Mary Gnaedinger

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Mary Gnaedinger
BornSeptember 28, 1897
USA
DiedJuly 31, 1976(1976-07-31) (aged 78)
The Bronx,[1] New York
New York, USA
OccupationEditor
GenresFantasy and science fiction

Mary Catherine Gnaedinger (September 28, 1897 – July 31, 1976)[2][3] was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy pulp magazines.

Education and Career[]

Born in Brooklyn, New York as Mary Catherine Jacobson, she attended the Columbia University School of Journalism.[4] After stints as a society reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper and work for publishing company E. P. Dutton, she spent several decades of her career working in science fiction.[5]

Editorial Work in Science Fiction[]

In her career as an editor, Mary Gnaedinger became the editor of the science fiction and fantasy magazines Famous Fantastic Mysteries in 1939 and Fantastic Novels in 1940,[3] as well as A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine.[6][1] She is known as the first female lead editor of a science fiction publication.[5]

Gnaedinger was known for ardently interacting with her readers, basing the stories she printed in the magazines she edited on their requests, and commonly praising their knowledge of science fiction.[4] In his obituary of Gnaedinger published in 1977, fantasy and science fiction author Lin Carter wrote:

I ... am going to miss Mary Gnaedinger, who died at her home in the Bronx at the age of 78 ... For nearly thirty years she edited Famous Fantastic Mysteries and ... Fantastic Novels and A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, and did yeoman service by tirelessly getting back into print many of the best of fantastic fiction. I owe her a personal debt, for it was in the pages of her magazines that I first read the great romances of H. Rider Haggard and A. Merritt, and such unusual works as Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, Hodgson's The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig', Cutcliffe Hyne's The Lost Continent... She did good work for the cause of fantasy, and many readers beside myself are indebted to her.[1]

Copies of Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels, including issues edited by Mary Gnaedinger, can be found in the City Tech Science Fiction Collection.[7]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Carter, Lin (1977). Lin Carter Presents The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3. DAW Books. p. 10. ISBN 0-87997-338-2. I ... am going to miss Mary Gnaedinger, who died at her home in the Bronx at the age of 78 ... For nearly thirty years she edited Famous Fantastic Mysteries and ... Fantastic Novels and A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, and did yeoman service by tirelessly getting back into print many of the best of fantastic fiction. I owe her a personal debt, for it was in the pages of her magazines that I first read the great romances of H. Rider Haggard and A. Merritt, and such unusual works as Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, Hodgson's The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig', Cutcliffe Hyne's The Lost Continent... She did good work for the cause of fantasy, and many readers beside myself are indebted to her.
  2. ^ "Authors : Gnaedinger, Mary : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Mary Gnaedinger, Editor Of Fantasy Magazines, 78". The New York Times. 1976-08-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  4. ^ a b Yaszek, Lisa; Sharp, Patrick B. (2016-06-07). Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819576255.
  5. ^ a b "Sisters of Tomorrow Preview". sites.gatech.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  6. ^ "Mary Gnaedinger – Fancyclopedia 3". fancyclopedia.org. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  7. ^ "SF Collection | Science Fiction at City Tech". Retrieved 2021-12-06.


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