A child prodigy, Kornbluth graduated from high school in New York at the early age of 13. He joined the Futurians, a science fiction group, and met and befriended such SF greats as Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl and Donald A. Wollheim. He published prolifically during the years 1940-42 in magazines edited by fellow Futurians. His first story, Stepsons of Mars, was written as a collaboration with Richard Wilson and appeared in Astonishing Stories in 1940, although he had previously published The Rocket of 1955 in Escape magazine the previous year. He entered the University of Chicago, but his education was interrupted by the Second World War. He won the Bronze Star during the Battle of the Bulge and returned after the war to complete his education in Chicago. He then worked in journalism until 1947 when he began to produce SF again. Kornbluth became one of the best short story writers of the science fiction genre, producing such works as The Little Black Bag (1950), The Marching Morons (1951) and Shark Ship (1958). Kornbluth collaborated on many stories and novels with authors such as Pohl and Robert A. W. Lowndes. He suffered a heart attack and died while running to catch a train. Much of his unfinished work was completed by Pohl. His other works include Takeoff (1952), The Syndic (1953), The Mindworm and Other Stories (1955), The Cosmic Charge Account (1956) and Two Dooms (1958). |
