Editing Theodore Sturgeon (section)

==Biography==
===Youth and education===
Sturgeon was born Edward Hamilton Waldo in [[Staten Island, New York]], in 1918. His name was legally changed to Theodore Sturgeon at age eleven after his mother's divorce and subsequent marriage to William Dicky ("Argyll") Sturgeon.<ref>Williams, Paul (1976). [http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/sturgeon/williams.html "Theodore Sturgeon, Storyteller"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030913021248/http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/sturgeon/williams.html |date=2003-09-13 }}. First published 1997, online. Retrieved 2013-03-26.<br /> Quote: "Sturgeon because that was the stepfather's name—he was a professor of modern languages at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia—and Theodore because Edward was the boy's father's name and the mother was still bitter and anyway young Edward had always been known as Teddy."<br /> Quote: "To this day, libraries all over the world list 'Theodore Sturgeon' as a pseudonym for 'E. H. Waldo', which is incorrect."</ref>
Theodore's birth father, Edward Waldo, was a color and dye manufacturer of middling success.  With his second wife, Anne, he had one daughter, Joan. Theodore's mother, Christine Hamilton Dicker (Waldo) Sturgeon, was a well-educated writer, watercolorist, and poet who published journalism, poetry, and fiction under the name Felix Sturgeon. His stepfather, William Dickie Sturgeon (sometimes known as Argyll), was a mathematics teacher at a prep school and then Romance Languages Professor at Drexel Institute (later [[Drexel Institute of Technology]]) in Philadelphia. Sturgeon's account of his stepfather is included in a posthumous memoir.<ref name="Argyll">Sturgeon, Theodore (1993). ''Argyll; A Memoir'', Entwhistle Books. {{ISBN|978-0934558167}}</ref> Sturgeon's sibling, [[Peter A. Sturgeon|Peter Sturgeon]], wrote technical material for the pharmaceutical industry and the [[World Health Organization|WHO]], and founded the American branch of [[Mensa International|Mensa]].

Upon graduating from high school in 1935, Sturgeon pleaded to be allowed to attend college, but his step-father refused to support him, citing his frivolity.{{sfnp|Moskowitz|1974|p=234}}

===Great Depression and the war years===
The young Sturgeon held a wide variety of jobs. As an adolescent, he wanted to be a circus [[acrobatics|acrobat]]; an episode of [[rheumatic fever]] prevented him from pursuing this. From 1935 (aged 17) to 1938, he was a sailor in the [[merchant marine]], and elements of that experience found their way into several stories. He sold [[refrigerator]]s door to door. He managed a hotel in [[Jamaica]] around 1940–1941, worked in several construction and infrastructure jobs (driving a bulldozer in [[Puerto Rico]], operating a [[filling station]] and truck lubrication center, work at a [[drydock]]) for the US Army in the early war years, and by 1944 was an advertising copywriter. In addition to freelance fiction and television writing, in New York City he opened his own literary agency<ref name="Agency">{{Cite book |title=Bright Segment |last=Sturgeon |first=Theodore |publisher=North Atlantic Books |year=2002 |isbn=1556433980 |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Paul |pages=xiii |chapter=Foreword by William Tenn}}</ref> (which was eventually transferred to [[Scott Meredith]]), worked for ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine and other Time Inc. properties on circulation, and edited various publications. 

Sturgeon initially had a somewhat irregular output, frequently suffering from [[writer's block]]. He sold his first story, "Heavy Insurance", in 1938 to the [[McClure Syndicate]], which bought much of his early work. It appeared in the ''Milwaukee Journal'' on July 16th. At first he wrote mainly short stories, primarily for genre magazines such as ''[[Astounding]]'' and ''[[Unknown magazine|Unknown]]'', but also for general-interest publications such as ''[[Argosy Magazine]]''. He used the [[pen name]] "E. Waldo Hunter" when two of his stories ran in the same issue of ''Astounding''. A few of his early stories were signed "Theodore H. Sturgeon".

===1950s: The boom years===
Although the bulk of Sturgeon's short story work dated from the 1940s and '50s, his original novels were all published between 1950 and 1961. Disliking arguments with [[John W. Campbell]] over editorial decisions, Sturgeon only published one story in ''Astounding'' after 1950.<ref name="latham2009">{{Cite book |title=The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction |last=Latham |first=Rob |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=9781135228361 |editor-last=Bould |editor-first=Mark |pages=80–89 |chapter=Fiction, 1950-1963 |editor-last2=Butler |editor-first2=Andrew M. |editor-last3=Roberts |editor-first3=Adam |editor-last4=Vint |editor-first4=Sherryl |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7CNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |access-date=2020-10-20 |archive-date=2024-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105045255/https://books.google.com/books?id=y7CNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> He did, however, take very seriously Campbell's enthusiasms for [[psionics]] and for [[L. Ron Hubbard]]'s [[Dianetics]] (even before it became the [[Church of Scientology]] in 1953). Sturgeon was [[Auditing (Scientology)|"audited"]] by Campbell himself, and according to [[Alec Nevala-Lee]], he became more devoted to it than any other science fiction writer other than [[A.E. van Vogt]].<ref>[[Alec Nevala-Lee|Nevala-Lee, Alec]] (2018), ''Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction'', New York: Dey Street Books/HarperCollins, p. 280. "Apart from van Vogt, the writer who took dianetics the most seriously was Sturgeon..."</ref> He became a trained auditor and defended the Church for decades.

