Nationality American Name Martin Greenberg | Education University of Miami | |
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Born Martin Harry Greenberg
March 1, 1941
South Miami Beach, Florida, USA ( 1941-03-01 ) Occupation University professor, editor, writer Period 1974–2011 (as anthologist) Genre Speculative fiction anthologies Subject Urban and regional science; Middle East affairs, terrorism Died June 25, 2011, Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States Awards Prometheus Special Award Nominations Hugo Award for Best Related Work Books The Further Adventures of The Jo, After the King, Burket's Oral Medicine, Murder in Baker Street, Ruthlesscom Similar People Isaac Asimov, Edward Gorman, Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl | ||
Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. As well, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel. Greenberg was also a terrorism and Middle East expert. He was a long time friend, colleague and business partner of Isaac Asimov.
Biography
Greenberg was born to Max and Mae Greenberg in South Miami Beach, Florida. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami, a doctorate in political science from the University of Connecticut in 1969, and taught at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay from 1975 until 1996. Early in his career he was sometimes confused with Martin Greenberg, publisher of Gnome Press; they were not related. Isaac Asimov suggested that he call himself "Martin H. Greenberg" or "Martin Harry Greenberg" to distinguish him from the other Martin Greenberg "if he expected to deal fruitfully with the science-fiction world".
Greenberg's first anthology (and first speculative fiction publication) was Political Science Fiction: An introductory reader (Prentice-Hall, 1974), edited with Patricia S. Warrick and intended for use as a teaching guide. Warrick was a colleague at one of the UW two-year colleges, University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley, who recruited Greenberg to give one lecture on the future of politics. He learned that her course used one science fiction text; she learned of his interest and made a "career-changing comment". Ten educational anthologies under the series name Through Science Fiction followed through 1978, mainly from Rand McNally. In the late 1970s Greenberg began partnering with Joseph D. Olander on more conventional science fiction anthologies. They also created the critical series Writers of the 21st Century (Taplinger, 1977 to 1983) produced six of its seven volumes, each titled for its featured author.
Greenberg typically teamed up with another editor, splitting the duties of story selection, editing, copyright searches, and handling royalties to authors. Major partners include Isaac Asimov (127 anthologies), Charles G. Waugh (193 anthologies), Jane Yolen, and Robert Silverberg. He and Mark Tier shared two Prometheus Special Awards in 2005 for jointly creating the anthologies Give Me Liberty and Visions of Liberty (Baen Books, 2004). He also shared one Bram Stoker Award from the horror writers for the 1998 anthology Horrors! 365 Scary Stories.
The Horror Writers Association gave Greenberg its highest honor in 2003, the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement recognizing superior work that "substantially influenced the horror genre". He also received the Ellery Queen Award, which honors "outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry", from the Mystery Writers of America in 1995 and one of three inaugural Solstice Awards in 2009, from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for his lifetime contributions to their field.
Greenberg died in Green Bay, Wisconsin on June 25, 2011 from complications of cancer. He was survived by two stepdaughters from his first wife, by his second wife, and by their daughter. He is buried at the Cnesses Israel Hebrew Cemetery in Green Bay.