George R. R. Martin

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(September 20, 1948 –)

George Raymond Richard 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. He was GoH at Torcon 3, the 2003 Worldcon. Martin is arguably the genre’s best-known and most successful writer, especially to have come out of fandom.

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 30+-volume, multi-author Wild Cards series.

He became stunningly successful with his as yet incomplete A Song of Ice and Fire epic fantasy 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 TV 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.

The series began with A Game of Thrones in 1996, followed by A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000), A Feast for Crows (2005), A Dance with Dragons (2011), The Winds of Winter (planned) and A Dream of Spring (planned). The increasing spans of time between books has triggered impatient and often rude remarks from followers of the series, causing author Neil Gaiman to retort in 2009, “George R. R. Martin is not your bitch,” and Martin to comment: 

After all, as some of you like to point out in your emails, I am sixty years old and fat, and you don't want me to "pull a Robert Jordan" on you and deny you your book.

Okay, I've got the message. You don't want me doing anything except A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. Ever. (Well, maybe it's okay if I take a leak once in a while?)

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. Martin was born in New Jersey.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:


Person 1948—
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