James Henry Schmitz (October 15, 1911 – April 18, 1981) was an American science fiction writer born in Hamburg, Germany of American parents.

Life

Schmitz was educated at a ''Realgymnasium'' in Hamburg, and grew up speaking both English and German. The family spent World War I in the United States, then returned to Germany. Schmitz traveled to Chicago in 1930 to go to business school, then switched to a correspondence course in journalism. Unable to find a job because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, he returned to Germany to work with his father's company. Schmitz lived in various German cities, where he worked for the International Harvester Company, until his family left shortly before World War II broke out in Europe. During World War II, Schmitz served as an

aerial photographer Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

in the Pacific for the United States Army Air Forces. After the war, he and his brother-in-law managed a business which manufactured trailers until they ended the business in 1949. After the war, he made his home in California, where he lived until his death. Schmitz died of congestive lung failure in 1981 after a five-week stay in hospital in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Betty Mae Chapman Schmitz.

Writing

Schmitz wrote mostly short stories, which sold chiefly to '' Galaxy Science Fiction'' and ''Astounding Science-Fiction'' (which later became ''

Analog Science Fiction and Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

''). '' Gale Biography in Context'' called him "a craftsmanlike writer who was a steady contributor to science fiction magazines for over 20 years." Schmitz is best known as a writer of "

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

", and for his strong female characters (such as

Telzey Amberdon Telzey Amberdon is a fictional character in a series of science fiction short stories and two short novels by American writer James H. Schmitz, taking place in his " Federation of the Hub" fictional universe, presumably in the mid-4th millennium. S ...

and Trigger Argee) who did not conform to the "

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

" stereotype typical of science fiction of the time. His first published story was "Greenface", published in August 1943 in '' Unknown''. Most of his works are part of the "Hub" series and feature characters with

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...

. However, the novel that "is usually thought of as Schmitz's best work" is ''

The Witches of Karres ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', concerning juvenile "witches" with genuine psi-powers and their escape from slavery. ''The Witches of Karres'' was nominated for a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

. In recent years, his novels and short stories have been republished by Baen Books, edited and with notes by Eric Flint. In an introductory essay comparing Schmitz with contemporary author A. E. van Vogt, Gardner Dozois wrote, "Although he lacked van Vogt's paranoid tension and ornately Byzantine plots, the late James H. Schmitz was considerably better at ''people'' than van Vogt was, crafting even his villains as complicated, psychologically complex, and non-stereotypical characters, full of surprising quirks and behaviors that you didn't see in a lot of other Space Adventure stuff." Dozois added:

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

writes in '' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', Greg Fowlkes, editor-in-chief of Resurrected Press, said, "During the 50s and 60s "Space Opera" and James H. Schmitz were almost synonymous. He was famous for his tales of interstellar secret agents and galactic criminals, and particularly for heroines such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. Many of these characters had enhanced "psionic" powers that let them use their minds as well as their weapons to foil their enemies. All of them were resourceful in the best heroic tradition." In an essay in the anthology ''

The Good Old Stuff ''The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition'' is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Gardner Dozois. It was first published in trade paperback by St. Martin's Griffin in December 1998, with an ebook following from t ...

'' (1998), Dozois laments that the book ''Agent of Vega'' is "long out-of-print, alas, but one which – if you can find it – delivers as pure a jolt of Widescreen Space Opera Sense of wonder as can be found anywhere." However, the website Free Speculative Fiction Online freely offers ''Agent of Vega'', along with several of Schmitz's other stories, including "Greenface", "Balanced Ecology", "Lion Loose", "Goblin Night", and many more. Schmitz wrote the introduction to the concordance ''The Universes of E. E. Smith''.

Legacy

Gardner Dozois has said, in prefacing the Schmitz tale "The Second Night of Summer", in which humans on the planet Noorhut face an attack from aliens and are, unbeknownst to themselves, saved by the actions of a single woman with psi powers, Granny Wannattel, with the sole help of a friendly alien she calls her pony: With his popular equality-between-the-sexes fiction, Schmitz eased the way for later writers such as Joanna Russ,

James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...

Kit Reed Kit Reed, born Lillian Hyde Craig or Lil(l)ian Craig Reed (June 7, 1932 – September 24, 2017), was an American author of both speculative fiction and literary fiction, as well as psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Kit Craig. Biog ...

