Wellen, Edward
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1919-2011) US author, almost exclusively of short stories, mostly in the mystery genre. His first sf was a "non-fact article", "Origins of Galactic Slang" in Galaxy for July 1952, and was followed by a sequence of similar Galactic Origins spoofs over the following ten years. His actual sf was concise, literate, cynical and frequently anthologized over his forty-year career, and is overdue for collection; Perps (coll 2000) assembles mysteries only. In his only sf novel, Hijack (May 1970 Venture; exp 1971), told with a delicate balance of spoof and splatter, the Mafia learns that the US Government is secretly preparing to escape the solar system because the Sun is going nova, and muscles in on the action. In the end, a representative sample of humanity heads toward the stars. [JC]
see also: Messiahs.
Edward Paul Wellen
born New Rochelle, New York: 2 October 1919
died New Rochelle, New York: 15 January 2011
works (selected)
- Hijack (New York: Beagle, 1971) [pb/]
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