Clifford D. Simak

"Simak" redirects here. For the village in Iran, seeSimak, Iran.

Clifford D. Simak
Born	Clifford Donald Simak (1904-08-03)August 3, 1904 Millville, Wisconsin,U.S.
Died	April 25, 1988(1988-04-25)(aged 83) Minneapolis,Minnesota,U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, popular writer
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Madison
Period	1931–1986 (fiction)
Genre	Science fiction, fantasy
Subject	Popular science
Notable works	Way Station City The Visitors

Simak's first story, "The World of the Red Sun", was listed on the cover ofWonder Storiesin 1931.

Simak as pictured inWonder Storiesin 1931.

Clifford Donald Simak(/ˈsɪmək/;August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an Americanscience fictionwriter. He won threeHugo Awardsand oneNebula Award.TheScience Fiction Writers of Americamade him its thirdSFWA Grand Master,and theHorror Writers Associationmade him one of three inaugural winners of theBram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.He is associated with thepastoral science fictionsubgenre.

Biography

Early life, education, and journalism career

Simak was born inMillville, Wisconsinin 1904.The son of John Lewis and Margaret (Wiseman) Simak, he attended theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisonand then taught in the public schools until 1929.He later worked at various newspapers in theMidwest.He began a lifelong association with theMinneapolis Star and Tribune(inMinneapolis,Minnesota) in 1939, which continued until his retirement in 1976. He becameMinneapolis Star's news editor in 1949 and coordinator ofMinneapolis Tribune'sScience Reading Seriesin 1961.

Personal life

He married Agnes Kuchenberg on April 13, 1929, and they had two children, Richard "Dick" Scott (1947–2012) and Shelley Ellen. In his novelTime and Againhe wrote, "I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty three years and have two children. My favorite recreation is fishing (the lazy way, lying in a boat and letting them come to me). Hobbies: Chess, stamp collecting, growing roses." He dedicated the book to his wife Kay, "without whom I'd never have written a line". He was well liked by many of his science fiction-writing friends, especiallyIsaac Asimov.

Death

He died in Minneapolis on April 25, 1988.

Writing career

The first installment of Simak's "Time Quarry" was the cover story in the debut issue ofGalaxy Science Fictionin 1950.

Simak's novelette "Installment Plan" was the cover story in the February 1959 issue ofGalaxy Science Fiction.

Simak became interested in science fiction after reading the works ofH. G. Wellsas a child. His first contribution to the literature was "The World of the Red Sun", published byHugo Gernsbackin the December 1931 issue ofWonder Storieswith one opening illustration byFrank R. Paul.Within a year, he placed three more stories in Gernsback'spulp magazinesand one inAstounding Stories,then edited byHarry Bates.Yet his only science fiction publication between 1932 and 1938 was "The Creator"(Marvel Tales#4, March–April 1935), a story with religious implications, which was then rare in the genre.

OnceJohn W. Campbell,at the helm ofAstoundingfrom October 1937,began redefining the field, Simak returned and was a regular contributor toAstounding Science Fiction(as it was renamed in 1938)throughout theGolden Age of Science Fiction(1938–1950). At first, as in the 1939 serial novelCosmic Engineers,he wrote in the tradition of the earlier "super science" subgenre thatE. E. "Doc" Smithperfected, but he soon developed his own style, which is usually described as gentle andpastoral.During this period, Simak also published a number of war and western stories in pulp magazines.City,afix-upnovel from this period based on short stories with a common theme of mankind's eventual exodus from Earth, won the International Fantasy Award.

Simak continued to produce award-nominated novels throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Aided by a friend, he continued writing and publishing science fiction and, later, fantasy, into his 80s. He believed that science fiction not rooted in scientific fact was responsible for the failure of the genre to be taken seriously, and stated his aim was to make the genre a part of what he called "realistic fiction."

Themes

Simak's stories often have a rural setting, which led to his style being described as "pastoral" or "pastoral science fiction".Crusty individualistic backwoodsman characters often appear - for example, Hiram Taine, the protagonist of "The Big Front Yard".Hiram's dog" Towser "(sometimes" Bowser ") is common to many of Simak's works. The rural setting is not always idyllic; for instance, inRing Around the Sun,it is largely dominated by intolerance and isolationism.

Many of his aliens have a dry, otherworldly sense of humor, and others are unintentionally amusing, in their speech, behavior or appearance. His robots are full of personality, as are his dogs. By contrast, his "heroes" are ciphers. His protagonists are often boring men, never described and never reappearing. One of Simak's editors objected to his stories because his heroes were "losers". Simak replied, "I like losers."

