Harry Harrison

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For the radio personality, see Harry Harrison (radio).

At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005

Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey, March 12, 1925) is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973).

1 Career
2 Personal life
3 Bibliography
4 External links

[edit] Career

Before becoming an editor, Harrison started in the science fiction field as an illustrator, notably with EC Comics' two science fiction comic books, Weird Fantasy and Weird Science. A large number of his early short stories were first published under house pseudonyms such as 'Wade Kaempfert'. Harrison also wrote for syndicated comic strips, creating the 'Rick Random' character. Harrison is now much better known for his writing, particularly his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Bill, the Galactic Hero (which satirises Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers).

During the 1950s and 60s he was the main writer of the Flash Gordon newspaper strip. One of his Flash Gordon scripts was serialized in Comics Revue magazine. Harrison drew sketches to help the artist be more scientifically accurate, which the artist largely ignored.

Not all of Harrison's writing is comic, though. He has written many stories on serious themes, of which by far the best known is the classic novel about overpopulation and consumption of the world's resources Make Room! Make Room! which was used as a basis for the science fiction film Soylent Green (though the film changed the plot and theme).

Harrison for a time was closely identified with Brian Aldiss and the pair collaborated on a series of anthology projects. Harrison and Aldiss did much in the 1970s to raise the standards of criticism in the field.

Harrison is a writer of fairly liberal worldview. Harrison's work often hinges around the contrast between the thinking man and the man of force, although the "Thinking Man" often needs ultimately to employ force himself.

[edit] Personal life

Harrison was born in Stamford, Connecticut, but has lived in many parts of the world including Mexico, England, Ireland, Denmark and Italy. He is an advocate of Esperanto (the language often appears in his novels, particularly in his Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld series) and was formerly the honorary president of the Esperanto Association of Ireland, as well as holding memberships in other Esperanto organizations, such as the Esperanto League for North America, of which he is an honorary member, and the Universala Esperanto-Asocio (World Esperanto Association), of whose Honorary Patrons' Committee he is a member. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during WWII as a gunsight mechanic and gunnery instructor. He currently lives in the Republic of Ireland and maintains a flat in Brighton for visits to England.

Harrison married Joan (nee Merkler) in 1954 in New York, a marriage that would last until her death of cancer in 2002. They have two children, Todd (b. 1955) and Moira (b. 1959), to whom he dedicated the book "Make Room, Make Room."

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Novellas

The Men from P.I.G. and R.O.B.O.T. (1974) (two linked novellas)
Planet Story (1978) published as a large format book with colour illustrations by Jim Burns

[edit] Novels

The Jupiter Plague (1965) - first published as Plague from Space
Vendetta for the Saint (1965) - credited to Leslie Charteris and based upon Charteris' mystery series, The Saint
Make Room! Make Room! (1966) - basis for the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston
The Technicolor Time Machine (1967)
Captive Universe (1969)
In Our Hands the Stars (1970)
Spaceship Medic (1970)
Tunnel Through the Deeps (1972) - also published as A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!'
Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers (1973)
Skyfall (1976)
Lifeboat (1977) (with Gordon R. Dickson)
Invasion: Earth (1982)
A Rebel In Time (1983)
The Turing Option (1992) (with Marvin Minsky)

[edit] Bill, the Galactic Hero series

Bill, the Galactic Hero (1965)

Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Robot Slaves (1989)
Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Bottled Brains (1990, with Robert Sheckley)
Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Tasteless Pleasure (1991, with David Bischoff)
Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Zombie Vampires (1991, with Jack C. Haldeman II)
Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars (1991, with David Bischoff. vt. ...Planet of Hippies from Hell)
Bill, the Galactic Hero: the Final Incoherent Adventure (1991, with David Harris)

[edit] Brion Brandd Series

Planet of the Damned (1962) - first published as Sense of Obligation
Planet of No Return (1981)

[edit] Deathworld series

Deathworld (1960)
Deathworld 2 (1964) - first published as The Ethical Engineer
Deathworld 3 (1968) - first published as The Horse Barbarians
The Deathworld Trilogy (1974, omnibus of Deathworld, Deathworld 2 & Deathworld 3. vt. The Deathworld Omnibus)
The Mothballed Spaceship (1973) - short story, in ASTOUNDING: the John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology
Return to Deathworld (1998, with Ant Skalandis) - Published only in Russian and Lithuanian
Deathworld vs. Filibusters (1998, with Ant Skalandis) - Published only in Russian and Lithuanian
The Creatures from Hell (1999, with Ant Skalandis) - Published only in Russian
Deathworld 7: Foes in Intelligence (2001, with Mikhail Ahmanov) - Published only in Russian

[edit] To the Stars trilogy

Homeworld (1980)
Wheelworld (1981)
Starworld (1981)
To the Stars (1991) - omnibus collection of the three novels

[edit] The Stainless Steel Rat series

Listed according to internal chronology.

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born (1985)
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted (1987)
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994)
The Stainless Steel Rat (1961)
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970)
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (1972)
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1978)
The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982)
The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (1996)
The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus (1999)

You Can Be The Stainless Steel Rat: An Interactive Game Book 1988 - role playing book
The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat (1978) - omnibus collection of The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge and The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
A Stainless Steel Trio (2002) - omnibus collection of A Stainless Steel is Born, The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted and The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues

[edit] Stainless Steel Rat Short stories:

"The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat" (1981)
"The Fourth Law of Robotics" (1989)
"The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat" (1992, published in Stainless Steel Visions.)

[edit] Eden series

West of Eden (1984)
Winter in Eden (1986)
Return to Eden (1989)

[edit] The Hammer and the Cross series

[edit] Stars and Stripes trilogy

Stars and Stripes Forever (1998)
Stars and Stripes in Peril (2000)
Stars and Stripes Triumphant (2002)

[edit] Short story collections

Two Tales and Eight Tomorrows (1965)
War with the Robots (1967)
Prime Number (1970)
One Step from Earth (1970)
Stainless Steel Visions (1992)
Galactic Dreams (1994)
50 In 50 (2001)

[edit] Comics

Rick Random
Flash Gordon (1958–1964)
The Stainless Steel Rat was adapted into a comic strip in the magazine 2000 AD by Kelvin Gosnell.
Harry Harrison's Bill, The Galactic Hero Comics, 3 issues

[edit] Essays

Great Balls of Fire (1977)
Mechanismo (1977)

[edit] External links

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