Sturgeon published the "first stories in science fiction which dealt with homosexuality, '[[The World Well Lost]]' [June 1953] and 'Affair with a Green Monkey' [May 1957]",<ref>Duncan, David D. (1979). [http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/weeks//misc/duncan.html "The Push from Within: The Extrapolative Ability of Theodore Sturgeon"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019010650/http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/weeks//misc/duncan.html |date=10-19-19}}. First published 1979, print. Retrieved 2020-03-20.<br /> Quote: "first stories in science fiction which dealt with homosexuality, 'The World Well Lost' and 'Affair With a Green Monkey{{'"}}</ref> and sometimes put gay [[subtext]] in his work, such as the back-rub scene in "[[Shore Leave (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Shore Leave]]",<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hageman|first1=Andrew|title=A generic correspondence: Sturgeon–Roddenberry letters on sf, sex, sales and ''Star Trek''|journal=Science Fiction Film & Television|date=2016|volume=9|issue=3|pages=473–478|doi=10.3828/sfftv.2016.9.15|s2cid=193714832 |doi-access=}}</ref> or in his Western story, "Scars".<ref name="UW pg. 203">{{cite book|first1=Eric|last1=Garber|first2=Lyn|last2=Paleo|title=Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror|edition=2nd|page=[https://archive.org/details/uranianworldsgui0000garb/page/203/mode/2up?q=Scars 203]|url=https://archive.org/details/uranianworldsgui0000garb|url-access=registration|location=Boston|publisher=G K HallA|year=1990|isbn=0-8161-1832-9<!-- printed without leading 0-->}}</ref> 

[[Carl Sagan]] later described "To Here and the Easel" (1954) as "a stunning portrait of personality disassociation as perceived from the inside", and further said that many of Sturgeon's works were among the "rare few science‐fiction novels [that] combine a standard science‐fiction theme with a deep human sensitivity".<ref name="sagan19780528">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/28/archives/growing-up-with.html |title=Growing up with Science Fiction |last=Sagan |first=Carl |date=1978-05-28 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-12-12 |page=SM7 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2018-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211180058/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/28/archives/growing-up-with.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to science fiction writer [[Samuel R. Delany]], a friend of Sturgeon's,<ref name="Noël">{{cite interview |last=Sturgeon|first=Noël |title=Interview with Noël Sturgeon |url=https://middletownpubliclib.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Discussion-about-Theodore-Sturgeon.pdf |date=November 2019}}</ref> Sturgeon was bisexual.<ref name="Delany">{{cite interview |last=Delany |first=Samuel |subject-link=Samuel R. Delany |interviewer=Alex Wermer-Colan |title=Stonewall, Before and After |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/stonewall-before-and-after-an-interview-with-samuel-r-delany/ |magazine=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=July 6, 2019}}</ref>

Though not as well known to the general public as contemporaries like [[Isaac Asimov]] or [[Ray Bradbury]], Sturgeon became well known among readers of mid-20th-century science fiction anthologies. At the height of his popularity in the 1950s he was the most anthologized English-language author alive.<ref name="Engel_1994">
{{cite book
  | last = Engel
  | first = Joel
  | title = Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek
  | publisher = Hyperion
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/generoddenberrym00enge/page/92 92]
  | isbn = 0786860049
  | date = June 1, 1994
  | quote = Theodore Sturgeon, the most anthologized writer in the English language but one who'd never written for television before ''Star Trek'', received several long letters and memos from Roddenberry.
  | url = https://archive.org/details/generoddenberrym00enge/page/92
  }}</ref><ref name="Meehan_1998">
{{cite book
  | last = Meehan
  | first = Paul
  | title = Saucer Movies: A UFOlogical History of the Cinema
  | publisher = Scarecrow Press
  | page = 166
  | isbn = 0810835738
  | date = November 1, 1998
  | quote = Veteran science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, reportedly the most anthologized science fiction writer of all time, wrote the teleplay adaptation of his own short story for the ABC-TV movie ''Killdozer'' (1974).
}}</ref> 

Three Sturgeon stories were adapted for the 1950s NBC radio anthology ''[[X Minus One]]'': "[[A Saucer of Loneliness]]" (broadcast twice), "The Stars Are the Styx" and "Mr. Costello, Hero". 

