Damon Knight, an award-winning science fiction author, editor and literary critic who pioneered the serious analysis of science fiction works, has died. He was 79.
Knight, whose short story "To Serve Man" was turned into a memorable episode of the TV series "The Twilight Zone," died Monday of age-related causes in a hospital in Eugene, Ore., according to family members.
FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Saturday April 20, 2002 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 A2 Desk 1 inches; 18 words Type of Material: Correction
Sci-fi writer--In a Thursday obituary of science fiction author Damon Knight, the name of writer Lucius Shepard was misspelled.
"He was a fine writer and much appreciated and won several awards," said Patrick Nielsen Hayden, who edited Knight's last two novels at Tor Books.
"But he was best known as a provocateur, an organizer, a critic and a teacher."
Hayden said Knight "was the first person to take the serious trouble of reviewing contemporary science fiction and hold it up to the standards of intelligent mainstream fiction in various magazines in the late '40s and early '50s."
The bulk of Knight's most important reviews were collected in a 1956 book, "In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction," which is still in print and is considered one of the important works of science fiction criticism.
The same year the book came out, Knight won a Hugo Award at the World Science Fiction Convention for best-science fiction criticism.
Knight also was known as a tireless organizer on behalf of fellow writers. In 1965, he founded Science Fiction Writers of America, the professional advocacy group for science fiction and fantasy writers, which sponsors the Nebula Awards.
In the mid 1950s, Knight, along with James Blish and Judith Merril, co-founded the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference in Pennsylvania.
That led to the highly regarded Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, now held at Michigan State University.
For 27 years, Knight and his second wife, writer Kate Wilhelm, taught at the workshop, whose graduates include Kim Stanley Robinson, Luscious Shepard and Vonda McIntyre.
"He taught thousands of people, either through Clarion or his book, 'Creating Short Fiction,' which is a great primer for any fiction writer; it tells you everything," said Leslie What of Eugene, a Nebula Award-winning author who first met Knight at the workshop in 1976 and became a friend.
In recent years, she said, Knight taught writing workshops over the Internet. He and his wife also conducted a monthly workshop in their home in Eugene.
"He was a tough critic as far as being a teacher and had very high expectations," What said.
