Michael Jarrett Walsh owns and operates

Old Earth Books Old Earth Books is a specialty publisher which specializes in out-of-print and niche books, primarily in the science fiction genre. The name comes from the Cordwainer Smith ''Lords of the Instrumentality'' series. It is located in Baltimore, MD. I ...

, a

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

science fiction publisher. He primarily publishes re-prints, though occasionally he issues original books from established authors. His first publication was a short story collection ''Rude Astronauts'', by

Allen Steele Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. (born January 19, 1958) is an American journalist and science fiction author. Background Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 19, 1958. He was introduced to science fiction fandom attending meetings o ...

, published in 1993. He is active in science fiction fandom.

Biography

Walsh has been active in fandom since the 1960s. He attended his first science fiction convention in 1968, and was chair of

ConStellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

, the 1983 Worldcon in Baltimore. He chaired the World Fantasy Convention in 1995 in Baltimore, in 2003 in Washington DC, and co-chaired in 2014 in Washington DC; also chaired Balticon 15 in 1981;

Disclave Disclave was a science fiction convention run by the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) in or near Washington, D.C., in the spring of nearly every year from 1950 through 1997. By many counts, it was the third-oldest science fiction con ...

s in 1985, 1989, and 1992 (co-chair); and Capclave in 2005 and 2014. He was Fan Guest of Honor at Unicon, 1983; Balticon 29 (1995);

Lunacon Lunacon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention organized by the New York Science Fiction Society - The Lunarians, Inc. Held from 1957 to 2017, it was the oldest science fiction convention in (usually) New York State, and was gene ...

, 1997; Context, 1999; ConQuesT 33 (2002). In 2006 he was made a Fellow of

NESFA The New England Science Fiction Association, or NESFA, is a science fiction club centered in the New England area. It was founded in 1967, "by fans who wanted to ''do'' things in addition to socializing". NESFA is currently registered as a non-p ...

. He attends Baltimore Science Fiction Society meetings, and is a member of the

Washington Science Fiction Association The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is the oldest science fiction club in the Washington, D.C. area. It is also one of the oldest science fiction clubs, founded in 1947 by seven fans who met at that year's Worldcon in Philadelphia, the ...

(WSFA). In addition to being the chair of

and Capclave, he also held these elected offices in

: President 1986–1988 – Vice President 1983–1984, 1985–1986 – Trustee 1997–2000. He is a part-time publisher: he worked full time as a sales manager for

Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

from 1988 until his retirement. He has worked in the book industry in some capacity for most of his life. He has developed his publishing for a niche market that traditional publishers do not serve. In 2009, he received a World Fantasy Award for publishing a Howard Waldrop short story collection, the Special Award – Non-Professional, having been nominated twice before.-

References

External links

Old Earth Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Michael American book publishers (people) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)