Sturgeon was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the [[Trap Door Spiders]], which served as the basis of [[Isaac Asimov]]'s fictional group of mystery solvers the [[Black Widowers]].  In 1959, Sturgeon moved to [[Truro, Massachusetts]] where he met and became friendly with a then unknown [[Kurt Vonnegut, Jr]]. (Sturgeon was the inspiration for the recurrent character of [[Kilgore Trout]] in Vonnegut's novels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flf.com/mnight/aol_qa.htm |title=Interview with Vonnegut |access-date=2013-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980115150204/http://www.flf.com/mnight/aol_qa.htm |archive-date=January 15, 1998 }} "I think it's funny when someone is named after a fish"</ref>)

In 1959, he began to write book reviews for [[National Review]], and continued until 1973.

===1960s and '70s: Ellery Queen and TV scripts===
Sturgeon [[ghost-writer|ghost-wrote]] one [[Ellery Queen]] [[Mystery (fiction)|mystery]] novel, ''The Player on the Other Side'' (Random House, 1963).  This novel was praised by critic [[H. R. F. Keating]]: "[I] had almost finished writing ''Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books'', in which I had included ''The Player on the Other Side''&nbsp;... placing the book squarely in the Queen canon"<ref name="KEAT">Keating, H. R. F. (1989). ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press.</ref> when he learned that it had been written by Sturgeon. Similarly, William DeAndrea, author and winner of [[Mystery Writers of America]] awards, selecting his ten favorite mystery novels for the magazine ''Armchair Detective'', picked ''The Player on the Other Side'' as one of them.  He said: "This book changed my life&nbsp;... and made a raving mystery fan (and therefore ultimately a mystery writer) out of me.&nbsp;... The book must be 'one of the most skillful pastiches in the history of literature. An amazing piece of work, whomever did it'."<ref name="KEAT" />

Sturgeon wrote the screenplays for the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episodes "[[Shore Leave (Star Trek)|Shore Leave]]" (1966) and "[[Amok Time]]" (1967, adapted as a [[Bantam Books]] "Star Trek Fotonovel" in 1978).<ref name=isfdb/> The latter featured the first appearance of [[pon farr]], the [[Vulcan (Star Trek)|Vulcan]] mating ritual, the sentence "Live long and prosper"{{sfnp|Nimoy|1995|p=67}} and the [[Vulcan salute|Vulcan hand symbol]]. Sturgeon also wrote several more ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' scripts that were never produced. One of these first introduced the [[Prime Directive]]. 

Sturgeon also wrote an episode of the Saturday morning show ''[[Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'', "[[The Pylon Express]]", in 1975. His 1944 novella ''[[Killdozer! (story)|Killdozer!]]'' was the inspiration for the 1974 [[Killdozer (film)|made-for-TV movie]], [[Marvel comic]] book, and [[Killdozer (band)|alternative rock band]] of the same name, as well as becoming the colloquial name for [[Marvin Heemeyer]]'s 2004 bulldozer rage incident.

===Later years===
Though Sturgeon continued to write through 1983, his work rate dipped noticeably in the later years of his life; a 1971 story collection entitled ''Sturgeon Is Alive and Well...'' addressed Sturgeon's seeming withdrawal from the public eye in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Two of his stories were adapted for the 1980s revival of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. One, "[[A Saucer of Loneliness]]", was broadcast in 1986 and was dedicated to his memory. Another short story, "Yesterday Was Monday", was the inspiration for ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "[[A Matter of Minutes]]". 

Sturgeon played guitar and wrote music which he sometimes performed at [[science fiction convention]]s. He lived for several years in [[Springfield, Oregon]].<ref name=Portal>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LPFVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2474,2425068&dq |title= Famed author, award-winner, dies in Eugene |last= Portal |first= Ann |date= May 10, 1985 |work= [[The Register-Guard]] |location= Eugene, Oregon |access-date= 2011-06-20 |archive-date= 2021-03-04 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210304063357/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LPFVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2474,2425068&dq |url-status= live }}</ref> He died on May 8, 1985, of [[lung fibrosis]], at [[Sacred Heart Medical Center University District|Sacred Heart General Hospital]] in the neighboring city of [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]].<ref name=Portal/> He had been a lifelong [[smoking pipe (tobacco)|pipe]] smoker and his death from lung fibrosis may have been caused by exposure to [[asbestos]] during his Merchant Marine years.

[[John Clute]] wrote in ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'': "His influence upon writers like [[Harlan Ellison]] and [[Samuel R. Delany]] was seminal, and in his life and work he was a powerful and generally liberating influence in post-WWII US sf". He won comparatively few genre awards; one was the [[World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement]] from the 1985 World Fantasy Convention.<ref name=SFAwards/>