, Connie Willis,

Sheri S. Tepper Sheri Stewart Tepper (July 16, 1929 – October 22, 2016) was an American writer of science fiction, horror and mystery novels. She is primarily known for her feminist science fiction, which explored themes of sociology, gender and equality, as ...

, and other science fiction authors who used female protagonists and feminine point-of-view more than half the time. Of "The Second Night of Summer", Dozois went on to write, "the hero of the piece is not only a woman, but an ''old'' woman ... a choice that most adventure writers wouldn't even make ''now'', in 1998, let alone in 1950, which is when Schmitz made it!" Mercedes Lackey places her first meeting with science fiction at age 10 or 11, when she happened to pick up her father's copy of James H. Schmitz's ''Agent of Vega''.

Short works

Listed chronologically, with month and year of publication, as well as the magazine, listed in parentheses.

1940s

*"Greenface" (August 1943, ''Unknown'') *"Agent of Vega" (July 1949, '' Astounding'') *"

" (Novella, December 1949, ''Astounding'')

1950s

*"The Truth About Cushgar" (November 1950, ''Astounding'')
The Second Night of Summer
(December 1950, '' Galaxy Science Fiction'') *"Space Fear" (March 1951, ''Astounding'') *"Captives of the Thieve Star" (May 1951, '' Planet Stories'') *"The End of the Line" (July 1951, ''Astounding'')
The Altruist
(September 1952, ''Galaxy Science Fiction'')
We Don't Want Any Trouble
(June 1953, ''Galaxy Science Fiction'')
Caretaker
(July 1953, ''Galaxy Science Fiction'') *"The Vampirate" (December 1953, '' Science-Fiction Plus'') *"Grandpa" (February 1955, ''Astounding'')
The Ties of Earth
(November 1955, ''Galaxy'' Part 1)(January 1956, ''Galaxy'
part 2
*"Sour Note on Palayata" (November 1956, ''Astounding'') *"The Big Terrarium" (May 1957, ''

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

'') *"Harvest Time" (September 1958, ''Astounding'') *"Summer Guests" (September 1959, '' Worlds of If'')

1960s

*"The Illusionists" (retitle of ''Space Fear'', 1960, ''Agent of Vega'') *"Gone Fishing" (May 1961, '' Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Lion Loose..." (October 1961, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"The Star Hyacinths" (December 1961, '' Amazing Stories'') *"An Incident on Route 12" (January 1962, ''Worlds of If'') *"Swift Completion" (March 1962, '' Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'') *"Novice" (June 1962, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"The Other Likeness" (July 1962, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Rogue Psi" (August 1962, ''Amazing Stories'') *"Watch the Sky" (August 1962, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"These Are the Arts" (September 1962, '' The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'') *"The Winds of Time" (September 1962, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Left Hand, Right Hand" (November 1962, ''Amazing Stories'') *"Beacon to Elsewhere" (April 1963, ''Amazing Stories'') *"Oneness" (May 1963, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Ham Sandwich" (June 1963, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Undercurrents" (May 1964, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Clean Slate" (September 1964, ''Amazing Stories'') *"The Machmen" (September 1964, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"A Nice Day for Screaming" (January 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'')
Planet of Forgetting
(February 1965, ''Galaxy Science Fiction'') *"The Pork Chop Tree" (February 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Balanced Ecology" (March 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Goblin Night" (April 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Trouble Tide" (May 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Research Alpha" (July 1965, ''Worlds of If'') *"Sleep No More" (August 1965, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Space Master" (1965, ''

New Writings in SF 3 ''New Writings in SF 3'' is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by John Carnell, the third volume in a series of thirty, of which he edited the first twenty-one. It was first published in hardcover by Dennis Dobson in 1965, followe ...

'') *"The Tangled Web" (retitle of ''The Star Hyacinths'', 1965, ''A Nice Day for Screaming and Other Tales of the Hub'') *"Faddist" (January 1966, ''

Bizarre Mystery Magazine Bizarre may refer to: *Bizarre (rapper) (born 1976), an American rapper and member of hip hop group D12 * Bizarre (band), a Spanish rock band * ''Bizarre'' (TV series), a Canadian sketch comedy television series * ''Bizarre'' (magazine), a siste ...

