Michael Burgess, AKA Robert Reginald (1948-2013)

Author, editor, and publisher Michael Roy Burgess, AKA Robert Reginald, 65, died November 20, 2013 of heart failure.

Reginald is best known for his critical essays and bibliographical work in the science fiction field, but he was also the author of many novels and short stories, including his Phantom Detective, Nova Europa, and War of Two Worlds series. He founded both Unicorn & Son, Publishers, and shortly thereafter, the better-known Borgo Press, which published books from 1976 to 1998. In 2003 Borgo Press started up again as an imprint of Wildside Press.

His non-fiction work in the science fiction field was extensive, and works of interest include Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature: A Checklist, 1700-1974, with Contemporary Science Fiction Authors II (1979), Cumulative Paperback Index, 1939-1959: A Comprehensive Bibliographic Guide to 14,000 Mass-Market Paperback Books of 33 Publishers under 69 Imprints (1973) as Reginald with M R Burgess; A Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Library of Congress Classification Scheme (1984 chap; exp 1988) as by Michael Burgess, his book-length checklists devoted to individual authors, as well as many others.

Burgess was born February 11, 1948 in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan to an Air Force family. He is survived by his wife, author Mary Wickizer Burgess, and their children.

See the December issue of Locus for a complete obituary. For more, see Reginald’s entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.