Editing George H. Scithers

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{{short description|American writer (1929-2010)}}
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| birth_date     = May 14, 1929 
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| death_date     = {{Death date and age|2010|4|19|1929|5|14}}
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| occupation    = Editor
| nationality   = American
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| genre         = Science fiction
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| notableworks  = ''[[Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine]]'', ''[[Amazing Stories]]'', ''[[Weird Tales]]''
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| awards        = [[Hugo Award]] (1978, 1980) Best Professional Editor<br />[[Hugo Award]] (1964, 1968) Best Fanzine<br /> [[World Fantasy Award]] (2002) Life Achievement<br /> [[World Fantasy Award]] (1992) Special Award
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'''George H. Scithers''' (May 14, 1929 – April 19, 2010) was an American science fiction [[science fiction fandom|fan]], [[science fiction author|author]] and  editor.

A long-time member of the [[World Science Fiction Society]], he published a [[Science fiction fanzine|fanzine]] starting in the 1950s, wrote short stories, and moved on to edit several prominent science fiction magazines, as well as a number of anthologies. As editor emeritus of ''[[Weird Tales]]'', he lectured at the [[Library of Congress]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |last=Segal |first=Stephen H. |date=January 9, 2009 |title=''Weird Tales''—2008 year in review |url=http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/2009/01/09/weird-tales-%E2%80%94-2008-year-in-review/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117045024/http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/2009/01/09/weird-tales-%E2%80%94-2008-year-in-review/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 17, 2009 |work=Weird Tales |access-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> [[Wildside Press]] published his most recent book, ''Cat Tales: Fantastic Feline Fiction'', in 2008.

==Biography==

===Career===
Scithers' first published  fiction, the story "Faithful Messenger", appeared in [[If magazine|''If'' magazine]] in 1969. His involvement in the field, however, dates back to 1957, when he began submitting to the [[Science fiction fanzine|fanzine]] ''[[Yandro]]''.<ref name="WindyCon5">{{cite web|author=Coulson, Robert|year=1978|title=Windycon 5 Program Book|url=http://www.isfic.org/program_books/Windycon5.pdf|access-date=February 8, 2011|archive-date=May 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504080256/http://isfic.org/program_books/Windycon5.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two years later, he began publishing the [[Hugo Award for Best Fanzine|Hugo Award]]-winning fanzine ''Amra''.<ref name="LocusHugos">{{cite web|author=Locus Publications |title=Hugo Nominees List |url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/HugoNomList.html |access-date=February 8, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920202744/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/HugoNomList.html |archive-date=September 20, 2011 }}</ref> The term ''[[swords and sorcery]]'' first appeared there, and ''Amra'' became a leading proponent of the subgenre.<ref name="WindyCon5"/> Several of the articles originally published in ''Amra'' were later reprinted as part of two volumes about [[Conan the Barbarian]], which Scithers co-edited with [[L. Sprague de Camp]].

In 1963, Scithers chaired [[21st World Science Fiction Convention|Discon I]], the 21st [[Worldcon]], held in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web|author=World Science Fiction Society|title=The Long List of World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons)|url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/TheLongList.html|access-date=February 8, 2011|archive-date=January 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110085511/http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/TheLongList.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a regular [[Parliamentarian (consultant)|parliamentarian]] for business meetings of the [[World Science Fiction Society]] and authored a guide to running [[science fiction convention]]s, ''The Con-Committee Chairman's Guide'' based on his experiences chairing DisCon 1 in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tim Illingworth |year=2000 |title=retyped Con-Committee Chairman's Guide |url=http://www.timill.co.uk/smofs/contents.htm |access-date=February 8, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1973, Scithers founded Owlswick Press, a small independent publishing company.  In 1976, Owlswick published Scithers' book (under the pseudonym Karl Würf), ''To Serve Man: A Cookbook for People'' (including recipes for "Boiled Leg of Man", "Texas Chili with Cowboy", and "Person Kebabs").

In 1977, he was named the first editor for ''[[Asimov's Science Fiction|Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine]]'' (''IASFM'').<ref>{{cite web|author=John O'Neill|title=A Brief History of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine|url=http://www.sfsite.com/columns/asimov.htm|access-date=February 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716203149/http://www.sfsite.com/columns/asimov.htm|archive-date=July 16, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>  He remained in that position until 1982 and won two more [[Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor|Hugo Awards]] for his work there.<ref name="LocusHugos"/> After leaving ''IASFM'', Scithers took the helm at ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' and edited that magazine until 1986.