'') *"The Searcher" (February 1966, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"

" (Novel, 1966) *"The Tuvela" (September 1968, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Where the Time Went" (November 1968, ''Worlds of If'') *"The Custodians" (December 1968, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Just Curious" (December 1968, ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'') *"Attitudes" (February 1969, ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'') *"Would You?" (December 1969, '' Fantastic'')

1970s

*"Resident Witch" (May 1970, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Compulsion" (June 1970, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"The Telzey Toy" (January 1971, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Company Planet" (May 1971, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Glory Day" (June 1971, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Poltergeist" (July 1971, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"The Lion Game" (August 1971, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Child of the Gods" (March 1972, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"The Symbiotes" (September 1972, ''Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact'') *"Crime Buff" (August 1973, ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'') *"One Step Ahead" (April 1974, ''Worlds of If'') *"Aura of Immortality" (June 1974, ''Worlds of If'')

2000s

*"Blood of Nalakia" (retitle of ''The Vampirate'', 2000, ''Telzey Amberdon'') *"Ti's Toys" (retitle of ''The Telzey Toy'', 2000, ''T'nT: Telzey & Trigger'') *"Forget It" (retitle of ''Planet of Forgetting'', January 2001, ''Trigger & Friends'')

Collections

Listed by title, with chronological publishing list.

*'' Agent of Vega'' **Includes: ''Agent of Vega; The Illusionists; The Truth About Cushgar; The Second Night of Summer **Hardcover, 1960, Gnome Press, listed on cover as "James A. Schmitz" **Paperback, June 1962, Permabook **Paperback, June 1964, Mayflower **Paperback, 1973, Tempo Books/

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

**Paperback, 1982,

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

*''Agent of Vega & Other Stories'' **Includes: '' Agent of Vega; The Illusionists; The Second Night of Summer; The Truth About Cushgar; The Custodians; Gone Fishing; The Beacon to Elsewhere; The End of the Line; Watch the Sky; Greenface; Rogue Psi''. **Paperback, November 2001, Baen Books *''The Best of James H. Schmitz'' **Includes: ''Grandpa; Lion Loose...; Just Curious; The Second Night of Summer; Novice; Balanced Ecology; The Custodians; Sour Note on Palayata; Goblin Night''. **Hardcover, 1991, NESFA Press *''Eternal Frontier'' **Includes: ''The Big Terrarium; Summer Guests; Captives of the Thieve-Star; Caretaker; One Step Ahead; Left Hand, Right Hand; The Ties of Earth; Spacemaster; The Altruist; Oneness; We Don't Want Any Trouble; Just Curious; Would You?; These Are the Arts; Clean Slate; Crime Buff; Ham Sandwich; Where the Time Went; An Incident on Route 12; Swift Completion; Faddist; The Eternal Frontiers''. **Paperback, September 2002, Baen Books *''The Hub: Dangerous Territory'' **Includes: ''The Searcher; Grandpa; Balanced Ecology; A Nice Day for Screaming; The Winds of Time; The Machmen; The Other Likeness; Attitudes; Trouble Tide; The Demon Breed''. **Paperback, 2001, Baen Books *''The Lion Game'' **Includes: ''Goblin Night; Sleep No More; The Lion Game''. **Paperback, 1973, DAW Books **Hardcover, 1976, Sidgwick & Jackson **Paperback, 1979, Hamlyn **Paperback, 1982, Ace Books

*''A Nice Day for Screaming and Other Tales of the Hub'' **Includes: ''Balanced Ecology; A Nice Day for Screaming; The Tangled Web; The Machmen; The Other Likeness; The Winds of Time''. **Hardcover, 1965, Chilton *''A Pride of Monsters'' **Includes: ''Lion Loose; The Searcher; The Winds of Time; The Pork Chop Tree; Greenface''. **Hardcover, 1970,

MacMillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

**Paperback, 1973, Collier *''Telzey Amberdon'' **Includes: ''Novice; Undercurrents; Poltergeist; Goblin Night; Sleep No More; The Lion Game; Blood of Nalakia; The Star Hyacinths''. **Paperback, April 2000, Baen Books *''The Telzey Toy'' **Includes: ''The Telzey Toy; Resident Witch; Compulsion; Company Planet''. **Paperback, 1973, DAW Books **Hardcover, 1976, Sidgwick & Jackson **Hardcover, 1978, Sidgwick & Jackson, in a 3-in-1 collection titled ''Special 24'' **Paperback, 1982, Ace Books **Paperback, 1983, Hamlyn *''The Universe Against Her'' **Includes: ''Novice; Undercurrents''. **Paperback, 1964, Ace Books **Paperback, 1979, Ace Books **Hardcover, 1981,

Gregg Press Gregg Press was founded about 1965 by Charles Gregg in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey to distribute in the United States the antiquarian reprints published in the UK by Gregg Press International. Gregg decided he wanted to publish scholarly repri ...

