In reading Remembrance, Jonathan Eller’s collection of Ray Bradbury’s letters, I mentioned earlier how I enjoyed the back and forth repartee between Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon, another contemporary science fiction author of his day.
He’s often cited by bibliophiles for Sturgeon’s Law, which states that 90% of everything is crud. The comments were in reference to science fiction, addressing the genre’s critics. But he meant that crud existed in all other genres as well.
Sources of additional income in the post WWII era included anthology collections of popular short stories. Many magazines allowed their contributors reprinting rights. Sturgeon became the most anthologized living American writer during the 1950s thanks to a slew of his popular short stories published over the previous decades.
Sturgeon, like Bradbury, sought work in Hollywood and found it. This seemed a natural progression for writers, starting at third-tier pulps then gradually ascending to top publications with books picked up by the New York publishing houses.
His stories were adapted for radio, and later television. But it is in the original Star Trek series that Sturgeon had the most influence on popular culture. Of the several scripts he wrote for Star Trek, only two were produced: Shore Leave and Amok Time. In the latter, the only episode taking place on Vulcan in the original series, Sturgeon hammered out much of Spock’s lore, including the phrase “Live long and prosper;” the Vulcan hand signal; and the Vulcan mating ritual. One of his unproduced scripts also introduced the notion of the Prime Directive, used extensively by later writers.
Thus, Theodore Sturgeon remains a relatively unknown writer with heavy influence on the culture of science fiction, Star Trek in particular. Yet, few people likely know of him, and few could list any of his short stories or books.
But that, of course, in no way diminishes his accomplishments.
For the next few days, Thieves & Wizards, Book 1 in the Forlorn Dagger Trilogy, is free on Amazon. Also, I’m almost at the halfway mark on Time’s Thief, Book 7 in Star League Assassins. It remains on preorder, with an expected Feb. 6 release date.
(Image courtesy Microsoft Designer.)
Re: Sturgeon.... Unknown, hell! Anyone who calls himself (or herself) a Sci-Fi fan knows that name! If they don't, they're just wanna-best! 😜