Theodore Sturgeon

Name at birth: Edward Hamilton Waldo

Science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon wrote hundreds of short stories and a handful of novels, but he's recognized more for his influence on the development of modern science fiction than for books like More Than Human and The Dreaming Jewels. Out of a three-year stint in the Merchant Marines in 1938, Sturgeon started writing stories and selling them to the top science fiction and fantasy magazines, joining that crowd that included Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. Over his career he worked writing ad copy, editing and teaching, all the while publishing short stories such as "The World Well Lost" (1953), "Kill Dozer" (1944) and "Slow Sculpture" (1970, winner of a Nebula Award and a Hugo Award). Sturgeon's novels included The Dreaming Jewels (1953, also known as The Synthetic Man), More Than Human (1953), Venus Plus X (1960) and Some of Your Blood (1961). Sturgeon brought literary style and weird ideas to the growing field of science fiction, and became well-known for including characters not normally seen in fiction -- gay, gender-neutral, non-white or characters with cognitive or physical disabilities. Broadly, Sturgeon's work often asked the question, "what does it mean to be human?" Sturgeon published more than 200 short stories during his career, won many awards and was inducted in 2000 into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.