Wilmar H. Shiras

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Wilmar House Shiras (born September 23, 1908 in Boston , Massachusetts ; died December 23, 1990 in Alameda , California ) was an American science fiction writer.

Life

Shiraz is known almost exclusively by their short story series Children of the Atom (German children of the atom ), whose first story in Hiding 1948 John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction appeared. Four more parts followed and in 1953 a fix-up was published under the title Children of the Atom , which was also translated into German. The stories are about a group of children who mutate as a result of a radiation accident in a nuclear factory and are thus super intelligent and creative, but hide their skills from their surroundings. A psychologist tracks down one of these children and tries to help him and other children in the group adapt to their surroundings. The portrayal of the children corresponds to the cliché of the nerd , which at that time did not yet exist as a term: the boys are narrow-shouldered and short-sighted, but very interested in science and technology, the girls are highly artistically gifted, but do not correspond to the female role model of Late 1940s.

In particular, the first story In Hiding was reprinted dozens of times in anthologies - including in Ben Bova's Science Fiction Hall of Fame IIB (1973) - and translated into German, Dutch, French and Japanese. Richard A. Lupoff attributes the great echo to the strong identification possibilities for the forerunners of the nerd in a time when science fiction fans were still considered freaks. Marion Zimmer Bradley and Barry N. Malzberg expressed themselves accordingly in retrospect in a new edition of Children of the Atom from 1978. You have also seen the role model of Stan Lee's and Jack Kirby's comic Uncanny X-Men in Children of the Atom , even if never that has been confirmed.

Shiras studied at Holy Names College in Oakland and at the University of California, Berkeley . In 1956 she graduated with a master's degree . Since 1927 she was married to Russell Shiras and had three daughters and two sons with him. She died in 1990 at the age of 82.

bibliography

Children of the Atom (short story series)
  • In Hiding (1948)
    • German: The hiding place. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Nichau. In: Terry Carr (ed.): The super weapon. Goldmann (Goldmanns Weltraum Taschenbücher # 095), 1968. Also as: Hidden. Translated by Heinz Zwack. In: Ben Bova , Wolfgang Jeschke (eds.): Titan 16. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3827), 1981, ISBN 3-453-30729-1 . Also as: In secret. Translated by Heinz Zwack. In: Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs (eds.): Die Vierziger Jahre II. Hohenheim (Edition SF in Hohenheim Verlag), 1983, ISBN 3-8147-0033-3 . Also as: hide and seek. Translated by Uwe Anton . In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
  • Opening Doors (1949)
    • German: Doors opening. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
  • New Foundations (1950)
    • German: New foundations. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
  • Children of the Atom (1953)
    • German: Children of the atom. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
  • Problems (1953)
    • German: problems. In: Children of the Atom. 1983.
  • Children of the Atom (1953, collection)
    • German: Children of the atom. Ullstein (Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31073), 1983, ISBN 3-548-31073-7 .
Short stories
  • A Day's Work (1952)
  • Backward, Turn Backward (1970)
  • Shadow-Led (1971)
  • Reality (1972)
  • Bird Song (1973)
novel
  • Slow Dawning (1946, as Jane Howes)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilmar H. Shiras: Children of the Atom. Pennyfarthing Press, 1978, ISBN 0-930800-02-8 , pp. 217 ff.
  2. ↑ Wilmar Shiras , accessed on August 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ Lois H. Gresh, Robert Weinberg: The Science of Superheroes. Wiley 2002, ISBN 0-471-02460-0 , p. 130.
personal data
SURNAME Shiras, Wilmar H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shiras, Wilmar House (full name); Howes, Jane (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1990
Place of death Alameda , California