Kurt Mahr
Kurt Mahr, born Klaus Mahn on March 8, 1936, in Germany, is primarily recognized for his contributions to the science fiction genre, particularly through his involvement in the Perry Rhodan series. This series, notable for being one of the longest-running science fiction serials, features a narrative that encompasses thousands of stories published in various formats. Mahr began writing for the series shortly after its inception and was pivotal in shaping its early storylines, including his first tale, "Atom-Alarm," which drew inspiration from President John F. Kennedy's moon landing ambitions.
The Perry Rhodan saga is marked by its expansive universe, where themes of advanced alien technology, interstellar adventures, and complex character relationships, such as the romance between Perry and the alien Thora, unfold. Despite facing criticism for its simplistic plotting, the series gained a substantial following, leading to translations in multiple languages and adaptations, including a film titled "Mission Stardust." In the United States, the series was popularized through innovative publishing formats created by Forrest J. Ackerman, which blended elements of magazines and books. Mahr continued to write for the series until 1977 and passed away on June 27, 1993, in Florida. His legacy endures in the realm of science fiction literature.
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Kurt Mahr
Writer
- Born: March 8, 1936
- Birthplace: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Died: June 27, 1993
- Place of death: Florida
Biography
Kurt Mahr is the pseudonym of Klaus Mahn, who was born on March 8, 1936, in Germany. Although he wrote several science- fiction series and published other work in Europe, Mahr is best known in the United States for his series featuring Perry Rhodan. The Rhodan series apparently is the longest science-fiction serial ever written, consisting of several thousand stories of various lengths published originally in venues ranging from small booklets to paperbacks. The series was created by Walter Ernstling, who wrote for it under the name Clark Darlton, and K. H. Scheer. A number of writers have produced the long-running saga. Mahr was involved in the series since its inception and began writing about Rhodan until 1961.
Mahr’s first Rhodan story, Atom-Alarm (1961; Galactic Alarm, 1969) was based on President John F. Kennedy’s declaration that a moon landing would be made by the end of the decade. Rhodan was the commander of the first moon expedition, which took place in the then-future date of 1971. The American astronauts who land on the moon find a crashed alien ship, built by a race called the Arkonides. Some of the crew still survives, including an alien woman named Thora, who starts out as Perry’s enemy but over the course of the series falls in love with him, becomes his wife, and eventually sacrifices herself in one of the adventures. From the aliens, Perry and his crew acquire highly advanced technology which allows them to prevent a nuclear war, harness a faster-than-light drive, have adventures among the stars, achieve immortality, and generally cover every science-fiction theme ever conceived.
Critics have lambasted the stories as throwbacks to poor pulp science-fiction plotting. But the series proved popular with readers, was translated from German into numerous languages, including English, and resulted in a film, Mission Stardust (1967), which greatly reduced the scope of the saga on which it was based.
In the United States, Forrest J. Ackerman, a Los Angeles-based science-fiction editor, collector, agent, and fan, brought the series to the consciousness of science-fiction readers. Ackerman conceived of a paperback format which he called a maga-book, or a paperback book with a magazine format. These maga-books, published by Ace Books, contained a translated Rhodan tale as their lead story, a few short stories, an editorial by Ackerman, a letters column, film reviews, and features more commonly associated with magazines than with books. The maga-book series was published from 1969 to 1977.
Mahr wrote his last Rhodan stories in 1977. He died on June 27, 1993, in Florida.