Hubbry Logo
Frederik PohlFrederik PohlMain
Open search
Frederik Pohl
Community hub
Frederik Pohl
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Frederik George Pohl Jr. (/poʊl/; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna", to the 2011 novel All the Lives He Led.[1]

Key Information

From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy and its sister magazine If; the latter won three successive annual Hugo Awards as the year's best professional magazine.[2] His 1977 novel Gateway won four "year's best novel" awards: the Hugo voted by convention participants, the Locus voted by magazine subscribers, the Nebula voted by American science-fiction writers, and the juried academic John W. Campbell Memorial Award.[2] He won the Campbell Memorial Award again for the 1984 collection of novellas The Years of the City, one of two repeat winners during the first 40 years. For his 1979 novel Jem, Pohl won a U.S. National Book Award in the one-year category Science Fiction,[3] and it was a finalist for three other year's best novel awards.[2] He won four Hugo and three Nebula Awards,[2] including receiving both for the 1977 novel Gateway. He won the inaugural Locus Award for Best Non-fiction in 1979 for his autobiography The Way the Future Was.[4]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named Pohl its 12th recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award in 1993[5] and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998, its third class of two dead and two living writers.[6][a]

Pohl won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2010, for his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs".[2][7][8]

Early life and family

[edit]

Pohl was the son of Frederik (originally Friedrich) George Pohl (a salesman of German descent) and Anna Jane Mason.[9] Pohl Sr. held various jobs, and the Pohls lived in such far-flung locations as Texas, California, New Mexico, and the Panama Canal Zone. The family settled in Brooklyn when Pohl was around seven.[10]

He attended Brooklyn Technical High School, and dropped out at 17.[11] In 2009, he was awarded an honorary diploma from Brooklyn Tech.[12]

While a teenager, he co-founded the New York–based Futurians fan group, and began lifelong friendships with Donald Wollheim, Isaac Asimov, and others who would become important writers and editors.[13][14] Pohl later said that other "friends came and went and were gone, [but] many of the ones I met through fandom were friends all their lives – Isaac, Damon Knight, Cyril Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie, [and] Dick Wilson. In fact, there are one or two – Jack Robins, Dave Kyle – whom I still count as friends, seventy-odd years later...." He published a science-fiction fanzine called Mind of Man.[15]

In 1936, Pohl joined the Young Communist League because of its positions in support of unions and against racial prejudice, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. He became president of the local Flatbush III Branch of the YCL in Brooklyn. Pohl said he left the YCL after Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, when the communist position changed to partnership with Hitler.[16]

During World War II, Pohl served in the United States Army from April 1943 until November 1945, rising to sergeant as an elite Air Corps weatherman. After training in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado, he was mainly stationed in Italy with the 456th Bombardment Group.[17]

Pohl was married five times. His first wife, Leslie Perri, was another Futurian; they were married in August 1940, and divorced in 1944. He then married Dorothy Les Tina in Paris in August 1945 while both were serving in the military in Europe; the marriage ended in 1947. During 1948, he married Judith Merril; they had a daughter, Ann. Pohl and Merril divorced in 1952. In 1953, he married Carol M. Ulf Stanton, with whom he had three children and collaborated on several books; they separated in 1977 and were divorced in 1983. From 1984 until his death, Pohl was married to science-fiction expert and academic Elizabeth Anne Hull.

He fathered four children – Ann (m. Walter Weary), Frederik III (born and died in 1954, aged one month[18]), Frederik IV (a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, and producer),[19] and Kathy.[20] Grandchildren include Canadian writer Emily Pohl-Weary and chef Tobias Pohl-Weary.[21]

From 1984 on, he lived in Palatine, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was previously a longtime resident of Middletown, New Jersey.[22]

Career

[edit]
Black-and-white photograph of three men standing together
Frederik Pohl (center) with fellow scifi authors Donald A. Wollheim and John Michel in 1938

Early writing

[edit]

Pohl began writing in the late 1930s, using pseudonyms for most of his early works. His first publication was the poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna" under the name of Elton Andrews, in the October 1937 issue of Amazing Stories, edited by T. O'Conor Sloane.[1][23][24] (Pohl asked readers 30 years later, "we would take it as a personal favor if no one ever looked it up".[25]) His first story, the collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth "Before the Universe", appeared in 1940 under the pseudonym S.D. Gottesman.[5]

Editor and agent

[edit]

Pohl started a career as a literary agent in 1937, but it was a sideline for him until after World War II, when he began doing it full-time. Pohl stopped being Asimov's agent—the only one the latter ever had[26]—when he became editor from 1939 to 1943 of two pulp magazines, Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories.[27] In his autobiography, Pohl said that he stopped editing the two magazines at roughly the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

Stories by Pohl often appeared in these magazines, but never under his own name. Work written in collaboration with Cyril M. Kornbluth was credited to S. D. Gottesman or Scott Mariner; other collaborative work (with any combination of Kornbluth, Dirk Wylie, or Robert A. W. Lownes) was credited to Paul Dennis Lavond. For Pohl's solo work, stories were credited to James MacCreigh (or for one story only, Warren F. Howard.)[23] Works by "Gottesman", "Lavond", and "MacCreigh" continued to appear in various science-fiction pulp magazines throughout the 1940s.

He also worked as an advertising copywriter and then as a copywriter and book editor for Popular Science.[11]

Pohl co-founded the Hydra Club, a loose collection of science-fiction professionals and fans who met during the late 1940s and 1950s.[28]

From the early 1960s until 1969, Pohl served as editor of Galaxy Science Fiction and Worlds of If magazines, taking over after the ailing H. L. Gold could no longer continue working "around the end of 1960".[29] Under his leadership, If won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Magazine for 1966, 1967 and 1968.[30] Pohl hired Judy-Lynn del Rey as his assistant editor at Galaxy and If. He also served as editor of Worlds of Tomorrow from its first issue in 1963 until it was merged into If in 1967.[31]

In the mid-1970s, Pohl acquired and edited novels for Bantam Books, published as "A Frederik Pohl Selection"; these included Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren and Joanna Russ's The Female Man. He also edited a number of science-fiction anthologies.

Novelist

[edit]

Though he retired his pen names "Gottesman", "Lavond", and "MacCreigh" by the early 1950s, Pohl still occasionally used pseudonyms, even after he began to publish work under his real name. These occasional pseudonyms, all of which date from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, included Charles Satterfield, Paul Flehr, Ernst Mason, Jordan Park (two collaborative novels with Kornbluth), and Edson McCann (one collaborative novel with Lester del Rey).

