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June 1999

Clifton Fadiman Dies

Editor, anthologist, and radio host Clifton Fadiman died Sunday in Florida at the age of 95. In his long career he was moderator of the popular radio program ''Information Please'' from 1938 to 1948, book reviewer for The New Yorker, editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and judge for the Book-of-the-Month Club from 1944 until the early 1990s. He was author of The Lifetime Reading Plan, recently published in a fourth edition, and editor of The World Treasury of Children's Literature in 1985, for which he won the Dorothy C. McKenzie Award. In 1993 he was awarded a National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American letters.

Among his many anthologies were two of mathematical science fiction stories: Fantasia Mathematica (Simon & Schuster, 1958) and The Mathematical Magpie (Simon & Schuster, 1962). He provided introductions for several other SF books, including Arthur C. Clarke's Across the Sea of Stars, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and David G. Hartwell's 1989 anthology The World Treasury of Science Fiction.

(Tue 22 Jun 1999)

Stephen King Injured, Hospitalized

Author Stephen King was seriously injured on Saturday when he was hit from behind by a van as he was walking along a highway near his home in North Lovell, Maine. A motorist in a Dodge Caravan swerved, hitting King, when distracted by a dog that was loose inside his van.

King was hospitalized with a broken leg, a laceration on his head, and a collapsed lung. He underwent several hours of surgery at Central Maine Hospital, but was in good spirits following the surgery. He's expected to remain in the hospital for several more days.

Online reports: CNN; ABC.

(Mon 21 Jun 1999)

Mythopoeic Awards Nominations

The 1999 Mythopoeic Awards nominations have been announced:

Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

The High House, James Stoddard (Warner Aspect)

The History of Our World Beyond the Wave, R.E. Klein (Harcourt Brace)

Someplace to be Flying, Charles de Lint (Tor)

Song for the Basilisk, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)

Stardust, Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess (DC/Vertigo; Avon 1999)

Fantasy Award for Children's Literature

Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow; Gollancz)

Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine (HarperCollins 1997)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury 1997; Scholastic/Levine 1998)

Heavenward Path, Kara Dalkey (Harcourt Brace)

The Squire's Tale, Gerald Morris (Houghton Mifflin)

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide, Walter Hooper (HarperSanFrancisco 1996)

C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer & Mentor, Lionel Adey (Wm. B. Eerdmans)

Christian Mythmakers, Rolland Hein (Cornerstone Press)

Roverandom, J.R.R. Tolkien; edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (Houghton Mifflin)

Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies

A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature, Donna R. White (Greenwood Publishing Group)

Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children, Susan Cooper (McElderry Books 1996)

No Go the Bogeyman: Scaring, Lulling, and Making Mock, Marina Warner (Chatto & Windus UK 1998; Farrar Straus & Giroux 1999)

Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Michael O. Riley (University Press of Kansas 1997)

(Mon 21 Jun 1999)

Avon and Morrow Sold

The New York Times reports today that News Corporation Ltd. will expand HarperCollins with the purchase of Avon Books and William Morrow & Company from The Hearst Corporation. The transaction is estimated at less than $180 million. HarperCollins will remain the nation's second largest publisher of popular books, behind Bertelsmann's Random House. Both Avon and HarperCollins currently have active SF imprints, Avon Eos and HarperPrism.

Another report is on BookWire.

(Fri 18 Jun 1999)