Martin Greenberg (June 28, 1918 – October 20, 2013) was an American book publisher and editor of

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 ...

anthologies.

Biography

Greenberg married in 1941. He was in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

from 1942 to 1945 where he attained the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

and won five battle stars. After leaving the Army, Greenberg was associated with the small press publisher New Collector's Group founded by Paul Dennis O'Connor and

Hannes Bok Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Francis Woodard (, ; July 2, 1914 – April 11, 1964), was an American artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for various sc ...

. Greenberg and O'Conner clashed about the direction of the press, causing Greenberg to leave, taking the rights to '' The Carnelian Cube'' by

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

and

Fletcher Pratt Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp. ...

as his buyout fee. In 1948, Greenberg founded

Gnome Press Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classi ...

with

David Kyle David A. Kyle (February 14, 1919 – September 18, 2016) was an American science fiction writer and member of science fiction fandom. Professional career Kyle served as a reporter in the Air Force Reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel, ...

, a fellow member of the

Hydra Club The Hydra Club was a social organization of science fiction professionals and fans. It met in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. History It was founded October 25, 1947 in the apartment of Judith Merril and Frederik Pohl on Grove Street in ...

, a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based science fiction club. ''The Carnelian Cube'' was the first book published by the new press. Greenberg edited a number of themed anthologies for Gnome Press. He was involved in disputes with authors concerning payment, and

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

called him a "crook". Greenberg, with Gnome Press, was the first publisher of Asimov's epic

Foundation Trilogy The ''Foundation'' series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories in 1942–50, and subsequently in three collections in 1951–53, for thirty years the series was ...

, but those rights were long ago transferred to Doubleday. Ultimately, Gnome Press was not successful and it went out of business in 1962. Greenberg went on to work as a mainstream editor for Abelard–Schuman. Later on, he ran an art supply store on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

before retiring. Greenberg died in October 2013 at the age of 95.Publisher Martin Greenberg’s death announced
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Awards

* 2000

First Fandom Hall of Fame award First Fandom Hall of Fame is an annual award for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. Contributions can be as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent, or any combination of the five. It is awarded by First Fa ...

References

* * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Martin 1918 births 2013 deaths American speculative fiction editors American speculative fiction publishers (people) Science fiction fans Science fiction editors Businesspeople from New York City German–English translators United States Army soldiers 20th-century translators 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II