In the 1970s, Pohl re-emerged as a novel writer in his own right, with books such as Man Plus and the Heechee Saga series. He won back-to-back Nebula Awards with Man Plus in 1976 and Gateway, the first Heechee novel, in 1977. In 1978, Gateway swept the other two major novel honors, also winning the Hugo Award for Best Novel and John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel. Two of his stories have also earned him Hugo Awards: "The Meeting" (with Kornbluth) tied in 1973 and "Fermi and Frost" won in 1986. Another award-winning novel is Jem (1979), winner of the National Book Award.

His works include not only science fiction, but also articles for Playboy and Family Circle magazines and nonfiction books. For a time, he was the official authority for Encyclopædia Britannica on the subject of Emperor Tiberius. (He wrote a book on the subject of Tiberius, as "Ernst Mason".)[32]

Some of his short stories take a satirical look at consumerism and advertising in the 1950s and 1960s: "The Wizards of Pung's Corners", where flashy, over-complex military hardware proved useless against farmers with shotguns, and "The Tunnel under the World", where an entire community of seeming-humans is held captive by advertising researchers. ("The Wizards of Pung's Corners" was freely translated into Chinese and then freely translated back into English as "The Wizard-Masters of Peng-Shi Angle" in the first edition of Pohlstars [1984]).

In his 1969 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot, Pohl speculated about a society where everyone could access knowledge and the means to communicate with others through a small handheld device similar to a smartphone. Although he set the novel 500 years in the future, he noted in an afterword that it might be as few as fifty years away. A short story "Day Million" suggested that society in the year 2737 might be as alien to us as contemporary society would be to someone from ancient times.

Pohl's Law is "Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere will not hate it".[33]

He was a frequent guest on Long John Nebel's radio show from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and an international lecturer.[34]

Starting in 1995, when the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award became a juried award, Pohl served first with James Gunn and Judith Merril, and since then with several others until retiring in 2013.[35] Pohl was associated with Gunn since the 1940s, becoming involved in 1975 with what later became Gunn's Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. There, he presented many talks, recorded a discussion about "The Ideas in Science Fiction" in 1973[36] for the Literature of Science Fiction Lecture Series,[37] and served the Intensive Institute on Science Fiction and Science Fiction Writing Workshop.[38]

Pohl received the second annual J. W. Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award in Science Fiction from the University of California, Riverside Libraries at the 2009 Eaton Science Fiction Conference, "Extraordinary Voyages: Jules Verne and Beyond".[39][40]

Pohl's work has been an influence on a wide variety of other science fiction writers, some of whom appear in the 2010 anthology, Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl, edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull.[41]

Pohl's last novel, All the Lives He Led, was released on April 12, 2011.[42]

At the time of his death, he was working to finish a second volume of his autobiography The Way the Future Was (1979), along with an expanded version of the latter.[43]

In July 2020, an academic description reported on the nature and rise of the "robot prosumer", derived from modern-day technology and related participatory culture, that, in turn, was substantially predicted earlier by science fiction writers, most notably by Pohl.[44][45][46]

Collaborative work

[edit]

In addition to his solo writings, Pohl was also well known for his collaborations, beginning with his first published story. Before and following the war, Pohl did a series of collaborations with his friend Cyril Kornbluth, including a large number of short stories and several novels, among them The Space Merchants, a dystopian satire of a world ruled by the advertising agencies.[47]

In the mid-1950s, he began a long-running collaboration with Jack Williamson, eventually resulting in 10 collaborative novels over five decades.

Other collaborations included a novel with Lester Del Rey, Preferred Risk (1955). This novel was solicited for a contest by Galaxy–Simon & Schuster when the judges did not think any of the contest submissions was good enough to win their contest. It was published under the joint pseudonym Edson McCann.[48] He also collaborated with Thomas T. Thomas on a sequel to his award-winning novel Man Plus. He wrote two short stories with Isaac Asimov in the 1940s, both published in 1950.[49]

He finished a novel begun by Arthur C. Clarke, The Last Theorem, which was published on August 5, 2008.

Death

[edit]

Pohl went to the hospital in respiratory distress on the morning of September 2, 2013, and died that afternoon[50][51][52][53] at the age of 93.[54]

Works

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Frederik Pohl

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Frederik Pohl (November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American writer, editor, , and fan whose prolific career extended over more than 75 years, beginning in the era of . Pohl's most acclaimed novel, Gateway (1977), earned the Hugo, , Locus, and Memorial Awards for best novel, highlighting his skill in blending adventure with psychological depth and economic satire. He co-authored the dystopian classic (1952, as by C.M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl) with , a work that critiqued and through exaggerated corporate futures, influencing the genre's satirical tradition. Beyond writing, Pohl shaped as an editor of magazines including and If, where he championed innovative stories and authors during the 1950s and 1960s, and as a who represented key figures in the field. His honors include three Nebula Awards, multiple Hugo Awards, the for Gateway (1980), and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master designation in 1993, recognizing his enduring contributions to speculative literature.

Early Life

Childhood and Education

Frederik George Pohl Jr. was born on November 26, 1919, in to Fred George Pohl, a traveling salesman, and Anna Jane Mason Pohl; he was their only child. His early years involved frequent relocations driven by his father's occupation, including stints in , , and , before the family settled in around 1926 when Pohl was about seven years old. As a child in , Pohl displayed an early affinity for reading, particularly developing a taste for through and adventure stories, which shaped his lifelong engagement with the genre. This self-directed immersion in literature occurred amid a modest family background, with no formal higher education in or sciences influencing his initial pursuits. Pohl attended , a specialized focused on and , but dropped out at age 17 around , forgoing further conventional schooling to pursue interests in writing and . His education thus relied heavily on autodidactic efforts, including voracious reading and early involvement in fan communities, rather than structured academic credentials.

