Spider Robinson (born November 24, 1948) is an
American-bornThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Canadian
HugoThe Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories...
and
Nebula awardThe Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years...
winning
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
author.
Born in the Bronx,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the 1960s, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Stony Brook, Spider earned a reputation as a great entertainer at campus coffeehouses and gatherings, strumming his guitar and singing in harmony with his female partner.
Just as there are Laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) "Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy"
A man should live forever, or die trying.
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) "A voice is heard in Ramah".
Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased — thus do we refute entropy.
"Callahan's Law", as expressed in The Callahan Chronicals (1996) [originally published as Callahan and Company (1988)], Part IV : Earth ... and Beyond, "Post Toast", p. 388. On the back cover of Callahan's Legacy (1996) this is modified into "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased (and bad puns are appreciated).
To all the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's Places there ever were or ever will be, whatever they may be called — and to all the merry maniacs and happy fools who are fortunate enough to stumble into one: may none of them arrive too late!
Toast in The Callahan Chronicals (1996) [originally published as Callahan and Company (1988)], Part IV : Earth ... and Beyond, "Post Toast", p. 392
The delusion that one's sexual pattern is The Only Right Way To Be is probably the single most common sexual-psychosis syndrome of this era, and it is virtually almost always the victim's fault. You cannot acquire this delusion by observing reality.
Lady Slings the Booze (1992)
I smelled her before I saw her. Even so, the first sight was shocking.
First lines
I had just seen the two most horrible things. The first was the smile. They say that when the bomb went off at Hiroshima, some people's shadows were baked onto walls by it. I think that smile got baked on the surface of my brain in much the same way. I don't want to talk about that smile.
Five days of wireheading alone should have killed her, never mind sudden cold turkey.
Animated the face might have been beautiful — any set of features can support beauty — but even a superb makeup job could not have made her pretty.
Spider Robinson (born November 24, 1948) is an
American-bornThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Canadian
HugoThe Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories...
and
Nebula awardThe Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years...
winning
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
author.
Biography
Born in the Bronx,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the 1960s, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Stony Brook, Spider earned a reputation as a great entertainer at campus coffeehouses and gatherings, strumming his guitar and singing in harmony with his female partner. In his 20s, he "spent several years in the woods, deliberately trying to live without technology."
In 1975 he married his wife Jeanne, a choreographer, dancer, and
SotoSōtō Zen , or as it is known in Japan, is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism. The other two are Rinzai and Ōbaku sects. The sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dogen Zenji then brought to Japan...
ZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhyāna, which means "meditation" ....
monk, who co-wrote his Stardance Trilogy. They have a daughter Terri, who once worked for
Martha StewartMartha Helen Stewart is an American business magnate, television host, author and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
.
Robinson has lived in Canada for the past 30 years, primarily in the provinces of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
and
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
. He formerly lived in "an upscale district of
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
for a decade," and has lived on
Bowen IslandBowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality in Howe Sound, and within Metro Vancouver. Approximately 6km wide by 12km long, the island at its closest point is about 2km west of the mainland. There is regular ferry service from Horseshoe Bay, as well as three water taxi services...
since approximately 1999.
He became a Canadian citizen in 2002, retaining his American citizenship. Spider and Jeanne's first grandchild, Marisa, was born in 2009, as Jeanne was undergoing treatment for "a rare and virulent form of biliary cancer."
Writing
Robinson made his first short-story sale in 1972 to
Analog Science FictionAnalog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2009, it is the longest running continually published magazine of that genre...
magazine. The story, "The Guy With The Eyes" (
Analog February 1973), was set in a bar called Callahan's Place; Robinson would, off-and-on, continue to write stories about the denizens of Callahan's into the 21st century. Robinson made several short-story sales to Analog,
Galaxy Science FictionGalaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was the creation of editor H. L...
magazine and others, and worked as a book reviewer for Galaxy magazine during the mid-to-late 1970s. In 1978–79 he contributed book reviews to the original anthology series
Destinies.
Robinson's first published novel,
Telempath (1976), was an expansion of his
Hugo awardThe Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories...
-winning novella "By Any Other Name". The first edition had cover art by 'Powers'. Over the following three decades, Robinson on average released a book a year, including short story anthologies. In 1996–2005, he served as a columnist in the Op-Ed section (and briefly in the technology section) of the
Globe and Mail.
