Jan 25, 2016 — Today we’re remembering a man you may never have heard of. He was one of those people who lived much of his life in the North Country without being well known in the region.

David Hartwell passed away last week at the age of 74. Over the last half-century, Hartwell was one of the country’s most influential editors of science fiction and fantasy. He edited some of the greats of the sci-fi genre, from Frank Herbert to Philip K. Dick to Robert Heinlein. He also published many of the anthologies that defined the genre.

Brian Mann spoke about Hartwell's life and career with NCPR arts editor Todd Moe. 

Todd Moe: David Hartwell is not a household name even among sci-fi buffs. Why was he important?

Brian Mann: For decades, Hartwell was one of the men who shaped an entire genre behind the scenes, polishing and helping to craft individual books, but also finding new authors and defending the idea that science fiction can be a really important force in American culture. I spoke with his wife Kathryn Cramer here in Westport (she’s also a science fiction editor) about David’s contribution.

Kathryn Cramer: He believed passionately in the genre and shaping it as a transformative social force. He tried to keep science fiction not only exciting and interesting, but as a force for good and a way of looking at the world to make the world a better place. He was a visionary, futurist kind of editor.

TM: Some of the authors that David Hartwell worked with, Frank Herbert who wrote “Dune” and Robert Heinlein who wrote “Starship Toopers” are well known. But a lot of times, sci-fi as a genre has been sort of marginal in publishing and really disrespected as kind of a trashy art form. Tell us how he managed that.

BM: Well first, within the sci-fi genre, he was deeply respected. A lot of the remembrances published over the last few days (read George RR Martin's essay by clicking here) since he passed away here in Westport have been really loving and have acknowledged how important he was at finding and shepherding new talent. But I think it is frustrating for people working in science fiction to gain that wider recognition in literary circles. His wife Kathryn told me about a time when one of David’s anthologies was reviewed by John Updike.

KC: It was a favorable review and said kind and wondeful things about David, but he hated the review. Because Updike's conclusion was that this book demonstrated why science fiction was an inherently minor literature. On the one hand he had sort of gotten the big guys to pay attention. But they just couldn't let go of the idea that the spectacle of science fiction made it somehow less of a literature than other kinds of literature.

David Hartwell passed away last week in Westport at the age of 74. If you’ve read science fiction over the last couple of decades you’ve almost certainly read books or short stories that he shaped.  Read more about his life and more remembrances.