Involvement in Fandom and Early Political Affiliations

Pohl entered as a teenager in New York during , amid the , where he engaged with like-minded enthusiasts through amateur publishing and club activities. In the late 1930s, he co-founded the , a influential New York-based fan group dedicated to promoting literature and ideas, which included future notables like and Donald Wollheim. The group emphasized progressive ideals and utopian themes in SF, fostering debates on social issues alongside . Pohl's fandom involvement extended to practical contributions, including editing pulp magazines such as Astonishing Stories and Super-Science Stories by age 19 in , marking his early transition from fan to professional. A notable incident occurred at the inaugural World Science Fiction Convention in July , where Pohl was among six barred from entry—the "Exclusion Act"—after attempting to distribute a leaflet critiquing the convention's committee for alleged monopolistic practices and conservative biases. This event highlighted tensions between radical fans and establishment figures in early SF community dynamics. Parallel to his fandom pursuits, Pohl developed early political affiliations influenced by economic hardship and leftist ideologies prevalent among intellectuals. In 1936, at age 17, he joined the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth arm of the (CPUSA), and soon became president of his local chapter, drawn by promises of social reform and anti-fascist activism. He progressed to full CPUSA membership, participating in party activities that intersected with Futurian circles, where several members shared communist sympathies. Pohl later disaffiliated around 1939, citing disillusionment with internal dogmas and the Soviet-Nazi pact, though he retained a critical sympathy for socialist critiques of capitalism evident in his later writings. These experiences shaped his worldview, blending utopian aspirations with skepticism toward authoritarian implementations.

Career

Early Writing and Publishing

Frederik Pohl's initial foray into publishing occurred at age 17 with the poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna," which appeared in the October 1937 issue of . This early work, published under the Elton V. Andrews, marked his entry into professional outlets amid his involvement in New York circles. Pohl's first short story, "Before the Universe," co-written with C. M. Kornbluth, followed in the July 1940 issue of Super Science Stories under the house name S. D. Gottesman. His early fiction output primarily consisted of pulp-era stories, often collaborative efforts with Kornbluth and other , submitted to magazines like Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories using pseudonyms such as James MacCreigh for solo pieces and Paul Dennis Lavond or Dirk Wylie for joint works. These publications, typical of the era's formulaic adventure tales, filled the pages of low-budget pulps during , when Pohl balanced writing with editorial duties. By late 1939 or early 1940, at age 20, Pohl had assumed the editorship of Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories, roles he held until fall 1941, during which he commissioned and sometimes placed his own material to meet publication quotas. This dual role as editor and contributor honed his professional skills but also highlighted the commercial pressures of the pulp market, where pseudonyms obscured authorship and quantity often trumped innovation.

Roles as Editor and Literary Agent

Pohl operated as a from 1946 to 1953, representing prominent authors including , , and through his agency, which handled a significant portion of the genre's leading talents during the post-World War II boom. His agency, initially known as the Dirk Wylie Agency, nearly achieved a monopoly in literary representation by negotiating contracts and sales for writers whose works filled the pages of emerging . Transitioning to editing, Pohl served as editor of Galaxy Science Fiction and its companion magazine If from late 1961 to mid-1969, succeeding H. L. Gold amid the former's health issues and steering both toward innovative content that emphasized satirical and socially critical narratives. Under his direction, If secured Hugo Awards for Best Professional Magazine in 1966, 1967, and 1968, reflecting its elevated quality and influence in showcasing emerging authors like Larry Niven and Joanna Russ. He also launched Worlds of Tomorrow in 1963, editing it until 1967 as a quarterly outlet for experimental longer fiction, and briefly oversaw International Science Fiction from 1967 to 1968. In subsequent years, Pohl continued editorial work as executive editor at from 1971 to 1973 and as science fiction editor for in the mid-1970s, where select titles bore the imprint "A Frederik Pohl Selection" to highlight his curatorial choices. Earlier, in the 1950s, he had edited the Star Science Fiction anthology series for , compiling original stories that bypassed traditional magazine slush piles to feature established names. These roles collectively positioned Pohl as a gatekeeper who nurtured the genre's commercial and artistic growth, often prioritizing market viability alongside literary merit.

Development as Novelist

Pohl's initial forays into novel-length fiction occurred through collaborations in the early 1950s, building on his experience with short stories and magazine editing. His partnership with produced (serialized in in 1952–1953 and published as a in 1953), a satirical depiction of a consumer-driven future that marked an early success in extended narrative form. Subsequent joint efforts included Gladiator at Law (1955) and Wolfbane (1959), which honed Pohl's ability to blend with speculative plotting over novel-length scopes. These works, often serialized in magazines like , leveraged Pohl's editorial insight to structure complex critiques of and . Transitioning to solo authorship, Pohl published in 1957, serialized earlier that year in , followed by Drunkard's Walk in 1960 and A Plague of Pythons in 1962 (initially under the pseudonym ). These early independent novels explored themes of psychological manipulation and societal control but received modest critical and commercial reception compared to his collaborations, reflecting Pohl's ongoing refinement of voice amid his primary roles as agent and editor. By the mid-1960s, works like The Age of Pussyfoot (1965) and Inside the Tormented World (as by Paul Dennis Lavond, 1965) demonstrated growing confidence in standalone narratives, often drawing from serialized origins to test expansive world-building. Pohl's maturation as a accelerated in the 1970s, coinciding with a shift away from intensive editing duties. Man Plus (1976) introduced cybernetic augmentation in a hard science framework, earning a nomination and signaling technical sophistication. The breakthrough came with Gateway (1977), a about alien artifacts that won the Hugo, , and Memorial Awards, validating Pohl's evolution toward probabilistic storytelling and character-driven exploration of risk. This success spawned the Heechee series, with sequels like (1980), expanding his scope to multi-volume sagas while maintaining satirical edges refined over decades. His later output, including All the Lives He Led (2011), sustained productivity into advanced age, underscoring a career arc from collaborative foundations to acclaimed solo mastery.

Notable Collaborations

Pohl's most prominent collaborations occurred with , a fellow writer and Futurian, beginning in the early 1950s. Their partnership produced four novels noted for sharp satirical critiques of , , and social decay: (serialized in in 1952 and published in book form in 1953), Search the Sky (1954), Gladiator-at-Law (1955), and Wolfbane (1959). These works, particularly , which depicts a dystopian future dominated by conglomerates, are regarded as of the genre for their prescient economic commentary and collaborative polish, with Pohl handling plotting and Kornbluth excelling in prose style. Kornbluth's death in 1958 at age 34 ended their direct collaboration, though Pohl later completed Wolfbane based on their joint outline. Pohl and Kornbluth also co-wrote numerous short stories, including "The Meeting" (awarded a posthumous Hugo in 1973 for Kornbluth) and contributions to anthologies like Our Best: The Best of Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth (1977). Later collaborations included the Starchild trilogy with Jack Williamson: The Reefs of Space (1964), Starchild (1965), and Rogue Star (1969), which explored themes of rebellion against authoritarian planning economies in space habitats. Pohl partnered with on Preferred Risk (1955), a critiquing monopolies in a . In , he co-authored Our Angry Earth (1991) with , addressing through scientific analysis. His final novel, (2008), was completed with , blending mathematics and interstellar adventure. These partnerships leveraged Pohl's editorial acumen and thematic interests, enhancing the speculative rigor of the resulting works.