In 2004, he pronounced himself "overjoyed" to begin working on a seven-page 1955 novel outline by the late
Robert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of the genre. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's...
to expand it into a novel. The book, titled
Variable StarVariable Star is a 2006 novel written by Spider Robinson based on the surviving seven pages of an eight-page 1955 novel outline by the late Robert A. Heinlein. The book is set in a divergent offshoot of Heinlein's Future History and contains many references to works by Heinlein and other authors...
, was released on September 19, 2006. Robinson has always made his admiration for Heinlein very clear; in an afterword to
Variable Star he recounts the story of how on his first visit to a public library a librarian named Ruth Siegel "changed my life completely" by sizing up the child in front of her and handing him a copy of the
Heinlein juvenile"Heinlein juveniles" is a phrase that refers to the twelve novels written by Robert A. Heinlein and published by Scribner's between 1947 and 1958. The intended readership was teenage boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of boys, girls, and adults...
novel
Rocket Ship GalileoRocket Ship Galileo is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1947, about three teenagers who participate in a pioneering flight to the Moon. It was the first in the Heinlein juveniles, a long and successful series of science fiction novels published by Scribner's...
, after which "the first ten books I ever read in my life were by Robert Heinlein, and they were all great."
Robinson is also an admirer of mystery writer
John D. MacDonaldJohn Dann MacDonald was an American author.A prolific writer of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida, MacDonald's best-known works include the popular and critically-acclaimed Travis McGee series, and his novel The Executioners, which was adapted into the film...
. Lady Sally McGee, from the
Callahan'sIn the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic clientele. It appears in the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic...
series, is apparently named in honor of
Travis McGeeTravis McGee is a fictional character and detective created by prolific American mystery writer John D. MacDonald. Unlike almost all other detectives from crime fiction, McGee is neither a police officer nor a licensed private investigator; rather, he's a self-described "salvage consultant" who...
, the central character in MacDonald's mystery novels. The lead character in
Lady Slings The Booze frequently refers to Travis McGee as a role model. In
Callahan's Key the patrons make a visit to the marina near Fort Lauderdale where the
Busted Flush was usually moored in the McGee series. On Robinson's website there is a photo of him "at the address (now demolished) of 'The Busted Flush,' home of John D. MacDonald’s immortal character Travis McGee: Slip F-18, Bahia Mar Marina, Fort Lauderdale FL." Similarly important to Robinson is writer
Donald E. WestlakeDonald Edwin Westlake was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers with an occasional foray into science fiction...
and Westlake's most famous character, John Archibald Dortmunder.
Between the end of Chapter 5 and the start of Chapter 6 in Robinson's novel
Lifehouse (1997) is a list of the aliases used by a con man character, containing an impressive number of cultural references (including McGee, Dortmunder, and several Heinlein characters, plus other SF and popular fiction allusions). One subtlety is the inclusion in the list of aliases that were aliases for other people, either real or fictional:
James Tiptree, JrJames Tiptree, Jr. was the pen name of American science fiction author Alice Bradley Sheldon, used from 1967 to her death. She also occasionally wrote under the pseudonym Raccoona Sheldon...
, the pen name used by SF writer Alice Sheldon, and "Sebastian Tombs," which was an alias often adopted by the character "
Simon TemplarSimon Templar is a British fictional character known as the Saint, featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books, until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris'...
" in many novels by
Leslie CharterisLeslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."-Biography:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
.
Robinson's stance may be described as humanistic and humorous. He has frequently encouraged a positive attitude towards world issues, claiming that a pessimistic world view will yield pessimistic results. Frequently in his writing, the conflicts center around a science fiction issue with a human solution, following
Theodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.He was known to use a technique known as "rhythmic prose", in which his prose text would drop into a standard poetic meter...
's definition of a good science fiction story.
Stand-alone novels
- Telempath
Telempath is a science fiction novel by Spider Robinson set in a dystopian near-future in which human cities have fallen into ruin and the population has been sharply reduced. The novel, Robinson's first, is an expansion of his 1977 Hugo Award-winning novella By Any Other Name. It was first...
(New York: Berkley, 1976)
- Night of Power
Night of Power is a novel by Spider Robinson. This is a speculative fiction tale about a race war that could have happened in New York.-Plot introduction:The book, written in 1984 although first published a year later, is set in the year 1996...
(1985)
- The Free Lunch
The Free Lunch is a 2001 novel by Spider Robinson. The title is a reference to the adage "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch", popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.-Synopsis:...
(2001)
- Variable Star
Variable Star is a 2006 novel written by Spider Robinson based on the surviving seven pages of an eight-page 1955 novel outline by the late Robert A. Heinlein. The book is set in a divergent offshoot of Heinlein's Future History and contains many references to works by Heinlein and other authors...
(2006)
The Russell Walker/Zandor Zudenigo/Nika Mandiç Mysteries
- Very Bad Deaths
Very Bad Deaths , is a science-fiction/suspense-mystery novel from Canadian science fiction author Spider Robinson. The book was followed in 2008 by a sequel, Very Hard Choices...
(2004)
- Very Hard Choices
Very Hard Choices , is a science-fiction/suspense-mystery novel from Canadian science fiction author Spider Robinson, released on 2008-06-03...
(2008)
The Deathkiller Trilogy
- Mindkiller
Mindkiller is a 1982 novel by science fiction writerSpider Robinson. The novel, set in the late 1980s, explores the social implications of technologies to manipulate the brain, beginning with wireheading, the use of electrical current to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain in order to...
(1982)
- Time Pressure (1987)
- Lifehouse (1997)
The Stardance Trilogy
Written in collaboration with his wife, Jeanne Robinson.
- Stardance
Star Dance: Search for the Dance Idols is a reality dance TV show in the Philippines last 2004 over ABS-CBN.-Co Host:* Bianca Gonzales* JC Cuadrado* Arrchie Alemanya-Elimination:...
(1979)
- Starseed (1991)
- Starmind (1995)
- The Star Dancers (1997) (omnibus edition of Stardance and Starseed)
The Callahan's Series
- Callahan's Place
- Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic clientele. It appears in the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic...
(1977)
- Time Travelers Strictly Cash (1981) (contains several non-Callahan's stories as well)
- Callahan's Secret (1986)
- Callahan and Company (1988) - (omnibus edition of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Time Travelers Strictly Cash, and Callahan's Secret)
- The Callahan Chronicals (1997) - (retitled republication of Callahan and Company)
- Lady Sally's
- Callahan's Lady
-Introduction:Spider Robinson started with the adventure of Mike Callahan and his famous bar, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, where bizarre visitors and even more bizarre guests came to enjoy themselves in what appeared to be like any other watering-hole. The story was such a success, that it made...
(1989)
- Lady Slings the Booze (1992)
- Kill the Editor (1991) - (an excerpt from Lady Slings the Booze, published in a special edition)
- Mary's Place
- The Callahan Touch (1993)
- Callahan's Legacy (1996)
- The Place
- Callahan's Key (2000)
- Callahan's Con (2003)
- Off the Wall at Callahan's (1994) - (a collection of quotes from other books in the series)
Short story collections
- Antinomy (1980)
- The Best of All Possible Worlds (1980) - (collection of works by other authors edited and introduced by Robinson)
- Melancholy Elephants (1984 - Canada; 1985 - United States)
- True Minds (1990)
- User Friendly (1998)
- By Any Other Name (2001)
- God Is an Iron and Other Stories (2002)
Collected essays
- The Crazy Years: Reflections of a Science Fiction Original (2004), a collection of his articles for the Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a Canadian English language nationally distributed newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of 935 000, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star and...
Awards and honors
- John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (1974)
- Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories...
s for:
- best novella
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and given in various categories....
(1977) By Any Other Name (later expanded into TelempathTelempath is a science fiction novel by Spider Robinson set in a dystopian near-future in which human cities have fallen into ruin and the population has been sharply reduced. The novel, Robinson's first, is an expansion of his 1977 Hugo Award-winning novella By Any Other Name. It was first...
)
- best novella (1978) Stardance (with Jeanne Robinson)
- best short story
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best English language science fiction or fantasy works. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and given in various categories....
(1983) Melancholy Elephants"Melancholy Elephants" is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction short story written by Spider Robinson in 1983.The story examines the interaction of copyright and longevity, and the possible effects of the extension of copyright to perpetuity....
- Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years...
for:
- best novella
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novella. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-Winners and other nominees:-External links:* *...
(1977) Stardance (with Jeanne Robinson)
- 2008 Robert A. Heinlein Award (Lifetime Achievement)
External links