Andrew Ian Porter (born March 24, 1946) is an American editor, publisher and active

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fan.

Background

Born Andrew Ian Silverberg on March 24, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan, he moved to New York City with his mother and brother in 1956 upon the death of his father the previous year. His name was legally changed in 1964 when his mother remarried. He was a student at

Milford Academy Milford Academy is a post-secondary school founded in 1916 as Yale Preparatory School. It has been located in New Berlin, New York since 2004. Although founded as a preparatory school, its current focus is as a school for athletes who have th ...

, which at the time was operating as a boys'

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

Fandom

Porter entered

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

in 1960. He had been calling science fiction writers in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

telephone books to discuss science fiction, and

Donald Wollheim Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pear ...

put him in touch with local science fiction fandom in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He became active in fan groups including the Lunarians, FISTFA (the Fannish Insurgent, Scientifiction Association) and the Fanoclasts, then hosted by Ted White. In 1960 he had his first news-related column on upcoming paperbacks, printed in

James V. Taurasi James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

's ''Science Fiction Times''. He published many different fanzines, beginning with '' Algol'', including the newszine '' S.F.Weekly'' from 1966 to 1968. He started his semiprozine '' Science Fiction Chronicle'' in 1979. He has attended hundreds of science fiction conventions and nearly 40 World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons) since his first in 1963. He worked on conventions in the US, Canada and overseas, and was on the central committee of the 1967 Worldcon, NYCon 3. With

John Bangsund John Bangsund (21 April 1939 – 22 August 2020) was a prominent Australian science fiction fan in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He was a major force, with Andrew I. Porter, behind Australia winning the right to host the 1975 Aussiecon, and he ...

, he was responsible for Australia hosting its first Worldcon. He was Fan Guest of Honor at several conventions, most notably the 1990 Worldcon, ConFiction. He won the fanzine Hugo in 1974 for his fanzine/semiprozine ''Algol'' (later renamed ''Starship''), and the semiprozine Hugo in 1993 and 1994 for ''Science Fiction Chronicle''. He has a total of twenty-three additional nominations for Best Fanzine or Best Semipro Zine. In 1991, he received a Special Committee Award at the Worldcon, for Distinguished Semiprozine Work; in 1992 he received a Special British Fantasy Award. He sold ''Science Fiction Chronicle'' to

DNA Publications DNA Publications was an American publishing company that existed from 1993 to 2007 and was run by the husband-and-wife team of Warren Lapine and Angela Kessler. Initially based in Massachusetts, DNA Publications relocated to Radford, Virginia. A ...

in May 2000 and was fired in 2002. In 2006, he was diagnosed with liver bile duct cancer, for which he was operated on successfully in 2007, followed by five months of chemotherapy. He is now cancer free. At the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal, Anticipation, he received the Big Heart Award. In 2010, he finally realized his dream of going to an Australian WorldCon, AussieCon IV.

Professional work

In publishing, he was a

proofreader Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or an electronic copy of a publication to find and correct reproduction errors of text or art. Proofreading is the final step in the editorial cycle before publication. Professional Traditional m ...

and

copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

, was assistant editor on ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'' from 1966 to 1974, associate editor at the paperback publisher Lancer Books in the late 1960s, and was a

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

editor and advertising production manager on such titles as ''Rudder'', ''Quick Frozen Foods'' (under editor

Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...

), ''QFF International'', ''Construction Equipment'', and ''Electro-Procurement''. He was editor/designer/publisher of '' The Book of Ellison'', a hardcover/trade paperback published to honor

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

’s 1978 stint as Worldcon Pro Guest of Honor. His other publications, under the Algol Press imprint, are '' Dreams Must Explain Themselves'' by

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

, '' Exploring Cordwainer Smith'', '' Experiment Perilous: The Art and Science of Anguish In Science Fiction'' (with essays by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Alfred Bester and Norman Spinrad), and '' The Fiction of James Tiptree, Jr.'' by Gardner Dozois. He has sold articles and photos to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', '' Omni'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. He is a

resident.

Sources

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

page 949

References

External links

* * (''Algol'')
"Chronicle"
at WorldCat (''Science Fiction Chronicle'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Andrew I. 1946 births American magazine editors American science fiction writers American speculative fiction critics American speculative fiction editors Hugo Award-winning fan writers Living people Science fiction critics Science fiction editors Milford Academy alumni American male novelists Journalists from New York City Novelists from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers