Ben Bova
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Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932Template:Spaced en dashNovember 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120<ref name="Ben">Template:Cite web</ref> works of science fact and fiction, an editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, for which he won a Hugo Award six times, and an editorial director of Omni; he was also president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Personal life and education
[edit]Ben Bova was born on November 8, 1932, in Philadelphia. He graduated from South Philadelphia High School in 1949. In 1953, while attending Temple University in Philadelphia, he married Rosa Cucinotta; they had a son and a daughter. The couple divorced in 1974. That year he married Barbara Berson Rose.<ref name="St. James">Template:Cite book</ref> Barbara Bova died on September 23, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bova dedicated his 2011 novel Power Play to Barbara. In March 2013, he announced on his website that he had remarried, to Rashida Loya.<ref name="Ben"/>
Bova was an atheist and was critical of what he saw as the unquestioning nature of religion.<ref name="FFRF">Template:Cite web</ref> He wrote an op-ed piece in 2012, in which he argued that atheists can be just as moral as religious believers.<ref name="atheists">Template:Cite web</ref>
He went back to school in the 1980s, earning a Master of Arts degree in communications in 1987 from the State University of New York at Albany and a Doctor of Education degree from California Coast University in 1996.<ref name="Ben" />
Bova died from COVID-19 related pneumonia and a stroke on November 29, 2020, at the age of 88.<ref name=SWFAmemoriam>In Memoriam: Ben Bova, at Science Fiction Writers of America; published November 30, 2020; retrieved November 30, 2020</ref>
Career
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Bova worked as a technical writer for Project Vanguard in the 1950s and later for the Avco Everett Research Laboratory<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1972, Bova became editor of Analog Science Fact & Fiction, after John W. Campbell's death in 1971. At Analog, Bova won six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor.<ref name="ws791020"/>
Bova served as the science advisor for the television series The Starlost (1973),<ref name="ws791020"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> resigning as he lacked the "contractual right to remove his name from the credits."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His novel The Starcrossed, loosely based on his experiences, featured a characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison as "Ron Gabriel".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1974, he co-wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science-fiction television series Land of the Lost, titled "The Search".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After leaving Analog in 1978, Bova went on to edit Omni, from 1978 to 1982.<ref name="ws791020" />
Bova held the position of President Emeritus of the National Space Society and served as President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2000, he attended the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000) as the Author Guest of Honor.<ref name="csun000827">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, Stuber/Parent Productions hired him as a consultant to provide insight into what the world may look like in the near future, for their film Repo Men (2010) starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. Also in 2007 he provided consulting services to Silver Pictures on the film adaptation of Richard K. Morgan's hardboiled cyberpunk science-fiction novel Altered Carbon (2002). He was awarded the Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2008 for his work in science fiction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Published works
[edit]Template:MainTemplate:As of, Bova had written over 124 books in various genres.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He edited several works, including The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (1973)<ref>The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two, (1973), Volume two A Template:OCLC and Volume two B Template:OCLC</ref> and Nebula Awards Showcase 2008.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He wrote the Grand Tour novel series about exploration and colonization of the Solar System by humans. Reviewing a collection of 12 of the series published in 2004, Gerald Jonas in The New York Times described Bova as "the last of the great pulp writers".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Pages with broken file links
- 1932 births
- 2020 deaths
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 20th-century American essayists
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American essayists
- American atheists
- American male essayists
- American male non-fiction writers
- American male novelists
- American male short story writers
- American writers of Italian descent
- American science fiction writers
- Analog Science Fiction and Fact people
- American anthologists
- California Coast University alumni
- American critics of religions
- Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
- Deaths from pneumonia in Florida
- Hugo Award–winning editors
- Inkpot Award winners
- The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people
- Novelists from Connecticut
- Novelists from Pennsylvania
- People from West Hartford, Connecticut
- American science fiction critics
- American science fiction editors
- Technical writers
- Temple University alumni
- Writers about religion and science
- Writers from Philadelphia
- Writers of books about writing fiction
- Presidents of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association