In December 1913, the world gained one of the kings in science fiction storytelling: Alfred Bester. His stories were packed with thrilling suspense, insane action, and took readers beyond the page to a different time and another world.
Born and raised in Manhattan, Bester graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and briefly attended Columbia Law School before deciding to drop out. Around this time, Bester met and married actress Rolly Goulko who originated the role of Lois Lane on the radio program The Adventures of Superman. The pair remained married for 48 years until her death in 1984. At 25, Bester officially embarked on a writing career, penning the short story “The Broken Axiom.” This story was published in Thrilling Wonder Stories after winning an amateur story competition. Following the competition, Bester was also introduced to literary giants Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, Otto Binder, Malcolm Jameson, and Manly Wade Wellman.
More of Bester’s stories were published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, as well as Startling Stories and Astounding Science Fiction. He briefly left the field of short stories, to work of DC Comics on such titles as Superman, Green Lantern (creating Solomon Grundy), The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. Over the next few years, Bester turned his attention to radio scripts, writing stories for Nick Carter, Master Detective, The Shadow, Charlie Chan, The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, and CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Having already established himself as a renowned writer of science fiction with his earlier short stories, Bester gained new prominence with his 1953 title The Demolished Man.
The Demolished Man is a police procedural set in the harshly capitalistic 24th century, where telepathy is commonplace and anyone with enough skill can have access to your innermost secrets, fears, and memories. This title challenged society, questioned morals and was the obvious choice for the inaugural Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction novel. In the same year, Bester released Who He? concerning a variety show writer who awakens from a drunken stupor to discover someone is out to ruin his life. He followed this with The Stars My Destination, which outlines the preambles of personal teleportation.
Throughout his later career, Bester served as the senior editor of Holiday, introducing science fiction elements into the non-fiction magazine. When the magazine ceased publication in 1971, Bester returned to writing and published the novels The Computer Connection, Golem, The Deceivers, as well as numerous short story collections. Following his death in 1987, Bester’s novels Tender Loving Rage and Psychoshop were published posthumously.
Along with being named the 9th Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master, Bester was also inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. To this day, Bester’s work continues to gain acclaim and influence the next generation of writers with many considering him to be the “godfather of science fiction.”
