Poul Anderson
(November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001)
Poul Anderson, a fan and a pro, was born Pennsylvania of Scandinavian parents. He grew up in Denmark, but returned to the US at the start of WWII. He began his writing career in the late 40s and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson wrote sf, fantasy, historical novels, mysteries, and many short stories. He won seven Hugos and three Nebulas. While most of his writing was under his own name, he also wrote as Winston P. Sanders', Michael Karageorge, and A. A. Craig (for just one story, "Witch of the Demon Seas", in the early 50s).
He received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948 and married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to Greg Bear.
He was president of SFWA, a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, the Hyborian Legion, the old MFS and the Little Men. He was founder of the Alforbundet, one of the lyricists of "Bouncing Potatoes", a frequent contributor to fanzines, especially Amra, an active member of the committee for SFCon, a Baker Street Irregular, a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (where he was known as Sir Bela of Eastmarch). With L. Sprague de Camp, he translated the minutes from the Pittcon WSFS Business Meeting in 1960 to an alternate English (see the meeting minutes from Amra).
He wrote a single issue fanzine Smorgasbord.
He was GoH at Detention, 1959 Worldcon. The April, 1971 issue of F&SF was a special Poul Anderson issue.
He was nominated for and won an astonishing number of Hugo Awards for his fiction, and many other awards as well. In a 1985 interview, SF author Chad Oliver, discussing other writers, said: "The guy that amazes me is Poul Anderson. He is so prolific, and the quality is so high, and he has been doing it for so long. Amazing."
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1959 -- Detention
- 1968 -- Forry Award
- 1970 -- Minicon 3
- 1971 -- DeepSouthCon 9
- 1972 -- Mythcon III
- 1972-1973 -- President of SFWA
- 1973 -- Balticon 7
- 1974 -- MileHiCon 6
- 1976 -- Boskone 13, Rivercon II, Sampo Award
- 1977 -- Minicon 12, ConFusion 14, Octocon 1
- 1978 -- Westercone, LepreCon 4, Lifetime Achievement Gandalf Award
- 1979 -- Balticon 13, Norcon 3, Scancon '79
- 1980 -- AggieCon XI
- 1981 -- ConQuesT 2
- 1982 -- Loscon 9, ICON 7, Skylark Award
- 1983 -- X-Con 7, Roc*Kon 8, Outre-vention
- 1984 -- ConClave X, Earthcon 4
- 1985 -- Con-Version II
- 1987 -- Xanadu IV
- 1988 -- Tropicon VII, I-Con VII
- 1989 -- Life, the Universe, & Everything 7
- 1990 -- Minnesota Fantasy Award
- 1992 -- Norwescon XV
- 1993 -- 1993 World Fantasy Convention, Silvercon 2, SFRA Conference
- 1995 -- MileHiCon 27, WindyCon XXII, Lunacon 38
- 1997 -- ConClave XXII
- 1998 -- SFWA Grand Master Award
- 2000 -- CopperCon 20, Baycon 2000 (Special Guest), SF Hall of Fame
- 2001 -- Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
- 2003 -- Filk Hall of Fame
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