Literary Themes and Style

Satirical Critiques of Society and Economy

Pohl's satirical works frequently targeted the excesses of consumer-driven economies and corporate dominance, portraying futures where market forces distort human priorities and exacerbate social inequalities. In The Space Merchants (1952, co-authored with C. M. Kornbluth), he depicted a resource-scarce Earth ruled by advertising conglomerates that wield greater influence than governments, with ubiquitous propaganda promoting overconsumption amid famine and overpopulation. The novel's protagonist, a high-ranking ad executive, navigates a world where "conservationists" are branded as subversives and products like "cancer cures" are marketed aggressively, highlighting how unchecked commercialism prioritizes profit over sustainability and rationality. This critique extended to economic inequality and institutional power in Gladiator-at-Law (1955, also with Kornbluth), which envisioned a stratified society divided between a wealthy in fortified enclaves and a impoverished sustained by welfare and gladiatorial spectacles funded by corporate monopolies. The story satirized predatory corporate practices, such as leveraged buyouts and legal manipulations that concentrate wealth, while portraying violence as commodified entertainment to pacify the masses, akin to historical bread-and-circuses tactics but amplified by modern economic mechanisms. Unlike outright condemnations of , Pohl's narrative implied that systemic flaws stemmed from insufficient restraints on competition and greed, advocating implicit reforms rather than abolition. Pohl's shorter fiction reinforced these themes, often lampooning "robot-like" consumer conformity and the specter of leading to , as in tales where automated economies produce abundance but foster dependency and irrational . His humor blended exaggeration with plausible extrapolations from mid-20th-century trends, such as the rise of mass advertising and suburban sprawl, to underscore causal links between economic incentives and cultural decay without prescribing ideological solutions.

Exploration of Technology and Human Nature

Pohl's science fiction often interrogated the interplay between technological innovation and unalterable aspects of human psychology, such as ambition, fear, and adaptability, portraying technology not as a panacea but as an amplifier of human frailties. In novels like Man Plus (1976), he depicted the transformation of astronaut Roger Torraway into a cyborg adapted for Mars colonization, emphasizing the psychological disintegration and identity erosion resulting from cybernetic enhancements amid resource scarcity and geopolitical tensions. This narrative underscored ethical quandaries in human augmentation, questioning whether such interventions preserve or erode core human essence, as Torraway grapples with sensory overload and detachment from natural bodily functions. Similarly, in Gateway (1977), Pohl explored humanity's encounter with abandoned alien spacecraft, where prospectors risk lethal voyages via a probabilistic lottery system, revealing innate drives like greed and thrill-seeking that propel technological exploitation despite high mortality rates exceeding 90% for uncharted routes. The protagonist's sessions expose the mental toll of uncertainty and survivor's guilt, illustrating how advanced artifacts magnify impulsivity and existential dread rather than fostering rational progress. Pohl's extrapolations from contemporary and tech warned of societal disruptions, critiquing overreliance on machines that mimic yet fail to transcend irrationality. Across the , initiated with Gateway, Pohl extended this scrutiny to interstellar scales, where human expansion via extraterrestrial engineering confronts biological and motivational limits, such as population pressures and short-termism, without resorting to implausible alterations of . His portrayals consistently highlighted causal chains wherein technological access exacerbates conflicts over resources and status, as seen in the competitive frenzy over Heechee stations, reflecting realistic incentives absent in utopian visions. Pohl thereby advocated a skeptical realism, drawing on observable human tendencies to forecast that innovations like AI or would likely entrench divisions unless tempered by awareness of innate limitations.

Criticisms and Limitations of Pohl's Approach

Critics have noted that Pohl's satirical approach, while incisive in critiquing consumerism and societal excesses as in The Space Merchants (1952, co-authored with C. M. Kornbluth), often emphasized ugliness and misery to the exclusion of positive elements like love or beauty, rendering resolutions unconvincing after prolonged dystopian buildup. Arthur C. Clarke specifically faulted the novel for its hostility toward women, an element not as pronounced in Pohl's solo works, suggesting collaborative dynamics amplified such flaws. This heavy-handed focus on the "seamy side" of society limited the persuasive power of his social commentary, as the abrupt happy endings failed to inspire belief in feasible alternatives. In later works like Gateway (1977), Pohl's narrative structure drew complaints of tedious exposition, particularly through repetitive therapy sessions that prioritized psychological argumentation over emotional engagement, often requiring readers to skim for momentum. Character portrayals suffered from shallowness, with protagonist Robinette Broadhead depicted as sociopathic and unrelatable—marked by acts like and abandoning crew—without sufficient depth to foster , reducing figures to mere outlines. World-building inconsistencies further undermined immersion, such as discrepancies in the availability of Heechee ships relative to mission failure rates, and a failure to richly explore alien histories or environments despite the premise's promise. Pohl's reliance on satire across novels like Man Plus (1976) and Undersea City (1958, with Jack Williamson) was occasionally critiqued as heavy-handed, with parodies of scientific or genre clichés overwhelming subtlety and leading to labored prose that strained reader tolerance. In All the Lives He Led (2011), inconsistencies in maintaining his characteristic wry, detached voice slipped into overt narration, highlighting challenges in sustaining stylistic consistency over full-length works. While Pohl's predictions of cultural trends proved prescient, these elements—cynical tonal dominance, underdeveloped empathy, and occasional structural lapses—constrained the emotional resonance and literary polish of his output compared to more balanced speculative fiction.

