. I’ll have to call it a tie for Number One Fan of All Time.

It’s difficult for me to believe that Sam is gone. He was unique and his immortality is assured. Good-bye old pal—there will never be another like you.