Conference noted::sf

704.0. "Stanley G. Weinbaum" by MARKER::KALLIS (Anger's no replacement for reason) Wed Sep 28 1988 14:26

                        -<A Watershed Writer>-
    
    Some exchanges in another note lewd me to check.  There's no note
    on Stanley G. Weinbaum.
    
    Weinbaum was a nova, if not supernova, on the science-fiction
    firmament.  He wrote enough short stories for a few collections,
    wrote several novels, and then, just as his career was really starting
    to take off, died tragically of throat cancer.
    
    One absolute classic short story, "A Martian Odyssey," has been
    anthologized as many times as any other short concerning the Red
    Planet; even though by today's standards the science is violently
    inaccurate, it's still an _excellent_ read, with a good series
    of examples af alien intelligences that fit no preconceived molds.
                       
    Besides "A Martian Odyssey," other stories of note include "The
    Valley of Dreams," sequel to the foregoing, "Parasite Planet," his
    seminal Venus story, and its sequels, "The Red Peri," and "The Adaptive
    Ultimate."  Several of th short stories had a romantic element.
    
    His novels were interesting, too:  _The Black Flame_ concerned an
    incredibly beautiful immortal woman; _The New Adam_ concerned the
    next evolutionary step in Genus Homo, and done far better than _Odd
    John_; and _The Dark Other_ a nearly detective story about a person
    with a very strange problem of a medico-scientific nature.  Collections
    of his stories include _A Martian Odyssey and Others_ and _The Red
    Peri_, both published by Fantasy Press.  An extremely limited edition
    of his stories, _Dawn of Flame_ and Other Stories_, was published
    as a memorial; this is more commonly known as the _Weinbaum Memorial
    Edition_ and is perhaps the rarest of SF books.
    
    Weinbaum had some dimension to his characters, and for the time,
    inventive sorts of extraterrestrials.  Nobody reading "A Martian
    Odyssey" can forget Tweel, the ostrichlike Martian, or the Venerian
    "Doughpot" of "Parasite Planet."  Although written in the 1930s,
    the style is surprisingly modern.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    "The Adaptive Ultimate" was made into a (reputedly) terrible 
    movie in the 50's called "The She Devil".  Haven't seen it myself,
    but noticed the connection in a guide to sf and horror movies.
    /jlr

    Even more amazing is that "A Martian Odyssey" was his first
    published story.
    
    --- jerry

    
    Well I finally made it over to the Moonstone today, looking for
    everything I could find by Mr. Weinbaum.  I was able to acquire
    "Martian Odyssey", found it in a collection; "The Science Fiction
    Hall of Fame", by Avon.  This was printed in 1970 and may well have
    been where I originally read it.  We did some digging and came up
    with the collections refered to in .0, but the clerk was of the
    opinion that all were out of print.
    
    Anyone know?
    
    S. Chase

    Yes, unfortunately, all of Weinbaum's books are long out of print.
    To give you an idea, the most recent book of his that was issued
    was THE BEST OF STANLEY WEINBAUM, which was published in 1974.
    
    --- jerry