*''T'nT: Telzey & Trigger'' **Includes: ''Company Planet; Resident Witch; Compulsion'' (includes ''The Pork Chop Tree'' as prolog); ''Glory Day; Child of the Gods; Ti's Toys; Symbiotes''. **Paperback, July 2000, Baen Books *''Trigger & Friends'' **Includes: ''Lion Loose; Harvest Time; Forget It; Aura of Immortality; Legacy; A Sour Note on Palayata''. **Paperback, January 2001, Baen Books *''The Winds of Time'' **Includes: ''An Incident on Route 12; Watch the Sky; The Winds of Time; Lion Loose''. **Paperback, February 2008, Wildside Press

Novels

Listed by title, with chronological publishing list. *''

The Demon Breed ''The Demon Breed'' is a 1968 science fiction novel by James H. Schmitz, originally serialized in ''Analog'' in a shorter form as "The Tuvela". It was first published in paperback in the Ace Science Fiction Specials line, with a Science Fiction Bo ...

'' (retitle of ''The Tuvela'') **Hardcover, 1968,

/SFBC **Paperback, 1968, Ace Books **Hardcover, 1969,

MacDonald Macdonald, MacDonald or McDonald may refer to: Organisations * McDonald's, a chain of fast food restaurants * McDonald & Co., a former investment firm * MacDonald Motorsports, a NASCAR team * Macdonald Realty, a Canadian real estate brokerage f ...

**Hardcover, 1971, UK SFBC/ Newton Abbot **Paperback, 1974, Orbit Books **Paperback, 1979, Ace Books/SFBC **Paperback, 1981, Ace Books *''The Eternal Frontiers'' **Hardcover, 1973, G. P. Putnam's Sons **Paperback, 1973,

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...

**Hardcover, 1974, Sidgwick & Jackson **Hardcover, 1976, Sidgwick & Jackson (in a 3-in-1 compilation titled ''Special 18'') *''Legacy'' (retitle of ''A Tale of Two Clocks'', paperback, 1979, Ace Books
(available from gutenberg)
*''A Tale of Two Clocks'' **Hardcover, 1962,

Torquil Books Torquil is an Anglicised form of the Norwegian language, Norwegian and Swedish language, Swedish masculine name ''Torkel'', and the Scottish Gaelic name ''Torcall''. The Scottish Gaelic name ''Torcall'' is a Gaelicisation, Gaelicised form of the ...

/ SFBC **Paperback, 1965,

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*''The Witches of Karres'' **Hardcover, 1966, Chilton **Paperback, 1966 (twice), Ace Books **Paperback, 1977, Ace Books **Paperback, 1981, Ace Books **Paperback, 1988,

Gollancz Gollancz may refer to: * Gollancz (surname), a Polish-Jewish surname * Victor Gollancz Ltd, a former British publishing house, now used as an imprint by the Orion Publishing Group See also * Gołańcz Gołańcz (german: Gollantsch) is a town ...

**Hardcover, 1992, Baen Books/SFBC

Related books

*''The Wizard of Karres'', by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2004 ::This is a sequel of ''The Witches of Karres'' which follows the continuing adventures of Captain Pausert, Goth, and the Leewit. *''The Sorceress of Karres'', by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2010 ::This is a sequel of ''The Wizard of Karres'' which follows the continuing adventures of Captain Pausert, Goth, and the Leewit. *''The Shaman of Karres'', by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2020 ::This is a sequel of ''The Sorceress of Karres'' which follows the continuing adventures of Captain Pausert, Goth, and the Leewit.

References

External links

*
James H. Schmitz obituary

The James H. Schmitz Encyclopedia

SciFan database

* * *

at ''Free Speculative Fiction Online'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, James H. 1911 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Writers from Hamburg United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers American expatriates in Germany World War II photographers