C. L. Moore

C. L. Moore

Moore
Born Catherine Lucille Moore
(1911-01-24)January 24, 1911
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Died April 4, 1987(1987-04-04) (aged 76)
Hollywood, California, US
Pen name
  • Lawrence O'Donnell
  • C. H. Liddell
  • Lewis Padgett
Occupation Writer
Nationality American
Period 1933–1963
Genre Science fiction, fantasy
Spouse
  • Henry Kuttner (1940–1958, his death)
  • Thomas Reggie (1963–1987, her death)

Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who most often used the pen name C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in either genre (though earlier woman writers in these genres include Sophie Wenzel Ellis, Clare Winger Harris, Lilith Lorraine, Greye La Spina, Francis Stevens, Leslie F. Stone, and Everil Worrell). Moore's work paved the way for many other female speculative fiction writers. She and her first husband Henry Kuttner were prolific co-authors under their own names and three pseudonyms.

Biography

Early life

Moore was born on January 24, 1911 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was chronically ill as a child and spent much of her time reading literature of the fantastic. She left college during the Great Depression to work as a secretary at the Fletcher Trust Company in Indianapolis.

Writing career

Her first stories appeared in pulp magazines during the mid-1930s, including two significant series in Weird Tales, then edited by Farnsworth Wright. One features the rogue and adventurer Northwest Smith wandering through the Solar System; the other features the swordswoman/warrior Jirel of Joiry, one of the first female protagonists in sword-and-sorcery fiction. Both series are sometimes named for their lead characters.[1] One of the Northwest Smith stories, "Nymph of Darkness" (Fantasy Magazine (April 1935); expurgated version, Weird Tales (Dec 1939)), was written in collaboration with Forrest J Ackerman. [2]

The most famous Northwest Smith story is "Shambleau", which was also Moore's first professional sale. It originally appeared in the November 1933 issue of Weird Tales,[1]netting her $100, and later becoming a popular anthology reprint.

Cover of Weird Tales, October 1934, featuring "The Black God's Kiss" by Moore (painting by Margaret Brundage)

Her most famous Jirel story is also the first one, "Black God's Kiss", which was the cover story in the October 1934 issue of Weird Tales, subtitled "the weirdest story ever told" (see figure).[1] Moore's early stories were notable for their emphasis on the senses and emotions, which was unusual in genre fiction at the time.

Moore's work also appeared in Astounding Science Fiction magazine throughout the 1940s. Several stories written for that magazine were later collected in her first published book, Judgment Night (1952)[3][1][lower-alpha 1] One of them, the novella "No Woman Born" (1944), was to be included in more than 10 different science fiction anthologies including The Best of C. L. Moore.[4]

Included in that collection were "Judgment Night" (first published in August and September 1943), the lush rendering of a future galactic empire with a sober meditation on the nature of power and its inevitable loss; "The Code" (July 1945), an homage to the classic Faust with modern theories and Lovecraftian dread; "Promised Land" (February 1950) and "Heir Apparent" (July 1950), both documenting the grim twisting that mankind must undergo in order to spread into the Solar System; and "Paradise Street" (September 1950), a futuristic take on the Old West conflict between lone hunter and wilderness-taming settlers.

Marriage to Henry Kuttner and Literary Collaborations

Moore met Henry Kuttner, also a science fiction writer, in 1936 when he wrote her a fan letter under the impression that "C. L. Moore" was a man. They married in 1940 and thereafter wrote almost all of their stories in collaboration—under their own names and using the joint pseudonyms C. H. Liddell, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Lewis Padgett—most commonly the latter, a combination of their mothers' maiden names.

In this very prolific partnership they managed to combine Moore's style with Kuttner's more cerebral storytelling. Their works include a classic, "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" (February 1943), the basis for the film The Last Mimzy (2007), and "Vintage Season" (September 1946), the basis for the film Timescape (1992). They also collaborated on a story that combined Moore’s signature characters, Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry: "Quest of the Starstone" (1937).

Career After Kuttner's Death

After Kuttner's death in 1958, Moore continued teaching his writing course at the University of Southern California but wrote almost no fiction. She did write for a few television shows under her married name, but upon marrying Thomas Reggie (who was not a writer) in 1963, she ceased writing entirely.

Moore was the author guest of honor at Kansas City, MO's fantasy and science fiction convention BYOB-Con 6, held over the U. S. Memorial Day weekend in May, 1976.

In 1981, Moore received two annual awards for her career in fantasy literature: the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, chosen by a panel of judges at the World Fantasy Convention, and the Gandalf Grand Master Award, chosen by vote of participants in the World Science Fiction Convention.[5] (Thus she became the eighth and final Grand Master of Fantasy, sponsored by the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, in partial analogy to the Grand Master of Science Fiction sponsored by the Science Fiction Writers of America.)

Moore was an active member of the Tom and Terri Pinckard Science Fiction literary salon and a frequent contributor to literary discussions with the regular membership, including Robert Bloch, George Clayton Johnson, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Norman Spinrad, A. E. van Vogt, and others, as well as many visiting writers and speakers.

Later life

She developed Alzheimer's disease but that was not obvious for several years. She had ceased to attend the meetings when she was nominated to be the first woman Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America; the nomination was withdrawn at the request of her husband, Thomas Reggie, who said the award and ceremony would be at best confusing and likely upsetting to her, given the progress of her disease. That caused dismay among the former SFWA presidents, for she was a great favorite to receive the award. (Former presidents and current officers select a living writer as Grand Master of SF, no more than one annually.)[6]

Death

Moore died on April 4, 1987 at her home in Hollywood, California after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

Awards

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Moore in 1998, its third class of two deceased and two living writers.[7]

Selected works

Earth's Last Citadel was reprinted in the July 1950 edition of Fantastic Novels.

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1951 Gnome had published Tomorrow and Tomorrow and the Fairy Chessmen, the omnibus edition of two short novels by Moore & Kuttner as Lewis Padgett, which had been two-part serials in Astounding during 1947 and 1946. Judgment Night comprised five stories by Moore alone—none from the Northwest Smith and Jirel series, which Gnome collected in part one year later.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 C. L. Moore at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-04-20. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  2. ↑ Forrest J. Ackerman, Ackermanthology: 65 Astoníshing, Rediscovered SF Shorts. LA: General Publishing Co, 1997, pp. 255-270.
  3. ↑ Moore, C.L. (1952). Judgment Night. Gnome Press.
  4. ↑ No Woman Born title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  5. ↑ "Moore, C. L.". The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  6. ↑ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  7. ↑ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame" Archived May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.. Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-26. This was the official website of the hall of fame to 2004.
  8. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104362/

Further reading

Bleiler, E.F. "Fantasy, Horror...and Sex: The Early Stories of C.L. Moore". Scream Factory (1988): 41-47

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