Stephen Tall
Stephen Tall was the pseudonym of Compton Newby Crook, an American author and educator born on June 14, 1908, in Rossville, Tennessee. He earned his degrees from George Peabody College, later becoming a biology instructor and professor at various universities, most notably at Towson State University, where he worked until his retirement in 1973. His academic background in ecology significantly influenced his writing, particularly in the realm of science fiction. Tall's literary career began in earnest in 1955, with his most recognized works centering on the adventures of the exploratory starship Stardust, which engage with ecological themes and alien encounters. Notable stories from this series include "Seventy Light-Years from Sol" and "The Bear with the Knot in Its Tail." His other works, such as "The People Beyond the Wall," reflect a more traditional narrative style, exploring themes of utopian societies. Crook passed away on June 15, 1981, and in his honor, the Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award was established in 1983 to recognize outstanding first novels in science fiction.
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Stephen Tall
- Born: June 14, 1908
- Birthplace: Rossville, Tennessee
- Died: June 15, 1981
Biography
Stephen Tall was the pseudonym of Compton Newby Crook, who was born on June 14, 1908, in Rossville, Tennessee, the son of a country doctor and a mother he described as “cultured” and “sensitive.” He attended George Peabody College, Nashville (which later became Vanderbilt University), obtaining a B.S. in 1932 and an M.A. in 1933. He worked thereafter as a science teacher at various institutions, including the Appalachian State University at Boone, North Carolina, Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, Western Reserve University in Cleveland, The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, before settling at Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1939. He was an instructor in biology, then a professor and department chairman, remaining there until his retirement in 1973, except for an interval during World War II, when he served as an intelligence officer in the Office of Strategic Services, with the rank of captain. He also worked for the National Park Service as a naturalist. He married Lucy Beverley Courtney; they had three children.
Crook apparently published some pseudonymous fiction in the 1930’s, which has not been traced, but his career as Stephen Tall began in 1955 when he published his first science-fiction story in Galaxy. He did nothing more for a decade, but published one story in 1966 before he began to publish on a more regular basis in 1970, when four stories appeared in quick succession. His most notable early works—about half of his short-fiction output—chronicled the exploits of the crew of the exploratory starship Stardust, who assess new worlds for possible colonization and investigate their alien inhabitants.
Tall’s academic expertise in ecology informs the stories in the Stardust series, the most notable of which are “Seventy Light-Years from Sol” (retitled “A Star Called Syrene”), which launched the series in 1966, and “The Bear with the Knot in Its Tail.” The deft use of biological ideas makes up for the rather stereotypical characters, but the whole series is rather old-fashioned, reminiscent in manner of the science-fiction pulp magazines Crook must have read in his youth. The six short stories in the series were collected as The Stardust Voyages (1975) before he added a novel-length episode, The Ramsgate Paradox (1976).
Tall’s other novel, The People Beyond the Wall (1980), is even more old-fashioned, being formulated as a lost- race story of a sort that had lost its warrant of plausibility fifty years earlier, although it has a certain quaint charm in consequence. It features a utopian society hidden beneath an Alaskan glacier; the first part—whose continuation seems vague and disconnected—might have been written much earlier than its publication date. Crook died on June 15, 1981. A Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award for the Best First Novel in the science-fiction field was established in 1983.