There's another learn-something-new-every-day moment. This article speaks of
his "almost-middle European attitude toward the world". Apparently, that was
good enough to fool me, because I would've sworn that he *was* British.
I remember his work fondly, because it was one f the few SF authors that were
available in the pathetically-stocked library in the town where I grew up.
Another great loss to SF.
ravenadal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/metro/chi-hed-budrys-11-jun11,0,1972869.story
chicagotribune.com
Algis Budrys 1931 ~ 2008
Tapped human side of science fiction
By Trevor Jensen
Tribune reporter
June 11, 2008
Algis Budrys wrote deeply intellectual science fiction that grappled
with the motives behind human behavior, and he taught the craft of
writing to hundreds of students through seminars and workshops.
Mr. Budrys, 77, died of metastatic malignant melanoma Monday, June 9,
at his Evanston home, said his son David.
Known to friends as "A.J.," Mr. Budrys' books, particularly 1960's
"Rogue Moon" and 1977's "Michaelmas" are highly regarded by critics
and students of the genre. His work explored "the way a person feels
or develops, more than with wild space adventures," said his wife, Edna.
"A lot of his books are about identity, who we are and why do we do
what we do," said Charles Brown, editor of the science fiction
magazine Locus.
The plot of "Michaelmas" touched on computer hacking and domination of
human behavior by machines, "which pretty much predicted a lot of
what's going on today," Brown said. "He was well ahead of his time."
"He had an interesting, almost middle-European attitude toward the
world. He spent more time thinking about what could go wrong than what
might go right," said Frederik Pohl, an acclaimed science fiction
writer who at various times was Mr. Budrys' agent and editor.
Mr. Budrys was born in the former Konigsberg, a city then in East
Prussia, where his father was stationed as a Lithuanian diplomat. The
rise of Adolf HitlerMr. Budrys' wife said he never forgot seeing the
German leader standing up in an open car as it roared through a
crowdled the family to relocate to Paris, then New York City.
At 6, Mr. Budrys discovered science fiction in the funny pages of the
city's newspapers, despite his parents' order that he not read such
strange material. But he was hooked, and by 9 was turning out his own
stories.
Mr. Budrys attended the University of Miami and Columbia University in
New York, dropping out not long after selling his first story to a
science fiction magazine. "He decided he knew more than his teachers,"
his wife said.
They married in 1954 in a ceremony attended by writers including Isaac
Asimov, relatives said. He was a productive writer early in his career
who used pen names to cover that he often had multiple stories in
publications such as Astounding Science Fiction, Galaxy and If.
Like many writers, though, he eventually needed a day job. In 1961, he
moved to Evanston to work as an editor with Regency Books. He later
held editing positions with Playboy Press. From 1969 to 1974, he was a
public relations account manager in charge of International Truck for
Young & Rubicam.
That job got him involved with four-wheel-drive truck racing. He also
was a bicycle mechanic, building his own bikes with top-end French and
Italian components. That hobby led to a book, "Bicycles: How They Work
and How to Fix Them."
Such down-to-earth hobbies flew in the face of the science fiction
stereotype. "He was not geeky," his son said.
Mr. Budrys' writing output slowed during the years, in part because he
was a deliberate writer"he took forever sometimes," his wife saidand
because he became more involved in teaching and working with L. Ron
Hubbard's Writers of the Future Program. He was for many years the
coordinating judge of that program for young writers, which he
insisted distance itself from Scientology, a practice to which he did
not subscribe, his son said.
Mr. Budrys' teaching schedule took him to workshops at many colleges
and universities, including Harvard in Massachusetts and Pepperdine in
California. He also was a busy reviewer of science fiction, and a
collection of his critical work was published as "Benchmarks."
Other survivors include three more sons, Jeffrey, Steven and Timothy;
and two grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Donnellan Family
Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. A service will be held at 10
a.m. Saturday in the funeral home.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
"There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will get
organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without A
Country"
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