Political Views

Early Marxist Influences and Communist League Membership

During the era, Frederik Pohl, born in 1919, encountered Marxist ideas amid widespread economic hardship and labor unrest in the United States. Influenced by the ideological currents of , which emphasized class struggle and critiques of , Pohl joined the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth organization affiliated with the , in 1936 at the age of 17. As a committed participant, he became a card-carrying member and engaged actively in its activities for approximately four years. Pohl's involvement extended to leadership roles within the YCL; by the mid-to-late , he headed a local chapter in Brooklyn's neighborhood. Through the league, he absorbed core Marxist-Leninist principles, including and the advocacy for , which shaped his early worldview and intersected with his burgeoning interest in . He co-organized the Committee for the Political Advancement of Science Fiction, aiming to align the genre with leftist causes by recruiting fellow writers and fans, such as members of the Futurian club, to the YCL's platform. This period marked Pohl's immersion in communist organizing efforts, where he viewed as a potential vehicle for propagating Marxist critiques of societal structures. However, his enthusiasm waned as he grew disillusioned with the organization's rigid doctrines and internal dynamics, leading him to depart around 1939 or 1940. Despite this early phase, the influences persisted in subtle ways in his initial writings, reflecting a youthful optimism about collectivist solutions to economic inequities.

Evolution Toward Skepticism of Utopias and Centralized Planning

Pohl's initial attraction to Marxist ideals during his teenage years in the , including membership in the Young Communist League starting in 1936, reflected a common enthusiasm among fans for radical social change amid the . However, by the early , disillusionment set in due to internal factionalism within leftist groups and the realities of Stalinist authoritarianism, which he later characterized in his 1978 autobiography The Way the Future Was as an "anomalous" youthful phase rather than a enduring commitment. This shift marked the beginning of a broader skepticism toward ideologies promising frictionless societal perfection through top-down control. Experiences in military service and postwar observations of both capitalist excesses and Soviet inefficiencies further eroded faith in centralized planning, as evidenced by Pohl's satirical portrayals of bureaucratic overreach and resource mismanagement in his fiction. In (1952, co-authored with C.M. Kornbluth), he lampooned advertising-driven as a structure, yet the novel's implicitly critiqued the of any system—market or planned—that ignored dispersed human knowledge and motivations. Later works amplified this, with Jem (1979) illustrating how idealistic Earth colonists, pursuing a multicultural on an alien , descended into violent resource wars and ecological ruin, exposing the causal fragility of enforced harmony amid and self-interest. By the , Pohl's writings and public statements consistently rejected utopian blueprints, favoring narratives where technological progress clashed with unalterable human flaws like greed and shortsightedness, rendering illusory. In a , he decried government-led programs as wasteful mechanisms ill-suited to genuine discovery, prioritizing political prestige over efficient outcomes—a view aligned with empirical failures of large-scale interventions observed in real-world economies. This evolution positioned him as a critic of both socialist collectivism and overreaching , emphasizing adaptive, decentralized responses to complexity over ideological fiat.

Views on Capitalism, Consumerism, and Government Intervention

Pohl's science fiction frequently critiqued the excesses of capitalism and consumerism, portraying them as drivers of social dysfunction rather than inherent evils. In The Space Merchants (1953, co-authored with C. M. Kornbluth), he depicted a dystopian society dominated by advertising conglomerates that manipulate consumer desires to fuel endless production, leading to environmental degradation and resource scarcity on a colonized Venus. Similarly, in the novella "The Midas Plague" (1954), Pohl envisioned a post-scarcity economy where citizens are compelled by social norms and robotic servants to consume vast quantities of goods to match production levels, inverting traditional scarcity to highlight the absurdity of obligatory materialism. These works reflect Pohl's observation of mid-20th-century American consumer culture, where advertising and planned obsolescence propelled economic growth but eroded individual autonomy, though he grounded such satires in extrapolations from observable trends like postwar suburban expansion and corporate marketing rather than ideological rejection of markets. While Pohl lampooned unregulated markets' potential for abuse, his later fiction and personal reflections indicated wariness of government intervention as a corrective force. In "The Merchants of Venus" (1972), he satirized "runaway free-market capitalism" on , where opportunistic entrepreneurs exploit alien artifacts for profit amid bureaucratic inertia, suggesting that pure invites exploitation but state oversight stifles innovation. By contrast, The Years of the City (1984) presented libertarian-leaning reforms in a futuristic New York, emphasizing decentralized decision-making and individual incentives over top-down planning to address . This ambivalence stemmed from Pohl's early disillusionment with ; his teenage involvement in the Young Communist League fostered lifelong suspicion of "grand schemes of social engineering," including expansive government programs that presume to perfect society through coercion. He advocated human perfectibility through personal effort rather than institutional fiat, viewing both corporate overreach and statist interventions as threats to voluntary cooperation and pragmatic adaptation.

Awards and Recognition

Major Literary Awards

Frederik Pohl won three Nebula Awards for his fiction, administered by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to recognize excellence in science fiction and fantasy. These included the Best Novel award for in 1977 and for Gateway in 1978, as well as the Best Novella award for "The Meeting," co-authored with C. M. Kornbluth, in 1972. Pohl secured four Hugo Awards, voted by members of the World Science Fiction Society at annual Worldcons, for his literary works. Notable wins were the Best Novel for Gateway in 1978 and Best Short Story for "Fermi and Frost" in 1986. He also received the Hugo for Best Professional Magazine as editor of If in 1967, reflecting his dual role as writer and editor. In 1980, Pohl was awarded the in the inaugural category for his novel Jem, the only year the award included such a division before its discontinuation. Additionally, in 1993, SFWA honored him with the Memorial Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in writing.
AwardWorkYear
(Best Novel)Man Plus1977
(Best Novella)"The Meeting" (with C. M. Kornbluth)1972
(Best Novel)Gateway1978
(Best Novel)Gateway1978
(Best Short Story)"Fermi and Frost"1986
()Jem1980
SFWA Grand MasterLifetime achievement1993

Editorial and Industry Contributions

Pohl entered the publishing industry in his late teens, serving as editor for the Astonishing Stories and Super Science Stories starting in 1939. Following service, he established himself as a in the late 1940s and 1950s, representing prominent genre authors such as , , and C.M. Kornbluth, which contributed to professionalizing the field by negotiating better contracts and markets for writers previously reliant on exploitative pulp outlets. His agency work emphasized fair representation amid an industry dominated by small presses and inconsistent pay, fostering growth in speculative fiction's commercial viability. From 1959 to 1969, Pohl held editorial positions at Galaxy Publishing Corporation, overseeing Galaxy Science Fiction, If, Magabook, and Worlds of Tomorrow. He assumed full editorship of Galaxy and If (later Worlds of If) from late 1961 to mid-1969, succeeding H.L. Gold, whose health had declined; under Pohl's direction, If achieved peak influence, securing Hugo Awards for Best Professional Magazine in 1966, 1967, and 1968. Pohl's tenure emphasized innovative short fiction, acquiring debut works from emerging talents like and , which broadened the magazines' appeal and helped transition science fiction toward more sophisticated social commentary during the New Wave era. Beyond direct editing, Pohl influenced industry standards through his role in the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), where he advocated for , and his later consulting work in the 1970s as editor for , commissioning anthologies that preserved key stories from the genre's . His multifaceted career bridged amateur —rooted in Futurian movement—with professional publishing, elevating from niche pulps to mainstream literature while mentoring generations of creators.

