Rog Phillips
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roger Phillip Graham (February 20, 1909 – March 2, 1966) was an American science fiction writer who was published most often using the name Rog Phillips, but also used other names. Of his other pseudonyms, only Craig Browning is notable in the genre. He is associated most with ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
'' and is known best for short fiction. He was nominated for the
Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...
in 1959.


Biography

Roger Phillip Graham was born in Spokane, Washington, on February 20, 1909. His family changed its residence frequently during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, as his father, John Alfred Graham, moved around the country looking for work. Roger's sophomore year was spent at Kingfisher High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He returned to Spokane for college, graduating from
Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...
in 1931. He also studied at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in Seattle. Graham was a power plant engineer until the beginning of World War II, when he worked as a shipyard welder and
longshoreman A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...
. After the war he became a full-time writer, using twenty different pseudonyms: Clinton Ames, Drew Ames, Robert Arnette, Franklin Bahl, Alexander Blade, Craig Browning, Gregg Conrad, P.F. Costello, Sanandana Kumara, Charles Lee, Charles Mann, Milton Mann, Inez McGowan, Melva Rogers, Chester Ruppert, William Carter Sawtelle, A.R. Steber, Gerald Vance, John H. Wiley, and Peter Worth. On October 8, 1938, Graham married Eleanor Cora Smith, with whom he lived in Kirkland, Washington. The couple had divorced by 1946.


