George R. R. Martin
(September 20, 1948 –)
Born in New Jersey, George R. R. Martin, sometimes called “Railroad” for his middle initials, made his first pro sale to Galaxy in 1971 and quickly became a leading short-sf writer, getting Hugo and Nebula nominations.
A fan as well as a pro, Martin regularly attends cons. In 1976, at MidAmeriCon Martin and Gardner Dozois conceived of and organized the first Hugo Losers Party for the evening following the convention's Hugo Awards ceremony. Such parties became semi-official Worldcon events, and Martin personally funded and hosted them for many years, until he was insulted by his reception as toastmaster at CoNZealand, culminating in Discon III’s Hugo nominations.
He attended college at Northwestern University and lived in Chicago during the 1960s and ’70s, where he was active in local fandom and regularly attended cons including Midwestcon. Next, he moved to Iowa, where he was one of the founders of ICON. He taught at Clarion West in 1998.
Besides literary sf, he worked in Hollywood on a revival of Twilight Zone, and on Beauty and the Beast, while also developing the multi-volume, multi-author Wild Cards series.
He became stunningly successful with his A Song of Ice and Fire series, which has sold quintillions of copies and was turned into the very successful HBO series Game of Thrones, leading Martin to be declared “the American Tolkien.” A second, prequel series, House of the Dragon, premiered in 2022. GoT has inspired its own media fandom. The books and show popularized a number of Thronespeak catchphrases.
Martin collects medieval-themed miniatures and has a house devoted to his collection. In the early 1970s he was in a relationship with fellow pro Lisa Tuttle. He later married Gale Burnick; they divorced in 1979. He is married to fellow fan Parris McBride; they live in Santa Fe, NM.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1975 -- 1975 Best Novella Hugo
- 1976 -- Solarcon II
- 1977 -- Archon 1
- 1978 -- Dubuquon I, Totocon 2
- 1979 -- Coastcon '79, Dubuquon II
- 1980 -- TusCon 7, 1980 Best Short Story Hugo, 1980 Best Novelette Hugo, Nebula Award
- 1981 -- Ambercon 3
- 1983 -- Windycon X, MileHiCon 15
- 1984 -- (Coveted) Balrog Award
- 1985 -- ICON 10, Rivercon X
- 1986 -- AggieCon XVII, Bubonicon 18, OryCon '86, Nebula Award
- 1987 -- Tropicon VI, Fantasycon XII, Triangulum 1987
- 1988 -- WisCon 12, Bram Stoker Award
- 1989 -- AggieCon XX, New Orleans SF & Fantasy Festival '89, Windycon XVI
- 1990 -- Danse Macabre, Archon 14, Marcon XXV
- 1991 -- Toastmaster at Baycon '91 and Con-Version VIII
- 1993 -- Helicon
- 1994 -- Conozoic, 1994 World Fantasy Convention, Necronomicon 13th, Vikingcon 15
- 1995 -- InCon '95, Jack Williamson Lectureship
- 1997 -- Archon 21, 1997 Best Novella Hugo
- 1998 -- Thylacon 2
- 1999 -- Archon Hall of Fame Award Grand Master
- 2001 -- Boskone 38, Archon 25
- 2002 -- Parcon 2002, Jack Williamson Lectureship, Ignotius Award
- 2003 -- Torcon 3
- 2004 -- Foolscap VI, Skylark Award, Con-Version 21
- 2005 -- 2BeContinued 4, Conestoga 9, Toastmaster at ConQuesT 36
- 2006 -- Vericon VI, British Fantasy Award nomination
- 2007 -- InConJunction XXVII, Trinoc*coN 2007
- 2008 -- Odyssey Con VIII
- 2009 -- Finncon 2009, COSine 2009
- 2010 -- ConQuesT 41, Octocon 2010
- 2011 -- One of Time Magazine's "Most influential people of 2011"
- 2012 -- Olympus, MisCon 26, World Fantasy Convention Life Achievement Award
- 2013 -- AggieCon 44, 2013 Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Hugo
- 2014 -- ConCarolinas 2014
- 2015 -- Norwescon 38, ConQuesT 46
- 2016 -- Balticon 50, TusCon 43, MystiCon 2016
- 2020 -- Toastmaster at CoNZealand
- Many other Hugo and Nebula nominations
| Person | 1948— |
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