The Best of Murray Leinster (US)

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SUBCULTURES, TOO, HAVE their lengendary figures, and in the world of science fiction, Murray Leinster was one.

In his later years, Leinster came to be known as the Dean of Science Fiction. His career in the field spanned nearly fifty years—remarkable enough in itself. More remarkable is that he remained a top-ranked writer for all of those years.

Leinster, in real life an unassuming Virginian named William Fitzgerald Jenkins (1896-1975), would have been amused at the Biblical parallel. But like that of the patriarchs of old, his longevity seemed unbelievable. Dozens of writers vanished into obscurity; entire schools of writing rose, flourished, and died—but Leinster carried on.

That took rare ability, but it also took rare dedication. Nowadays, when science fiction is taught in colleges, and a single, good sf movie bids fair to gross $100 million, it is hard to appreciate the dedication required of writers like Leinster to make of a marginal and despised genre something in which they, and their readers; could take legitimate pride.

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