Writing career

Graham's first published work was a detective story, "Murder Note," as by Charles Mann, that appeared in the Winter 1943 issue of ''The Masked Detective.'' Raymond A. Palmer, editor of ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
'', started Graham's science fiction career in 1945, with a $500 advance for his story, "Let Freedom Ring!" To facilitate more work with Palmer and his associate editor, William Hamling, Graham moved to Evanston, Illinois. In response to falling sales, due to the Shaver Mystery Hoax, Palmer instituted a column of fan news and fanzine reviews in the March 1948 issue of ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
''. Called The Club House, it was intended to create a sense of community among readers. Graham, now an official staff columnist for
Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servi ...
, edited the feature under the name Rog Phillips, publishing 57 editions. Phillips experienced the height of his success between 1946 and 1953. His entry in ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 2: Who's Who, M-Z'' ( Advent:Publishers, Chicago, 1978), lists several stories of interest from this period, including “Atom War” (''Amazing Stories'', May 1946); “So Shall Ye Reap!” (''Amazing Stories'', August 1947); “M’Bong-Ah” (''Amazing Stories'', February 1949); “The Cyberene” ( ''Imagination'', December 1953). A recurring character, Lefty Baker, appears in six stories with a humorous tone: “Squeeze Play" (''Amazing Stories'', November 1947); “The Immortal Menace” (''Amazing Stories'', February 1949); “The Insane Robot” (''
Fantastic Adventures ''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other sci ...
'', November 1949); “It’s Like This” ('' Fantastic Story Quarterly'', November 1952); “Lefty Baker’s Nuthouse” (''
Imaginative Tales ''Imaginative Tales'' was an American fantasy and science fiction magazine launched in September 1954 by William Hamling's Greenleaf Publishing Company. It was created as a sister magazine to ''Imagination'', which Hamling had acquired from R ...
'', January 1958); “…But Who Knows Huer, or Huen?” ( ''Fantastic'', November 1961). Phillips' 1949 work, ''Time Trap'', published by Century Pocket Books (#116) in mass-market rack size, has been cited as being one of the first original science fiction paperbacks ever printed, if not the very first. Century Books followed ''Time Trap'' by publishing ''Worlds Within'' (#124, 1950) and ''World of If'' (as by Merit Books, #B-13, 1951). On October 24, 1951, Phillips married Mari Wolf in Chicago. As a wedding gift, William Hamling hired Wolf to write a column identical to The Club House, Fandora's Box, for his fledgling science fiction magazine, ''Imagination''. Phillips and Wolf divorced in 1955. In his July 1952 Club House column, Phillips announced that Melvin Korshak of
Shasta Publishers Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and Fantasy fiction, fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all Science fiction fandom, science fiction fans from the ...
was going to publish his book ''Frontiers in the Sky''. Shasta subsequently went out of business, having been caught up in a scandal when it failed to pay
Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...
for winning a writing contest, and Phillips' book was never printed.
Howard Browne Howard Browne (April 15, 1908 – October 28, 1999) was an American science fiction editor and mystery writer. He also wrote for several television series and films. Some of his work appeared over the pseudonyms John Evans, Alexander Blade ...
, the new editor of ''Amazing Stories'', fired Phillips in 1953. A Club House installment was published in that year's March issue, and Phillips submitted a short story some months later. He made no further appearances in the magazine until the editorship of Paul W. Fairman, who accepted eight of Phillips' stories between 1957 and 1959. The Club House column was taken up by '' Universe Science Fiction'', another Ray Palmer publication. It first appeared in the July 1954 issue and made five appearances before ''Universe'' folded in March 1955. ''
Other Worlds Science Stories ''Other Worlds'', ''Universe Science Fiction'', and ''Science Stories'' were three related US magazines edited by Raymond A. Palmer. ''Other Worlds'' was launched in November 1949 by Palmer's Clark Publications and lasted for four years in ...
'', a further Palmer publication, ran five more installments of the column between May 1955 and April 1956, before it too went out of business. With the dwindling acceptance of his fiction, Phillips wrote a series of articles for ''Mystic'' magazine, yet another Palmer publication, with such philosophical topics as "Searching for the Elixir of Life," written under the pseudonym Drew Ames. In 1957 Phillips married again, to Honey Wood. Both were members of Outlanders, a noted West Coast science fiction fan club, and in 1958 Phillips was made Program Director when the group hosted the Solacon (SoLaCon: South Los Angeles Convention; the official nickname for the Sixteenth World Science Fiction Convention, also called the 11th Westercon). Phillips also manufactured the
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
trophies for 1958. During this time Phillips reemerged as a front-running science fiction writer with such notable stories as: "Game Preserve" ( ''If'', October 1957; reprinted in
Judith Merril Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be widel ...
's '' SF '58: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy'' (
Gnome Press Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company active 1948 – 1962 and primarily known for fantasy and science fiction, many later regarded as classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 ...
, 1958), and "The Yellow Pill" (''Astounding'', October 1958; reprinted in Judith Merril's '' SF '59: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy'', Gnome Press, 1959). His psychological thriller, "Rat in the Skull" (''If'', December 1958), received a Hugo Award nomination. Phillips' only hardbound novel, ''The Involuntary Immortal'', enlarged from a ''Fantastic Adventures'' novelette (December 1949), was published by Avalon in 1959.


Final years

Phillips' final publications were seven detective stories in ''
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (''AHMM'') is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AH ...
''. His last official public appearance was as Guest of Honor at Westercon XIII in Boise, Idaho, during the July 3–5, 1960 weekend.''Rog Phillips' The Club House'', The Last Stand, 2013, page xxii Phillips had been under a doctor's care for the last six years of his life and was scheduled to have heart surgery to replace a defective valve. After being hospitalized for a preoperative period in late February 1966, he entered a coma from which he never recovered. He died on March 2, 1966, of heart complications, at the age of 56.


