Mildred McElroy Clingerman (March 14, 1918 – February 26, 1997) was an American

science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abn ...

. Clingerman was born Mildred McElroy in

Allen, Oklahoma Allen is a town in Hughes and Pontotoc counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 932 at the 2010 census. Geography Allen is located on State Highway 1, approximately northeast of Ada, which is the county seat of Pontotoc Cou ...

, and her family moved to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, in 1929. She graduated from

Tucson High School Tucson High Magnet School , commonly referred to as THMS, THS, or Tucson High, is a public high school in Tucson, Arizona. It is part of the Tucson Unified School District with magnet programs in Technology, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. Th ...

and attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. She married Stuart Clingerman in 1937. Most of her short stories were published in the 1950s in ''

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 ...

'', edited by

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

. Boucher included her story "The Wild Wood" in the seventh volume (1958) of ''The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction'' and dedicated the book to her, calling her the "most serendipitous of discoveries." Her science fiction was collected as ''A Cupful of Space'' in 1961. She also published in mainstream magazines like ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'' and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

''. Her story "The Little Witch of Elm Street" appeared in ''

Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...

'' in 1956. Married women are portrayed in stories like “The Wild Wood” (January 1957 F&SF) or “A Red Heart and Blue Roses” (original to her collection); they suffer violations of body space, male intrusiveness, and the impostures of aliens. Her stories have also appeared in several anthologies, including literature textbooks for middle and high school students. A 2017 anthology
''The Clingerman Files''
includes all of her originally published stories. Clingerman was a collector of books of all kinds, especially those by and about

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...

, and of Victorian travel journals. She was a founder of the Tucson Writer's Club and served on the board of the Tucson Press Club. She was posthumously awarded the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award in 2014.

Awards

2014

Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award The Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award honors underread science fiction and fantasy authors, with the intention of drawing renewed attention to the winners. The award was created in 2001 by the Cordwainer Smith Foundation in memory of the science ...

Selected works

“First Lesson” (''Collier’s Weekly'', June 1955) “Stickney and the Critic” (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', February 1953) “Stair Trick” (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', August 1952) “Minister Without Portfolio (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', February 1952) “Letters From Laura” (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', October 1954) “The Last Prophet” (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', August 1955) ''A Cupful of Space'' (Ballantine, 1961) “Red Heart and Blue Roses” (''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', May 1964) ''The Clingerman Files'' (2017)

References

External Links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clingerman, Mildred 1918 births 1997 deaths American science fiction writers American women short story writers Writers from Tucson, Arizona University of Arizona alumni University of Arizona faculty Novelists from Oklahoma Women science fiction and fantasy writers American women novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Arizona People from Allen, Oklahoma American women academics Tucson High School alumni