Marshall B. Tymn (1937-2020)
SF Scholar Marshall B. Tymn, 82, died May 24, 2020 of pneumonia. Tymn was an essential figure in the field in the ’70s and ’80s, and did much to further the study of SF in academia. He won a Pilgrim Award for lifetime contributions from the Science Fiction Research Association in 1990, and the Robert A. Collins Service Award from the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts in 1989.
Tymn’s first work of genre interest was A Directory of Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing Houses and Book Dealers (1974), and other books include A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies: An Annotated Checklist of Primary and Secondary Sources (1977, with L.W. Currey & Roger C. Schlobin), Recent Critical Studies on Fantasy Literature: An Annotated Checklist (1978), and A Basic Reference Shelf for Science Fiction Teachers (1978). He edited The Science Fiction Reference Book: A Comprehensive Handbook and Guide to the History, Literature, Scholarship, and Related Activities of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fields (1981) and Science Fiction: A Teacher’s Guide and Resource Book (1988). He also compiled the “Year’s Scholarship” checklists for academic SF journal Extrapolation from 1927-87, with most collected in book form in several volumes. He compiled bibliographies American Fantasy & Science Fiction: Toward a Bibliography of Works Published in the United States, 1948-1973 (1979), Index to Stories in Thematic Anthologies of Science Fiction (1979, with L.W. Currey, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D Olander), Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide (1979, with Robert H. Boyer & Kenneth J. Zahorski), Horror Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide (1981), Survey of Science Fiction Literature: Bibliographical Supplement (1982, with Frank N. Magill), and (most significantly) Science Fiction, Fantasy & Weird Fiction Magazines (1985, with Mike Ashley).
Marshal Benton Tymn was born December 11, 1937 in Detroit MI. He taught English at Eastern Michigan University until a car accident in 1989 caused a traumatic brain injury; his wife Darlene cared for him afterward. He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.
For more, see his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
