Mary Gnaedinger Explained

Mary Gnaedinger
Birth Date:September 28, 1897
Birth Place:USA
Death Place:The Bronx, New York
New York, USA
Occupation:Editor
Genres:Fantasy and science fiction

Mary Catherine Gnaedinger (September 28, 1897 – July 31, 1976)[1] [2] 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. 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.[3]

Personal life

Mary Jacobson married Louis Beverley Nichol Gnaedinger (1898-1977), a Canadian from Montreal, on September 22, 1919. They probably met at the Columbia University School of Journalism, since both attended at the same time. They had one child, Arthur Beverly Gnaedinger (b. April 13, 1920). Louis B. Gnaedinger was a business reporter for the New York Times and other papers. The couple divorced, date unknown.

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, as well as A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine.[4] [5] She is known as the first female lead editor of a science fiction publication.

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.[6] In his obituary of Gnaedinger published in 1977, fantasy and science fiction author Lin Carter wrote:

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]

Career Timeline[8]

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Authors : Gnaedinger, Mary : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia. sf-encyclopedia.com. July 6, 2015.
  2. News: Mary Gnaedinger, Editor Of Fantasy Magazines, 78. 1976-08-03. The New York Times. 2018-04-23. en-US. 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Sisters of Tomorrow Preview. 2021-12-06. sites.gatech.edu.
  4. Web site: Mary Gnaedinger – Fancyclopedia 3. fancyclopedia.org. July 6, 2015.
  5. Book: Carter, Lin. Lin Carter Presents The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3. DAW Books. 1977. 0-87997-338-2. 10. 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..
  6. Book: Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction. Yaszek. Lisa. Sharp. Patrick B.. 2016-06-07. Wesleyan University Press. 9780819576255. en.
  7. Web site: SF Collection Science Fiction at City Tech. 2021-12-06. en-US.
  8. Data taken from the Literary Market Tips column in Author & Journlalist, the New York Market Letter column in Writer's Digest, and other sources.
  9. "University Nights," Brooklyn Times-Union, March 7, 1936.

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