Mills, Robert P
Entry updated 18 November 2024. Tagged: Editor.
(1920-1986) US editor and literary agent, managing editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from its inception. His only published story was "The Last Shall be First" in that magazine's August 1958 issue. He assumed the editorship proper a month later with the September 1958 issue, following Anthony Boucher's resignation; he remained editor until March 1962 and continued thereafter in the role of consulting editor until February 1963. He had previously been managing editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (see Ellery Queen) from June 1948 to 1958. During his tenure, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction maintained its standing as the most sophisticated SF Magazine and won Hugos in 1959, 1960 and 1963.
Mills edited several F&SF Anthologies, including The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Ninth Series (anth 1960; cut 1963), The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Tenth Series (anth 1961) and The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Eleventh Series (anth 1962), as well as A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction (anth 1960) and Twenty Years of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (anth 1970), the latter co-edited with Edward L Ferman. A bibliographical oddity is that The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Ninth Series was reissued by Ace Books as a Tie to the film Charly (1968), with the cover and spine title changed to Flowers for Algernon and Other Stories but retaining the title and copyright pages of the 1964 Ace paperback; the wording on the cover is thus not a true variant title.
Mills was also editor of Venture Science Fiction during its first incarnation (1957-1958), when the magazine was renowned for its "daring" approach to sexual topics. He later edited The Worlds of Science Fiction (anth 1963), an individual title. After leaving F&SF Mills became a literary agent, operating as Robert P Mills Ltd, and during the 1960s and early 1970s served a prestigious list of clients. He sold the agency to Richard A Curtis in 1984. [MJE/DRL]
Robert Park Mills
born Missoula, Montana: 10 February 1920
died San Diego, California: 7 February 1986
works as editor
series
Fantasy and Science Fiction
- The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Ninth Series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1960) [anth: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/Herb Mott]
- The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Ninth Series (London: Victor Gollancz, 1963) [anth: cut version of the above, omitting six Feghoots: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/nonpictorial]
- The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Tenth Series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1961) [anth: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/Mel Hunter]
- The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Eleventh Series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1962) [anth: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/Roger Zimmerman]
- A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1960) [anth: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/Mel Hunter]
- A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction (London: Corgi, 1964) [anth: cut from the above: one story omitted: Fantasy and Science Fiction: pb/uncredited]
- Twenty Years of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1970) with Edward L Ferman [anth: Fantasy and Science Fiction: hb/Mel Hunter]
individual titles
- The Worlds of Science Fiction (New York: The Dial Press, 1963) [anth: hb/Ronald Clyne]
links
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