Eric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell was a notable British science fiction writer born on January 6, 1905, in Camberley, Surrey, England. His upbringing was shaped by military influences, as he attended military schools and later served in the King's Regiment at age seventeen. Russell began his career in technical roles before transitioning to full-time writing in the late 1930s, with his first novel, *Sinister Barrier*, published serially in 1939. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force, after which he resumed his writing career.
Russell's work is characterized by its imaginative plots, humor, and exploration of controversial themes such as racial intolerance and emotional struggles. He was influenced by Charles Fort, particularly in his portrayal of humanity's vulnerability to external forces. Despite being British, Russell's primary readership was in the United States, where he became an accepted figure in science fiction. Over his lifetime, he authored eight novels and nearly eighty short stories, earning recognition, including the Science Fiction Achievement Award in 1955. Russell also made significant contributions to the science fiction community, being a founding member of the British Interplanetary Society and the British representative for the Fortean Society. His legacy continues to be honored, with posthumous inductions into various science fiction halls of fame.
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Eric Frank Russell
Author
- Born: January 6, 1905
- Birthplace: Camberley, Surrey, England
- Died: February 28, 1978
Biography
Born January 6, 1905, in Camberley, Surrey, England, science- fiction writer Eric Frank Russell was the son of a British army instructor. Throughout his childhood, Russell attended military schools, both in England and abroad. He spent some of his childhood in Egypt and Sudan. He entered the King’s Regiment at age seventeen and served for four years, after which he worked in such positions as switchboard operator and draftsman. Russell married his wife, Ellen, at age twenty-five and with her had one daughter, Erica.
In the first part of the 1930’s, Russell worked as a technical representative for steel and engineering companies in Liverpool, and toward the end of the decade, he began shifting toward full-time writing. His first novel, Sinister Barrier, was published serially in March, 1939. With the onset of World War II, Russell served in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1945, returning to writing when his service ended.
Russell was known for his humor, imagination, tight plotlines, and his use of controversial subject matter, including racial intolerance, insanity, and emotionally charged characters. He personally admired Charles Fort, the American journalist and author. Fort’s influence on Russell is apparent in his use of the theme of humans being helpless victims of outside forces. Russell was readily accepted as an American writer, even though he was British, because his work was mostly published in the United States. His first novel, Sinister Barrier, was the tale that helped John W. Campbell launch the magazine Unknown in 1939. Russell wrote eight novels and nearly eighty short stories in his lifetime. He retired in the mid- 1960’s from writing.
For his story “Allamagoosa,” Russell received the Science Fiction Achievement Award (now the Hugo Award) from the World Science Fiction Society in 1955. Thirty years later, he was the recipient of a Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for The Great Explosion, and he was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Russell was also the British representative for the Fortean Society.
Russell was known for the humor he inserted into his science fiction. He held a membership in the Science Fiction Writers of America and he was a founding member of the British Interplanetary Society. The Sydney Jones Library at the University of Liverpool houses Russell’s science-fiction- related papers, correspondence with other science-fiction writers and readers of the time such as John W. Campbell, and his manuscripts.