More Authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction-H. Beam Piper

H. Beam Piper

Henry Beam Piper

Laborer, Nightwatchman, Author, Gun Collector

Born March 23, 1904, Altoona, Pennsylvania

Died On or about November 6, 1964, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

We can add Henry Beam Piper to the list of writers and artists who died alone in a room, whether by their own hand or otherwise. He was born on March 23, 1904, in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The question of his Christian name--was it Henry or Horace?--is answered easily enough by referring to the U.S. census. Piper was self-educated and worked common jobs on the railroad. He was past forty by the time his first science fiction story, "Time and Time Again," was published in Astounding Science Fiction in April 1947. Piper wrote many more stories during his brief career, including one story for Weird Tales. The last entry in Piper's diary was dated November 5, 1964. His body was found on either November 9 or November 11. In between those two dates (Nov. 5 to Nov. 9 or 11), H. Beam Piper shot himself with a handgun from his own collection. He was sixty years old.

To read more about him, see The H. Beam Piper Memorial Site.

For Weird Tales

"Dearest" (Mar. 1951)

The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper in an Ace edition from 1964. The original title was The Junkyard Planet. I like that one better. The artist was Ed Valigursky.

Piper is probably most well known for his Fuzzy books. Little Fuzzy, from 1962, was reissued in 1976 with cover art by Michael Whelan.

Text and captions copyright 2013, 2023 Terence E. Hanley