In 1988, he worked with [[John Gregory Betancourt]] and [[Darrell Schweitzer]] to re-establish ''[[Weird Tales]]'', the magazine that had introduced one of his earliest interests, [[Conan the Barbarian]], to the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/about/history/ |title=History |publisher=Weird Tales |access-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929025551/http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/about/history/ |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In 1992, he and Schweitzer won a World Fantasy Award for their work on ''Weird Tales''.<ref name="worldfantasy.org">{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention |year=2010 |title=Award Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/ |access-date=February 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html |archive-date=December 1, 2010 }}</ref>

In 2001, Scithers was the fan guest of honor at the Worldcon, [[59th World Science Fiction Convention|Millennium Philcon]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Darrell Schweitzer|title=About George H. Scithers: Four Hugos, His Innate Wickedness, Woof, and All That|url=http://2001.worldcon.org/gscithers.html|access-date=February 8, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930065532/http://2001.worldcon.org/gscithers.html|archive-date=September 30, 2010}}</ref>

At the 2002 World Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis, both Scithers and [[Forrest J Ackerman]] won the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Awards.<ref name="worldfantasy.org"/>

===Personal life===
Scithers served in the [[Korean War]] with the [[United States Army]]. He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the [[Trap Door Spiders]], which served as the basis of [[Isaac Asimov]]'s fictional group of mystery solvers the [[Black Widowers]].<ref>Scithers, George. "George Scithers," in "[http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0704/editorial.shtml Editorial: In Memories Yet Green by Isaac Asimov, George Scithers, Kathleen Moloney, Shawna McCarthy, Gardner Dozois, and Sheila Williams]," ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', April/May 2007, p. 4.</ref><ref name="Glyer">Glyer, Mike. "[http://file770.com/?p=3841 Martin Gardner Dies]," on ''File 770: Mike Glyer's news of science fiction fandom'' (blog), May 25, 2010.</ref>

===Death===
Scithers died April 19, 2010, two days after suffering a heart attack.<ref>{{cite web|author=Locus|title=George Scithers, 1929 - 2010|date=April 19, 2010|url=http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/04/george-scithers.html|access-date=February 8, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605215416/http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/04/george-scithers.html|archive-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Anthologies===
* ''[[Astronauts and Androids: Asimov's Choice]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Black Holes and Bug-eyed Monsters: Asimov's Choice]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Comets and Computers: Asimov's Choice]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Dark Stars and Dragons: Asimov's Choice]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Extraterrestrials and Eclipses: Asimov's Choice]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Isaac Asimov's Masters of Science Fiction]]'' (1978) with [[Isaac Asimov]]
* ''[[Isaac Asimov's Adventures of Science Fiction]]'' (1980) with [[Isaac Asimov]]
* ''[[Isaac Asimov's Marvels of Science Fiction]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Isaac Asimov's Worlds of Science Fiction]]'' (198 ko 0)
* ''[[Isaac Asimov's Near Futures and Far]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Tales from the Spaceport Bar]]'' (1986) with [[Darrell Schweitzer]]
* ''[[Another Round at the Spaceport Bar]]'' (1989) with [[Darrell Schweitzer]]
* ''[[Cat Tales#1]]'' (2007)<ref>{{cite book|date=September 1, 2008|title=Cat Tales: Fantastic Feline Fiction|editor=Scithers, George H. |edition=paperback|publisher=[[Wildside Press]]|isbn=978-0809573219}}</ref>
* ''[[Cat Tales: Fantastic Feline Fiction]]'' (2008)<ref>{{cite book|date=April 16, 2010|edition=paperback|title=Cat Tales 2: Fantastic Feline Fiction|editor=Scithers, George H.|publisher=Wildside Press|isbn=978-1434409126}}</ref>

===Non-fiction===
* ''[[Con-Committee Chairman's Guide]]'' (1965)
* ''[[The Conan Swordbook]]'' (1969) with [[L. Sprague de Camp]]
* ''[[The Conan Grimoire]]'' (1972) with [[L. Sprague de Camp]]
* ''[[To Serve Man: A Cookbook for People]]'' (1976)
* ''[[On Writing Science Fiction (The Editors Strike Back!)]]'' (1981) with [[Darrell Schweitzer]] and [[John M. Ford]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{isfdb name|id=840|name=George H. Scithers}}
*[http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/scithers_george_h George H. Scithers] at [[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]], 3rd edition
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100930065532/http://2001.worldcon.org/gscithers.html About George Scithers] by [[Darrell Schweitzer]], for 2001 [[World Science Fiction Convention]]

{{World Fantasy Award Life Achievement}}
{{World Fantasy Special Award Professional}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scithers, George H.}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Hugo Award–winning editors]]
[[Category:People from Rockville, Maryland]]
[[Category:American science fiction editors]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]