Personal Life

Marriages and Family

Frederik Pohl was married five times. His first marriage was to Doris Baumgardt (also known as Leslie Perri), a fellow Futurian, in 1940; the union ended in divorce in 1944, with no children. His second marriage, to Dorothy LesTina in August 1945, lasted until their divorce in 1947 and produced no children. Pohl's third marriage, to author in 1948, was described in his memoir The Way the Future Was (1978) as tempestuous; it ended in divorce in 1952 and resulted in one daughter, Ann (later Mrs. Walter Weary). Pohl married Carol M. Ulf Stanton on September 15, 1953; this marriage, which lasted until 1983, produced three children: daughters Karen (later Mrs. Robert Dixon) and Kathy, and sons Frederik Pohl III (deceased) and Frederik Pohl IV. His fifth and final marriage was to English and literary Elizabeth Anne Hull in 1984, a union that endured until his death in 2013 and yielded no additional children, though Hull brought stepdaughters Catherine Pizarro and Barbara Patterson from a prior marriage. At the time of his death, Pohl was survived by his wife, three of his four children, and several grandchildren.

Later Years and Health Challenges

In his later years, Frederik Pohl continued to engage with through writing, blogging, and public appearances despite advancing age. Residing in , a of , he maintained an active online presence via his blog The Way the Future Blogs, which earned him the for Best Fan Writer in 2010. This recognition highlighted his ongoing contributions to the genre, blending memoirs, commentary on science fiction history, and reflections on contemporary issues. By 2011, at age 91, Pohl relied on a for mobility within his home, indicating physical decline associated with advanced age. He collaborated on works such as the 2008 novel with , demonstrating sustained creative output into his late 80s. Pohl's health deteriorated in 2013, culminating in acute respiratory distress. On September 2, he was admitted to a near his home in , where he died that afternoon at age 93. His wife, Elizabeth Hull, confirmed the respiratory issues as the immediate cause. No prior chronic conditions beyond age-related mobility limitations were publicly detailed in accounts of his final years.

Death and Legacy

Circumstances of Death

Frederik Pohl died on September 2, 2013, at the age of 93, following admission to a hospital near his home in , a suburb of . He had experienced respiratory distress at home that morning, prompting the hospitalization, and passed away later that afternoon. His wife, Elizabeth Anne Hull, a professor, confirmed the details of his final hours, noting the sudden onset of breathing difficulties as the immediate precursor to his death. No or further medical specifics were publicly disclosed, consistent with reports attributing the event to natural causes in advanced age rather than any external factors. Pohl's passing was announced promptly by family and literary contacts, including his agent, Mitchell Waters, underscoring the absence of suspicious or unusual circumstances.

Enduring Influence on Science Fiction

Pohl's editorial stewardship of Galaxy Science Fiction and its sister publication If from the late 1950s through 1969 profoundly shaped the trajectory of the genre by prioritizing sophisticated, socially astute narratives over pulp conventions. Under his direction, If secured three consecutive Hugo Awards for Best Professional Magazine in 1966, 1967, and 1968, accolades that underscored his curation of stories blending rigorous speculation with incisive commentary on human behavior and technology. He actively mentored emerging talents, taking calculated risks such as promoting experimental works by authors like Samuel R. Delany, thereby expanding science fiction's literary boundaries and fostering a generation of writers who integrated psychological realism with futuristic extrapolation. As an author spanning nine decades from 1937 to 2011, Pohl's oeuvre endures through its prescient satires of unchecked and mechanized societies, as seen in (1952, co-authored with C.M. Kornbluth) and the short story "The Midas Plague" (1954), which inverted production-consumption dynamics to expose the absurdities of abundance-driven economies. These works prefigured ecological and behavioral critiques in later , warning of robotic conformity in human affairs while maintaining empirical grounding in technological plausibility, influences traceable in modern explorations of automated prosumption and resource scarcity. Pohl's short fiction collections, such as Alternating Currents (1956), reveal a versatility—from gritty time-loop advertising dystopias in "The Tunnel Under the World" to hyperspace navigation in "The Mapmakers"—that anticipated motifs in subsequent genre landmarks, including interstellar mapping akin to elements in Frank Herbert's Dune (1965). His insistence on as a tool for dissecting rational actor myths and societal pathologies, rather than mere gadgetry, positioned the genre as a mirror for causal incentives, ensuring his legacy as a foundational influencer whose methods continue to inform writers prioritizing predictive depth over escapism.

Posthumous Assessments and Criticisms

Following Pohl's death on September 2, 2013, at age 93, tributes from major outlets emphasized his pivotal role in elevating science fiction's satirical depth and editorial standards. The Guardian described him as "one of the greatest and most prolific of American science-fiction writers," crediting his hundreds of stories and novels for their incisive social commentary on consumerism and technology. Similarly, The Independent highlighted his "extraordinary longevity and accomplishment," noting the sharp precision of his satire across seven decades of output, from early collaborations like The Space Merchants (1952, with C. M. Kornbluth) to later works such as the Heechee series. The New York Times obituary portrayed Pohl as a "worldly-wise master" who dismantled utopian ideals, underscoring his agency work in bridging genre authors like Isaac Asimov to mainstream publishers. Subsequent analyses have reinforced Pohl's lasting influence, with 2024 reviews of collections like Alternating Currents (1956) arguing his prescient explorations of and societal adaptation remain underappreciated amid modern debates on AI and economics. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) in its 2013 memoriam focused on his narrative innovations in series like Gateway (1977), which secured Hugo, , and Locus awards, affirming his skill in blending hard science with psychological realism. Post-2013 examinations of Man Plus (1976) praise its Hugo and nominations as emblematic of Pohl's survival and cyborg-themed foresight, though noting its grounded, non-utopian tone as characteristic of his oeuvre. Criticisms of Pohl's body of work, while infrequent in posthumous discourse, center on variability stemming from his prodigious volume—over 70 novels and 200 stories—which reviewers attribute to uneven execution in lesser pieces. Some assessments flag his recurrent bleak portrayals of human futures, as in Midas World (1977), where unchecked yields dystopian excess, as overly cynical without redemptive arcs, potentially limiting broader appeal. In Black Star Rising (1985), a 2025 review critiques incomplete commitment to its feudal-futurist premise, rendering strong conceptual starts unresolved despite stylistic merits. Analyses of Gateway occasionally highlight Robinette Broadhead's abusive traits and unreliability as risking misinterpretation of Pohl's intent, though defended as deliberate realism over idealized heroism. These points, drawn from genre-focused retrospectives, contrast with predominant acclaim but reflect scrutiny of his preference for causal grit over optimistic speculation.