Many of Simak's story lines involve a quest, or a mission. Characters set out, alone, and acquire companions, often unlikely matches, along the way. On the journey, some fall by the wayside, and of these, some are reunited with the group, whilst others never heard from again.

Simak's stories often say that there is no past time for a time traveler to go to. Our world moves along in a stream of time, and to move to a different place in time is to move to another world. Thus inCityour Earth is overrun by ants, but the intelligent dogs and the remaining humans escape to other worlds in the time stream. InRing Around the Sun,the persecuted paranormals escape to other Earths which, if they could all be seen at once, would be at different stages of their orbit around the Sun, hence the title. InTime Is the Simplest Thinga paranormal escapes a mob by moving back in time, only to find that the past is a place where there are no living things and inanimate objects are barely substantial.

Time travelalso plays an important role inTime and Again.A long-lost space traveler returns with a message which is science fiction-slanted, yet religious in tone. Having crashed on a planet, he is then nurtured by ethereal duplicates that seem to accompany every sentient being throughout life. His befuddled observations are seized upon by religious factions, and a schism then threatens to erupt into war on Earth.

Intelligence, loyalty and friendship, the existence of God and souls, the unexpected benefits and harm of invention, tools as extensions of humanity, and more questions are often explored by Simak's robots, whom he uses as "surrogate humans".They begin as likable mechanical persons, but change in surprising ways. Having achieved intelligence, robots move on to common themes such as, "Why are we here?" and "Do robots have souls"? Examples are the faithful butler Jenkins inCity,the religious robot Hezekiel inA Choice of Gods,the frontier robots inSpecial DeliveranceandA Heritage of Stars,and the monk-like robots inProject Popewho seek heaven.

In "All the Traps of Earth",a 600 year-old robot, a family retainer who earned the name Richard Daniel, is considered chattel to be reprogrammed and lose all its memories. The robot runs away, hitches onto a spaceship, and passes through hyperspace unprotected. Daniel gains the ability to see and fix problems in anything – a ship, a robot, a human – telekinetically, but is still drifting and hunted as chattel. He stumbles on a frontier planet and finds a purpose, helping the pioneers as a doctor, a servant, a colonist, and a friend. And here Daniel achieves an epiphany: Human beings are more clever than they know. Human-created robots, set loose, can become agents with para-human abilities that benefit humanity. Thus do robots, and humankind, escape" all the traps of earth ".

The religious theme is often present in Simak's work, but the protagonists who have searched for God in a traditional sense tend to find something more abstract and inhuman. Hezekiel inA Choice of Godscannot accept this: "God must be, forever, a kindly old (human) gentleman with a long, white, flowing beard."

Simak's short stories and longer novellas range from the contemplative and thoughtfully idyllic to pure terror, although the punch line is often characteristically understated, as in "Good Night, Mr. James" and "Skirmish'". There is also a group of humorous stories, including "The Big Front Yard".Way Stationis, in the midst of all of the science fiction paraphernalia, a psychological study of a lonely man who has to make peace with his past and finally manages to do so, but not without personal loss. The contemplative nature of the Simak character is a recurring trait of the author's style.

Other traditional science fiction themes in Simak's work include the importance of knowledge and compassion, such as in "Immigrant" and "Kindergarten". Identity play, as in "Good Night, Mr. James" (filmed asThe Outer Limits:The Duplicate Manin 1964). Fictions come to life in "Shadow Show" and elsewhere, such as the novelOut of Their Minds.There is a revolt of the machines in "Skirmish", and a meeting with an alien world in "Beachhead", also known as "You'll Never Go Home Again". (Many of these are in his collectionStrangers in the Universe.)

Simak sometimes wrote stories close to his profession as a writer. For example, in the novelette "So Bright the Vision" (1968), he portrayedartificial intelligencewriting software similar toChatGPT,but focusing on socio-psychological issues.

Finally, Simak throws in many science fictional fillips that remain unexplained. Simak's characters encounter alien creatures and concepts they simply cannot understand, and never will. For example, inSpecial Deliverance,the humans are stalked by The Wailer, which turns out to be a huge wolf-like creature that bellows an infinitely sad howl. They never learn what the creature is, why it seems sad, or how it got there.

