L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp was an American author and engineer, born on November 27, 1907, in New York City. He pursued an education in aeronautical engineering, earning his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology and an M.S. from Stevens Institute of Technology. De Camp's early career included roles as an instructor and principal in inventing and patenting education, leading to the publication of his first book, "Inventions and Their Management," in 1937. His writing career began with the science fiction genre, with his first published story appearing in 1937 and his first novel, "Lest Darkness Fall," released in 1941. He is noted for his contributions to both fiction and non-fiction, including historical novels and biographies of notable figures like H. P. Lovecraft. Throughout his life, de Camp received various accolades, including the Hugo Award and induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II and later worked as a radio scriptwriter. De Camp passed away on November 6, 2000, in Texas, leaving behind a significant legacy in the realms of literature and engineering.
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Subject Terms
L. Sprague de Camp
Writer
- Born: November 27, 1907
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: November 6, 2000
Biography
Lyon Sprague de Camp was born in New York City on November 27, 1907, brother to Lyman Lyon de Camp. He was educated at Trinity School, North Carolina. He earned his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, in 1930. He spent the summer of 1932 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, gaining his M.S. in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1933.
He then took a job as an instructor at the Inventors Foundation Inc. in New York from 1933 to 1936. He served as principal of the School of Inventing and Patenting, International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, Pennsylvania, from 1936 to 1937. The experience here led to the publication of his first book,Inventions and Their Management, in 1937. He worked as an editor at Fowler-Baker Publishing company in New York in 1937, and at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in New York in 1938.
De Camp met Catherine A. Crook on New Year’s Eve, 1938, and they were married in New York on August 12, 1939. They had two sons, Lyman Sprague de Camp and Gerard Beekman de Camp. They were married for sixty years, Catherine dying only months before de Camp on April 9, 2000.
De Camp joined the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945 and served as lieutenant commander as a mechanical engineer at the naval aircraft factory in Philadelphia in 1942, working alongside Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, both of whom became well- known science fiction authors. After World War II, de Camp became the radio script writer for The Voice of America (1948-1956), and was publicity writer for Gray and Rogers in Philadelphia (1956).
De Camp’s first published story was “The Isolinguals” in the September, 1937, issue of Astounding Science Fiction. His first science fiction novel, Lest Darkness Fall, was published in 1941. He also published three collections of poetry during his career and was editor of many anthologies. His other work also includes historical novels, biographies of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, and recognized nonfiction pieces that include “The Ancient Engineers,” “The Day of the Dinosaur,” and “Great Cities of the Ancient World,” among others.
In 1997, de Camp received the Hugo Award for best non-fiction work for his autobiography, “Time and Chance.” He received the Grand Master Award for Lifetime Achievement in Fantasy in 1976, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award in 1984, and was inducted into Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1989. He died on November 6, 2000, in Plano, Texas, after suffering a major stroke.