Bibliography

Key Novels

Gateway (1977), the opening novel of Pohl's , follows Robinette Broadhead, a prospector who uses ancient alien starships discovered on the Gateway to undertake high-risk expeditions into unknown , where survival odds are calculated via . The narrative interweaves psychological sessions with tales of exploration, highlighting themes of existential risk and human ambition. It secured the , , for Best Novel, and John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel. Man Plus (1976) depicts U.S. Roger Torraway's transformation into a adapted for Mars colonization, amid Cold War-era rivalries and ethical dilemmas over human-machine integration. The story examines the physical and mental toll of such modifications, drawing on emerging biomedical technologies. It won the in 1976. The Space Merchants (1952), co-written with C. M. Kornbluth under the "Kornbluth," portrays a dystopian ruled by cartels, where conservationists are marginalized and consumer goods dictate social status. Serialized initially in , the novel satirizes unchecked and , influencing subsequent critiques of corporate dominance in literature. Jem (1979) chronicles rival human coalitions—capitalist, communist, and food-cultist—competing for resources on the extrasolar planet Jem, whose ecology fosters symbiotic alliances and brutal survival dynamics. The work critiques ideological extremism and colonial exploitation, incorporating biological and economic realism. It received the for Hardcover in 1980.

Significant Short Story Collections

Pohl's short fiction, spanning themes of , technology's societal impacts, and speculative futures, appeared in over two dozen collections during his career. Among the most notable are retrospective volumes that curate his most acclaimed works, demonstrating his evolution from pulp-era contributions to sophisticated satirical pieces. These collections often feature Hugo and Award-nominated or winning stories, underscoring Pohl's influence on the genre's New Wave and intersections. The Best of Frederik Pohl (1975), edited by and published by , assembles 18 stories from 1955 to 1973, including the Hugo-winning "The Meeting" (co-authored with C. M. Kornbluth, 1972), the Nebula-nominated "Day Million" (1966), and classics like (1955) and "The Midas Plague" (1954). The volume emphasizes Pohl's satirical edge, with tales critiquing ("The Tunnel Under the World") and resource scarcity ("The Midas Plague"), reflecting his early editorial experience shaping mid-century science fiction markets. It sold steadily in , contributing to Pohl's reputation for accessible yet probing narratives. Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories (2005), published by Tor Books, compiles 32 stories across five decades, from 1940s juvenilia to late-career works, incorporating multiple Hugo winners such as "Fermi and Frost" (1987) and "The Gold at the Starbow's End" (1973). This career-spanning anthology highlights Pohl's versatility, blending hard science concepts like quantum mechanics in "The Gold at the Starbow's End" with social extrapolations in "The Day the Martians Came" (1967), and is praised for minimal filler, making it a definitive sampler of his output. Critics note its value in showcasing Pohl's prescient warnings on automation and inequality, drawn from periodicals like Galaxy where he edited. Earlier thematic collections like Alternating Currents (1956, ), with nine stories on technological alienation, and The Abominable Earthman (1963, ), focusing on extraterrestrial encounters, laid groundwork for Pohl's collection style but are overshadowed by the later retrospectives for breadth and awards recognition. These volumes collectively preserve Pohl's 200+ short stories, many originating under pseudonyms like Judd, and affirm his role in elevating short-form beyond .

Non-Fiction and Editorial Works

Pohl edited and its sister publication Worlds of If from late 1961 until mid-1969, assuming the role after H. L. Gold's health declined following a car accident. During this period, If achieved peak circulation and won the for Best Professional Magazine consecutively from 1966 to 1968, reflecting Pohl's emphasis on innovative stories and authors like , , and . He curated content that expanded the magazines' scope, incorporating New Wave influences while maintaining commercial viability, and oversaw annual circulations that grew steadily through the . Beyond periodicals, Pohl edited several anthology series, including the Star originals for in the 1960s, which pioneered theme-based collections of new stories. Key volumes under his editorial direction encompassed The Seventh Galaxy Reader (1964), The If Reader of Science Fiction (1966), and Winners Fourteen (1980), showcasing award-winning and exemplary genre works. These efforts solidified his influence in shaping mid-20th-century science fiction publishing, with anthologies often reprinting stories from his magazines to broaden readership. Pohl's non-fiction output included memoirs and essays drawing on his industry experience. His autobiography The Way the Future Was (1978) detailed his progression from fan to agent, editor, and , offering candid insights into the field's evolution from pulp eras to professionalization. He co-authored : Studies in Film (1981) with , analyzing adaptations and cinematic techniques in the genre through historical and technical lenses. In Chasing Science: Science as a Spectator Sport (2000), Pohl explored public engagement with scientific advancements, blending personal anecdotes with commentary on astronomy and physics discoveries. These works, grounded in his lifelong immersion in speculative and scientific discourse, emphasized empirical observation over ideological framing.

References

  1. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/grand-masters/frederik-pohl/
  2. https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides/p/pohl_f.htm
  3. https://www.sfwa.org/2013/09/03/memoriam-frederik-pohl/
  4. https://sciencefiction.loa.org/biographies/pohl.php
  5. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/pohl-frederik-1919
  6. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10383690/Frederik-Pohl.html
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/books/frederik-pohl-worldly-wise-master-of-science-fiction-dies-at-93.html
  8. https://www.enotes.com/topics/frederik-pohl
  9. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederik-Pohl
  10. https://www.blackgate.com/2013/09/03/frederik-pohl-november-26-1919-september-2-2013/
  11. https://reactormag.com/a-charming-history-of-science-fiction-and-fandom-frederik-pohls-lemgthe-way-the-future-waslemg/
  12. https://gizmodo.com/rip-frederik-pohl-the-man-who-transformed-science-fict-1241405614
  13. https://www.andrewliptak.com/blog/2013/05/09/the-futurians-and-the-1939-world-science-fiction-convention
  14. https://auxiliarymemory.com/2019/07/23/a-life-in-science-fiction/
  15. http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m06/kyle.htm
  16. https://fanac.org/worldcon/NYcon/w39-p00.html
  17. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/03/frederick-pohl-dies-science-fiction
  18. https://www.omphalosbookreviews.com/posts/2008-08-29-way-the-future-was-the-by-pohl-frederik/
  19. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/happy-birthday-jesus/
  20. https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/pohl_frederik
  21. https://tangentonline.com/interviews-columnsmenu-166/interviews-columnsmenu-166-interviews-columnsmenu-166/classic-frederik-pohl-interview/
  22. https://archives.lib.usf.edu/repositories/2/resources/529
  23. https://locusmag.com/2013/09/frederik-pohl-1919-2013-2/
  24. https://www.andyjohnson.xyz/home/sfs-greatest-partnership-three-novels-by-frederik-pohl-and-cyril-m-kornbluth-1952-1959
  25. https://sciencefiction.loa.org/biographies/pohl_other.php
  26. https://reactormag.com/consumerism-run-amok-the-space-merchants-by-frederik-pohl-and-cyril-m-kornbluth/
  27. https://www.blackgate.com/2019/03/16/golden-age-of-science-fiction-the-1973-hugo-award-for-best-short-story-the-meeting-by-frederik-pohl-and-c-m-kornbluth-and-euremas-dam-by-r-a-laffe/
  28. https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Frederik_Pohl
  29. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41604.Our_Best
  30. http://sfpotpourri.blogspot.com/2012/05/1963-reefs-of-space-pohl-frederik.html
  31. https://www.andyjohnson.xyz/home/moral-hazard-preferred-risk-1955-by-frederik-pohl-and-lester-del-rey-review
  32. https://library.umbc.edu/speccoll/scifi/frederik_pohl.html
  33. https://bookerhorror.com/frederik-pohl-and-c-m-kornbluth-the-space-merchants-1952/
  34. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2013/09/16/book-review-gladiator-at-law-frederik-pohl-and-c-m-kornbluth-1955/
  35. https://www.fantasticalandrewfox.com/2012/03/26/pohl-kornbluth-part-5-gladiator-at-law/
  36. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469540520944228
  37. https://www.lfs.org/blog/economics-in-science-fiction-the-specter-of-overproduction-from-pohl-and-huxley-to-heinlein/
  38. https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/frederik-pohl-1919-2013/
  39. https://www.sffworld.com/2016/03/man-plus-by-frederik-pohl/
  40. http://www.markrkelly.com/Blog/2020/06/23/frederik-pohl-gateway-1977/
  41. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/heechee-series-frederik-pohl
  42. https://sciencefiction.loa.org/biographies/pohl_failure.php
  43. https://www.enotes.com/topics/frederik-pohl/criticism/pohl-frederik-79343/harold-l-berger-essay-date-1976
  44. https://christopherwillardauthor.medium.com/superluminal-speed-at-an-incremental-pace-a-review-of-gateway-by-frederik-pohl-75f35e65be45
  45. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/10/books/science-fiction.html
  46. https://strangerthansf.com/reviews/pohlwilliamson-underseacity.html
  47. https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/all-the-lives-he-led/
  48. https://www.vice.com/en/article/frederick-pohl-424-v15n12/
  49. https://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2013/09/passings-frederik-pohl-bruce-murray-and.html
  50. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/jsr/article/10/1/63/176830/A-Paradoxical-Discrepant-and-Mutant-Marxism
  51. https://thesinisterscience.com/2021/01/11/frederik-pohls-mass-consumer-1-the-midas-plague/
  52. https://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/science_fiction/profiles/pohl.html
  53. https://marzaat.com/2023/11/19/the-years-of-the-city/
  54. https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1978-hugo-awards/
  55. https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1967-hugo-awards/
  56. https://www.nationalbook.org/books/jem/
  57. https://www.philsp.com/mags/if.html
  58. https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/g5h9v/ask_science_fiction_author_grand_master_frederik/
  59. https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/the-probabilities-archive-frederik-pohl-1918-2013-acclaimed-science-fiction-fantasy-novelist-and-editor/
  60. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/frederik-pohl-science-fiction-author-famed-for-the-sharp-and-precise-satire-of-his-writing-8798809.html
  61. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/03/frederik-pohl
  62. https://reactormag.com/frederik-pohl-death/
  63. https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/the-lives-hes-leading/
  64. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/aug/03/clarkes-last/
  65. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-frederik-pohl-20130904-story.html
  66. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23955298
  67. https://www.cleveland.com/books/2013/09/frederik_pohl_famed_science-fi.html
  68. https://incompletefutures.com/2024/01/29/alternating-currents-shows-why-pohl-is-still-relevant/
  69. https://theastoundinganalogcompanion.com/2023/05/10/science-fiction-and-the-myth-of-the-rational-actor/
  70. https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/frederik-pohl-science-fiction-author-famed-for-the-sharp-and-precise-satire-of-his-writing-8798809.html
  71. https://atboundarysedge.com/2023/11/28/book-review-man-plus-by-frederik-pohl/
  72. http://mporcius.blogspot.com/2018/12/four-1950s-stories-by-frederick-pohl.html
  73. https://incompletefutures.com/2025/06/16/black-star-rising-fails-to-peak/
  74. https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1gijamd/looking_forward_to_read_something_from_frederick/
  75. https://www.sfadb.com/Frederik_Pohl
  76. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominees/frederik-pohl/
  77. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/man-plus/
  78. https://www.blackgate.com/2019/04/12/the-golden-age-of-science-fiction-jem-by-frederik-pohl/
  79. https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Pohl-Collected-Stories-Associates/dp/0312875274
  80. https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?309764
  81. https://www.baen.com/the-best-of-frederik-pohl.html
  82. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/364220.The_Best_of_Frederik_Pohl
  83. https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Pohl-Collected-Best-Stories/dp/0765301458
  84. https://fantasyliterature.com/reviews/platinum-pohl/
  85. https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?820
  86. http://www.philsp.com/mags/if.html
  87. https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?820+None
  88. http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/pohl_frederik.html
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.