Simak sums up his life's work in the foreword to his collectionSkirmish.After explaining what themes he avoids – no large-scalealien invasions,nospace wars,no empire sagas – he states:

Overall, I have written in a quiet manner; there is little violence in my work. My focus has been on people, not on events. More often than not I have struck a hopeful note... I have, on occasions, tried to speak out for decency and compassion, for understanding, not only in the human, but in the cosmic sense. I have tried at times to place humans in perspective against the vastness of universal time and space. I have been concerned where we, as a race, may be going, and what may be our purpose in the universal scheme – if we have a purpose. In general, I believe we do, and perhaps an important one.

Works

Main article:Clifford D. Simak bibliography

From 1950 to 1986 Clifford Simak wrote more than 30 novels and four non-fiction works, withWay Stationwinning the 1964Hugo Award.More than 100 of his short stories were published from 1931 to 1981 in the science fiction, western, and war genres, with "The Big Front Yard"winning the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novelette and"Grotto of the Dancing Deer"winning the Hugo andNebula Awardsfor Best Short Story in 1981.One more short story, "I Had No Head and My Eyes Were Floating Way Up in the Air", had been written in 1973 for publication inHarlan Ellison's never-published anthologyThe Last Dangerous Visionsand was first published posthumously in 2015.

One of his short stories, "Good Night, Mr. James", was adapted as "The Duplicate Man" onThe Outer Limitsin 1964. Simak notes this is a "vicious story—so vicious that it is the only one of my stories adapted to television."

Awards and honors

TheScience Fiction Writers of Americamade Simak its thirdSFWA Grand Masterin 1977, afterRobert HeinleinandJack Williamson.In 1987 theHorror Writers Associationnamed him one of three inaugural winners of theBram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement,withFritz LeiberandFrank Belknap Long.Asteroid228883 Cliffsimak,discovered by French amateur astronomerBernard Christophein 2003, was named in his memory.The officialnaming citationwas published by theMinor Planet Centeron March 30, 2010 (M.P.C.69496).

Other lifetime awards

• Minnesota Academy of Science Awardfor distinguished service to science 1967
• First Fandom Hall of Fame award1973

Best-of-year literary awards

• Retro Hugofor best novelette, “Rule 18” (Astounding Science-Fiction,July 1938)
• Retro Hugo for best novelette, "City" (Astounding Science-Fiction,May 1944)
• International Fantasy Awardfor best fiction book (1953) forCity
• Hugo Awardfor best novelette (1959) for "The Big Front Yard"
• Hugo Award for best novel (1964) forWay Station
• Jupiter Awardfor best novel (1978) forA Heritage of Stars
• Hugo Award for best short story (1981) for "Grotto of the Dancing Deer"
• Nebula Awardfor best short story (1981) for "Grotto of the Dancing Deer"
• Locus Awardfor best short story (1981) for "Grotto of the Dancing Deer"
• Analytical Laboratoryaward for best short story (1981) for "Grotto of the Dancing Deer"

Sources

• Contemporary Authors.New Revision Series. Detroit, Gale Research Co.
• Sam MoskowitzSeekers of Tomorrow(1967) (one chapter covers Simak)
• "Obituaries: Clifford D. Simak."The Herald(Melbourne),April 29, 1988.
• Weatherby, W. J. "Obituary of Clifford Simak, realist of SF". Guardian Newspapers Limited/The Guardian(London), April 29, 1988.

Further reading

• Muriel R. Becker,Clifford D. Simak, a Primary and Secondary Bibliography(1980).
• Hardy Kettlitz,Clifford D. Simak: pastorale Harmonien,Shayol Verlag, 2012. (German).
• Mark Owings,The Electric Bibliograph 1: Clifford D. Simak.
• Phil Stephensen-Payne,Clifford D. Simak: A Working Bibliography(1991,ISBN1-871133-28-9)

External links

• Clifford Donald Simak Papers
• Eldonejo ‘Mistera Sturno’An authorized translation of Way Station intoEsperantoas a freeebook.
• Works by Clifford D. SimakatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Clifford D. Simakat theInternet Archive
• Works by Clifford D. SimakatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• Clifford D. Simakat theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Clifford D. Simakat the Internet Book List
• Clifford D. SimakatIMDb
• The Science Fiction Short Stories of Clifford D. Simak
• "An Interview with Clifford D. Simak"fromTangent,May 1975
• "City Slickers, Country Bumpkins, Ants, Robots and Mutants" (Part OneandPart 2) atThe Grantville Gazette
• Clifford D. Simak – The International Bibliography
• Clifford D. SimakatFind a Grave