Judith Merril

Judith Merril (Jan. 21, 1923-Sept. 12, 1997) was a famed SF writer and editor. She is credited with furthering New Wave science fiction through her 1960s "Books" column in Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Merril was born Josephine Judith Grossman, on January 21, 1923, in New York, to Schlomo S. and Ethel Hurwitch Grossman. She attended City College (now City College of the City University of New York) 1939-1940, and got a BA from Rochdale College in 1970. She worked as a research assistant from 1943-47, then became editor at Bantam Books, New York, from 1947-1949. Her career really took off from 1949-1968 as she did freelance editing in the field of science fiction. She taught workshops and courses on writing and science fiction since 1963, at institutions including the University of Toronto, Sir George Williams University, and Trent University. Merril was a founding member of the Science Fiction Research Association, and had many other involvements, including Voice of Women, Mensa, the Futurians, the Hydra Club (founding member), 21 McGill Women's Club in Toronto (founding member); Elves, Gnomes & Little Men Chowder & Marching Society (honorary member); Witchdoctors' Club (New York, member of Witch's Auxiliary). She lived in Toronto for several years. Merril attended WisCon (the feminist science fiction conference) in May, 1996, as Guest of Honor and read from her memoirs to the great delight of those present. Judith Merril passsed away on Friday, September 12, 1997.

Merril is well known for works such as those collected in Daughters of Earth, and equally if not better known for her editorial work. One of her best-known short stories, "That Only a Mother" (1948), dealt with issues of nuclear power and maternal love. Concern about nuclear power, weapons, and war was an increasingly common theme in science fiction throughout the late 40s and 50s, but Merril handled it with a twist that got the attention of many. And, of course, motherhood and parenting were (and still are) sorely under-addressed in science fiction. Merril was a giant among science fiction, and proof that women have always made important contributions to the literature.

Survivors: Merril Zissman, daughter from first marriage; Howard MacDonald, son-in-law & married to Merril Zissman; Ann Pohl, daughter from second marriage; granddaughter, Emily Pohl-Weary.

Agent: Virginia Kidd

Names

• Josephine Judith Grossman (birth name)

Pseudonyms

• Juliet Grossman
• Ernest Hamilton
• Cyril Judd, a joint pseudonym with C. M. Kornbluth
• Judith Merril ("Merril" is her daughter's name)
• Rose Sharon
• Eric Thorstein

Bibliography

Novels

• Shadow on the Hearth (novel), Doubleday, 1950.
• The Tomorrow People (novel), Pyramid Books, 1960.
• Outpost Mars, Abelard, 1952, published as Sin in Space, Beacon, 1961 (first published in serial form as "Mars Child" in Galaxy Science Fiction, 1951) (as Cyril Judd, with C. M. Kornbluth)
• Gunner Cade, Simon & Schuster, 1952 (serialized in Astounding Science Fiction, 1952) (as Cyril Judd, with C. M. Kornbluth)

Collections

• Out of Bounds (short stories), Pyramid Books, 1960.
• Daughters of Earth (three novellas), Gollancz, 1968, Doubleday, 1969. "Daughters of Earth" (Novella), The Petrified Planet, ed. John Ciardi, Twayne, 1953; New Worlds, London, 1966; Daughters of Earth, Merril, 1969; Daughters of Earth & Other Stories, Merril, 1985; The Best of JM, Merril, 1976.
• Survival Ship and Other Stories, Kakabeka, 1973.
• The Best of Judith Merril, Warner Books, 1976.
• Daughters of the Earth and Other Stories, McClelland & Stewart, 1986.

Short Stories

• "That Only a Mother" Astounding Science Fiction June 1948
• "Whoever You Are" Startling Stories December 1952
• "Peeping Tom" Startling Stories Spring 1954
• "Connection Completed" Universe Summer 1954
• "Dead Center" Fantasy & Science Fiction November 1954
• "The Lady Was a Tramp" Venture Science Fiction July 1957
• "Death Cannot Wither" Fantasy & Science Fiction February 1959

Contributions

• (With others) The Petrified Planet (three short novels), Twayne, 1953.
• (With others) Six Great Short Science Fiction Novels, Dell, 1960.
• (Author of introduction) Path into the Unknown: The Best of Soviet Science Fiction, Delacorte, 1968.
• (Author of introduction) E. L. Ferman, editor, Once and Future Tales: From the "Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, " Delphi Press, 1968.

Edited Works

• Shot in the Dark, Bantam, 1950.
• Beyond Human Ken, Random House, 1952.
• Human?, Lion Press, 1952.
• Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time, Random House, 1954.
• Galaxy of Ghouls, Lion Press, 1955, published as Off the Beaten Orbit, Pyramid Books, 1958.
• The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volumes I-IV, Gnome Press, 1956-59, Volumes V-IX, Simon & Schuster, 1960-64, Volumes X-XII, Delacorte, 1965-68.
• SF: The Best of the Best, Delacorte, 1967.
• England Swings SF: Stories of Speculative Fiction, Doubleday, 1968 (published in England as Space-Time Journal, Granada, 1972).
• Tesseracts, Press Porcepic, 1985.
• Science Fiction Sukiyaki, Bantam.

Radio Documentaries

• "How to Think Science Fiction, " 1971-72.
• "Women of Japan, " 1972.
• "What Limits?, " 1973.
• "Growing Up in Japan, " 1973.
• "How to Face Doomsday without Really Dying, " 1974.

Awards

• Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Award, 1983.
• 1996 SFWA Author Emeritus.
• 1996 WisCon XX Guest of Honor, with Ursula K. Le Guin

Further reading

• JudithMerril.com

Biographies

• Emily Pohl-Weary. Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril (Between the Lines: 2002) (biography, by Merril's granddaughter)
• "What If ..." (1999) - What If ... A Film About Judith Merril

Obituaries

• Globe and Mail (Toronto), October 19, 1985, January 11, 1986, February 8, 1986.
• Library Journal, October l5, 1969.
• New York Times, September 7, 1952, October 12, 1952, December 12, 1952, December 21, 1954.