Bibliography


Speculative short stories

A nearly complete listing of Roger Phillip Graham's speculative fiction can be found at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database website. What follows is a short list of some of his better known works out of the 205 stories he wrote. As well as 19 early reprints, 20 articles, 1 cite, at least 8 fanzine articles, 67 The Club House columns, 3 paperbacks, and 1 hardcover. *''Let Freedom Ring!'', Amazing Stories (December 1945) *''Atom War'', Amazing Stories (May 1946) *''The Mutants'', Amazing Stories (July 1946) *''Battle of the Gods'', Amazing Stories (September 1946) *''The House'', Amazing Stories (February 1947) *''So Shall Ye Reap!'', Amazing Stories (August 1947) *''Starship from Sirius'', Amazing Stories (August 1948) *''Cube Root of Conquest'', Amazing Stories (October 1948) *''Tillie'', Amazing Stories (December 1948) *''The Unthinking Destroyer'', Amazing Stories (December 1948) *''Unthinkable'', Amazing Stories (April 1949) *''Bubastis of Egupt'', Other Worlds Science Stories (December 1950) *''The Old Martians'', If Worlds of Science Fiction (March 1952) *''From This Dark Mind'', Fantastic (November–December 1953) *''Ye of Little Faith'', If Worlds of Science Fiction (January 1953) *''The Yellow Pill'', Astounding (October 1958) *''Rat in the Skull'', If Worlds of Science Fiction (December 1958) *''The Gallery'', Amazing Stories (January 1959)


Works Other Than Speculative

*''Murder Note''. as by Charles Mann, The Masked Detective (Winter 1943) *''Frame for a Fed'', F.B.I. Detective Stories (June 1950) *''To Dream of Murder'', Famous Detective Stories (February 1954) *''Portrait of the Artist's Wife'', as by Inez McGowan, Ladies' Home Journal (April 1958) *''A Case of Homicide'', Keyhole Mystery Magazine (June 1960) *''Good Sound Therapy'', Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine (October 1960) *''The Full Treatment'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (January 1961) *''The Egg Head'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (August 1961) *''First Come, First Served'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (October 1962) *''Justice, Inc.'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (January 1963) *''Experience is Helpful'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (March 1964) *''Legacy of Office'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (June 1964) *''The Hypothetical Arsonist'', Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (December 1965)


Free works

*''The Gallery '

*''Unthinkable'


Paperbacks

*''Time Trap'', Century Books (1949) *''Worlds Within'', Century Books (1950) *''World of If'', Merit Books (1951)


Hardcover

*''The Involuntary Immortals'', Avalon (1959) his title is still under copyright!


Posthumous works

*''The Essential Rog Phillips'' 33 short stories spanning Phillips' career *''Rog Phillips’ The Club House'' Containing all 67 appearances of The Club House Author: Roger Phillip Graham Edited and with an introduction: Earl Terry Kemp Introduction: “Roger Phillip Graham: The Man Who Was Rog Phillips,” by Earl Terry Kemp; pp. xv-xxiii Afterword: “Roger Phillips,” by
Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...
; pp. 573–578 The Last Stand; October 2014; softcover; cover artist: Steve Stiles 630 pages; with black and white illustrations; 8 ½ x 11 inches *''The Complete Lefty Baker'' Author: Rog Phillips oger Phillip Graham Edited and with an introduction: Earl Terry Kemp Introduction: by Earl Terry Kemp; pp. xi-xii Goldleaf Books; October 2012; softcover; cover artist: Earl Terry Kemp 113 pages *''The Best of Rog Phillips, Volume II'' Author: Rog Phillips oger Phillip Graham Edited and with an introduction: Earl Terry Kemp Introduction: by Earl Terry Kemp; pp. xi-xii Goldleaf Books; January 2013; softcover; cover artist: Earl Terry Kemp 181 pages *''The Best of Rog Phillips, Volume III'' Containing: ''Time Trap'' and ''Worlds Within'' Author: Rog Phillips oger Phillip Graham Edited and with an introduction: Earl Terry Kemp Introduction: by Earl Terry Kemp; pp. xi-xii Goldleaf Books; March 2013; softcover; cover art and design: Earl Terry Kemp 254 pages *''The Best of Rog Phillips, Volume IV'' Containing: ''World of If'', ''Game Preserve'', ''The Yellow Pill'', and ''The Rat in the Skull'' Author: Rog Phillips oger Phillip Graham Edited and with an introduction: Earl Terry Kemp Introduction: by Earl Terry Kemp; pp. xi-xiii Goldleaf Books; October 2014; softcover; cover art and design: Earl Terry Kemp 211 pages


References

*
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...
, page 928.


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Rog 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers 1909 births 1965 deaths American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers