Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was born Edward Hamilton Waldo on February 26th, 1918 in Staten Island, New York. His penname "Theodore Sturgeon" was actually his legal name and was changed to suit his fondness of the name "Teddy" and to share the last name of his stepfather Argyll, whom his mother remarried in 1929. He was raised in a family of writers, as his mother was a journalist, poet, and wrote fiction using the penname Felix Sturgeon. His stepfather was a math teacher at a prep school and a romance language director at the Drexel Institute of Technology. His brother Peter Sturgeon went on to write technical information for the pharmaceutical industry and later for the WHO, which is known as the World Health Organization and is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with international public health.
Theodore Sturgeon's original aspirations were to become an acrobat, but in his early years as a teen, he developed a case of rheumatic fever which left him too unhealthy to pursue this. This led him to eventually writing, as well as holding a number of odd jobs through out most of his life. As a young man, he spent time in the Merchant Marines, worked construction in Puerto Rico, managed a hotel in the West Indies, and even sold refrigerators and magazines door to door. Although he is known for his writing, Sturgeon was not a full time writer which was more than likely due to his extreme and frequent cases of writers block.
In his time as a writer, Theodore Sturgeon wrote over 200 short stories, novels, and scripts. It all started for him when he sold his first story to McClure's Syndicate in 1938. His first Sci-Fi appearance was in "Astounding Science Fiction," when he wrote "Ether Breather." He was actually known for writing short stories such as "Ether Breather" and other short most short stories such as "It" (1940), "Killdozer" (1944), and "A Saucer of Loneliness" (1953). His most famous novels include "The Cosmic Rape" (1958), "Some of Your Blood" (1961), and he ghostwrote several pieces including "The Player on the Other Side" which was published in 1963. "The Player on the Other Side" was an Ellery Queen mystery novel which received rave reviews.
A few of the scripts that Theodore Sturgeon wrote were for the episodes of Star Trek. He wrote the episodes "Shore Leave" (1966) and "Amok Time" (1967) and contributed to the well-known "Pon Farr" Vulcan mating ritual. Many Star Trek fans are also familiar with the phrase, "live long and prosper" which was also a contribution made by Sturgeon. He also helped create several other episodes that never made it to air. "The New Twilight Zone" took a few pieces of Sturgeons writing and adapted them into episodes for their TV program.
Although Sturgeon was a driving force in the Sci-Fi era of the '50's, he really has not had much recognition. By the time there was public awareness and awards for writers such as him, his work was not embraced nearly as much as his earlier pieces and that was combined with the lack of work that was put out anyway. Despite the lack of attention and awards, he was still an influence for famous writers Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut.
"nothing is always absolutely so"
Known as Sturgeons Law, this was also known as "Ninety percent of Sci-Fi is crud, but then ninety percent of everything is crud." These phrases are amongst the few that he is famous for. He was known to also wear a symbol of a "Q" with an arrow pointing to the right which symbolized "ask the next question" and was included in many of his signatures. He wore this around his neck for the last years of his life.
Theodore Sturgeon passed away from lung fibrosis on May 5, 1985 in Eugene, Oregon. Although the direct cause of the fibrosis is unknown, it could have been the cause of him being a life long pipe smoker. It has also been said that he was in contact with Asbestos during his time as a Merchant Marine which also could have been the cause. He is survived by 7 children, whom he had with 3 wives and several long-term relationships. Even after his death, his books continue to gain recognition and many books have been republished several times. For those who write Science Fiction themselves, there is The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, which is awarded to the best Sci-Fi stories submitted each year. This was named in his honor 2 years after his death in 1987. Even though he is not here today writing for his science fiction fans, his work will live on and be remembered as a strong contribution to the science fiction era.
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