S P A C E L I G H T
INDEX
VITAL STATISTICS
Name: ZELAZNY, Roger Joseph
Aged: 58
Born: May 13, 1937
Where: Euclid, Ohio
Died: June 14, 1995
Where: Sante Fe, New Mexico
Cremated: Ashes scattered in the mountains near Santa Fe, NM
Married: Sharon Steberl
When: December 1964 (div)
Married2: Judith Alene Callahan
When: August 20, 1966
Awarded: Six Hugo Awards: 1966 Novel ...And Call Me Conrad, 1968 Novel Lord of Light, 1976 Novella "Home Is the Hangman," 1982 Novelette "Unicorn Variation," 1986 Novella "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai," and 1987 Novelette "Permafrost." In addition, three Nebulas; 1965 Novella "He Who Shapes," 1965 Novelette "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth," & 1975 Novella "Home Is the Hangman;" and two Balrog Awards, 1980 Short Fiction "The Last Defender of Camelot," and 1984 Collection/Anthology Unicorn Variations, and various others.
Roger Zelazny
"I write both fantasy and science fiction, as well as a mixture of the two.
My objectives vary from book to book, but in general
I begin with a character in mind rather than a plot."
Roger Zelazny was born on the southern shores of Lake Erie in a Depression choked Cleveland, Ohio, where he would recall gas stamps and food tokens, the death of FDR, and daily newspaper battle maps of WW II along with comic strips of Tarzan fighting Nazis. It all made him unsure of what the world would ask of him and where his place in it would be. Reality was a good thing to escape from. He attended Western Reserve University and received his BA in 1959. But after graduation from Western, Zelazny went to work for Social Security in Cleveland and then followed that job to Baltimore. In 1962, he earned his English Masters degree from Columbia University and published his first story, a vignette for Amazing, "Passion Play." Within two years, he had achieved wide recognition for a 1963 novelette, nominated for a Hugo, "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," a work considered by many to be his finest in short form.
Zelazny's popularity quickly rose along with his sales and at some point, Roger was encouraged to quit his day job and become a full time writer in 1969. Every writer hopes for and needs one or more themes that turn into a paying series. Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon, the first two volumes of his "Amber" series, were combined to become a computer game, an unexpected revenue source. The following volumes in this series were also very popular. Doorways in the Sand, a 1976 SF novel, was a personal favorite of the author's. Roger attended SF and fantasy conventions world-wide and was a popular guest. He had relocated his family to New Mexico in 1975.
It seemed so unfair that Roger would be cut down by cancer before his time. Zelazny was one of the finest writers in his chosen field, working well in all lengths and in both fantasy and science fiction disciplines. He would write 50 books and 150 short stories and see 11 short story collections in his lifetime. He still has an immense fandom, worldwide.
PEN-NAMES: Harrison Denmark
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mine here.
BIOGRAPHY: Who's Who in America, Vol XI, p302 and Science Fiction Writers, Scribners 1982.
OBITUARY: Several
