Edward Lewis Ferman (born March 6, 1937) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

editor and magazine publisher, known best as the editor of ''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Bouche ...

'' (F&SF). Ferman is the son of Joseph W. Ferman, the publisher and sometime editor who established ''F&SF'' in 1949. He took over as editor in 1964 when

Avram Davidson Avram Davidson (April 23, 1923 – May 8, 1993) was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy ...

could no longer practically continue, as a resident of

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

locales with unreliable postal delivery. (Joseph Ferman was listed as editor during 1964–65, however, followed by Edward from January 1966 through June 1991.) Edward Ferman would take on the role of publisher, as well, by 1970, as his father gradually retired. He continued as editor until 1991, when he hired his replacement,

Kristine Kathryn Rusch Kristine Kathryn Rusch (born June 4, 1960) is an American writer and editor. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream. Rusch won the Hugo Award for Best Nove ...

, and continued as publisher of ''F&SF'' until he sold it to Gordon Van Gelder in 2000. During Ferman's tenure, many other

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

magazines struggled or went out of business. His magazine, along with '' Analog'', continued to maintain a regular schedule and to receive critical appreciation for its contents. During 1969 and 1970, Ferman was also the editor of ''F&SF's'' sister publication '' Venture Science Fiction Magazine''. Together, the Fermans had also edited and published the short-lived

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...

and

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

magazine ''P.S.'' and a similarly brief run of a magazine about

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

and other proto-

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

matters, ''Inner Space.'' Ferman won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor three years in a row, from 1981 through 1983. ''F&SF'' had previously won four Hugos as the best professional magazine under his editorship. At least in the last decade of his tenure, he worked from a table in the family's Connecticut house. He edited or co-edited several volumes of stories from ''F&SF'' and co-edited ''Final Stage'' with Barry N. Malzberg. It is probable that he also ghost-edited ''No Limits'' for or with Joseph Ferman, an anthology drawn from the pages of the first run of ''Venture''. Ferman was recognized by a special

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for professional work in 1979 and by the

World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

in 1998. He was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009. * ''Oi, Robot: competitions and cartoons from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (Mercury Press, 1995), edited by Ferman"Oi, robot: competitions and cartoons from The Magazine of fantasy & ..."
Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved April 12, 2013.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferman, Edward 1937 births American magazine publishers (people) American speculative fiction publishers (people) Hugo Award–winning editors The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people American science fiction editors Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees Living people Speculative fiction editors

See also

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