Terry Gene Carr (February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was 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 ...

fan, author, editor, and writing instructor.

Background and discovery of fandom

Carr was born in

Grants Pass, Oregon Grants Pass is a city in and the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The populatio ...

. He attended the City College of San Francisco and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

from 1954 to 1959. Carr discovered

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at

ConFederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

in 1986.

Professional work

Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

, establishing the '' Ace Science Fiction Specials'' series which published, among other novels, '' Behold the Man'' and '' The Warlord of the Air'' by Michael Moorcock, ''

The Left Hand of Darkness ''The Left Hand of Darkness'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, it became immensely popular, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction. The novel is set in the f ...

'' by

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

and ''

Rite of Passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of social status, status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisa ...

'' by Alexei Panshin. After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. He edited an original story anthology series called ''Universe'', and a popular series of ''

The Best Science Fiction of the Year The Best Science Fiction of the Year was a series of annual paperback anthologies edited by Terry Carr. It was published by Ballantine Books from 1972 to 1980, Pocket Books from 1981 to 1983, Baen Books in 1984, and Tor Books from 1985 to 1987. T ...

'' anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won. Terry Carr commissioned a first novel from

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

for the second series of Ace Science Fiction Specials, shortly after the Denver WorldCon, 1981. The purpose of the series was to give attention to first-time novelists. Gibson's fellow Ace Specials first-timers were

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born November 18, 1950) is an American list of fantasy authors, fantasy and List of science-fiction authors, science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began w ...

Lucius Shepard Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism. Career Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, wher ...

, Carter Scholz, and

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (September 15, 1946 – January 14, 2024) was an American science fiction author who worked primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Early life Born in Houston, Mississippi, ...

. William Gibson mentions Carr in the introduction to the 20th Anniversary Edition of the book: "Having been talked into signing a contract (by the late Terry Carr, without whom there would certainly be no

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian author William Gibson. Set in a near-future dystopia, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatis ...

) . . ." Carr taught at the

Clarion Workshop The Clarion Workshop is an American six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writer's Workshop, Milford Writer's Conference, held at their home in Milfo ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.

Personal life

Carr married a fellow science fiction fan, Miriam Dyches, in 1959. They were divorced in 1961. Later that year, Carr married Carol Stuart. He remained married to her until his death. Under her married name of Carol Carr, his widow has also sold science fiction: "You Think You've Got Troubles" (1969), "Inside" (1970), "Some Are Born Cats" (1973, with Terry Carr), "Wally a Deux" (1973), and "Tooth Fairy" (1984).

Death

On April 7, 1987, Carr died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

. A memorial gathering of the science fiction community was held in Tilden Park in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, on May 30. An original anthology of science fiction, ''Terry's Universe'', was published the following year; all proceeds went to his widow. His papers and his large collection of fanzines (71 linear feet and almost 2000 titles) have become part of the Eaton collection of Science Fiction at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

Published works

Novels

* '' Warlord of Kor'' (1963) * '' Invasion From 2500'' (1964, with Ted White using the joint pseudonym Norman Edwards) * ''Cirque'' (1977)

Collections

* '' The Incompleat Terry Carr'' (1972, 1988) * '' The Light at the End of the Universe'' (1976) * '' Fandom Harvest'' (1986)

Anthologies

World's Best Science Fiction

*'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1965'' (1965 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1966'' (1966 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1967'' (1967 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1968'' (1968 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1969'' (1969 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1970'' (1970 with Donald A. Wollheim) *'' World's Best Science Fiction: 1971'' (1971 with Donald A. Wollheim)

The Best Science Fiction of the Year

*''

Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year ''Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year'' is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the fourteenth volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in July 1985, and in hardcover ...

'' (1985) *'' Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction of the Year #15'' (1986) *'' Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year #16'' (1987)

''Universe''

*'' Universe 1'' (1971) *'' Universe 2'' (1972) *'' Universe 3'' (1973) *'' Universe 4'' (1974) *'' Universe 5'' (1975) *'' Universe 6'' (1976) *'' Universe 7'' (1977) *'' Universe 8'' (1978) *'' Universe 9'' (1979) *'' Universe 10'' (1980) *'' Universe 11'' (1981) *'' Universe 12'' (1982) *'' Universe 13'' (1983) *'' Universe 14'' (1984) *'' Universe 15'' (1985) *'' Universe 16'' (1986) *'' Universe 17'' (1987)

Other anthologies

* ''New Worlds of Fantasy'' (1967) * ''New Worlds of Fantasy #2'' (1970) * ''New Worlds of Fantasy #3'' (1971) * ''Year's Finest Fantasy'' (1978) * ''Year's Finest Fantasy 2'' (July 1979) * ''Fantasy Annual III'' (May 1981) * ''Fantasy Annual IV'' (November 1981) * ''Fantasy Annual V'' (November 1982) * ''Science Fiction for People Who Hate Science Fiction'' (1966) * ''The Others'' (1969) * ''On Our Way to the Future'' (1970) * ''This Side of Infinity'' (1972) * ''Into the Unknown'' (1973) * ''An Exaltation of Stars'' (1973) * ''Fellowship of the Stars'' (1974) * ''Worlds Near and Far'' (1974) * ''Creatures from Beyond'' (1975) * ''Planets of Wonder'' (1976) * ''The Ides of Tomorrow'' (1976) * ''The Infinite Arena'' (1977) * ''To Follow a Star: Nine Science Fiction Stories About Christmas'' (1977) * ''Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age'' (1978) * ''Beyond Reality'' (1979) * '' Dream's Edge'' (1980) * ''A Treasury of Modern Fantasy'' (1981) with Martin H. Greenberg * ''100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories'' (1984) with

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

and Martin H. Greenberg

References

Sources

* *
Plaid Works: ''Electronic OtherRealms #16''

External links

*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020124053557/http://scifan.com/writers/cc/CarrGTerry.asp Bibliographyat SciFan * * *
"Warlord of Kor"
at Project Gutenberg
Carol Carr bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Terry 1937 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American book editors American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers City College of San Francisco alumni Educators from Oregon Hugo Award–winning editors Hugo Award–winning fan writers American speculative fiction editors Michigan State University faculty Novelists from Oregon People from Grants Pass, Oregon American science fiction editors University of California, Berkeley alumni