Thaddeus Maxim Eugene (Ted) Dikty (June 16, 1920 – October 11, 1991) was an American
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
who also played a role as one of the earliest
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 ...
anthologist
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...
s, and as a
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
.
Early career
In 1947, Dikty joined
Shasta Publishers
Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all science fiction fans from the Chicago area. The name of the press was ...
as
managing editor
A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication.
United States
In the United States, a managing edito ...
. With
E. F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...
he started the first "Best of the Year" science fiction anthologies, called ''The Best Science Fiction'', which ran from 1949 until 1957.
In 1953, he married writer
Julian May
Julian Clare May (July 10, 1931 – October 17, 2017) was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several literary pseudonyms. She is best known for her ''Saga of Pliocene Exile'' (''Saga of the ...
, whom he had met at a
science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expres ...
in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Both of them worked for
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, subdivision_name ...
-area publishers; in 1957 the two started Publication Associates, an editorial service which created books (from writing to completion of bound copies) for specialty children's publishers who sold primarily to the school and library markets: May did the writing, and Dikty served as designer and producer. In the early 1970s Dikty and partners started a small press, FAX Collector's Editions, which reprinted selected
pulp-era (and earlier) SF stories and novels, and had some commercial success with reprints of work by
Robert E. Howard (creator of
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
).
Starmont House and death
In 1976, after the family had moved to
West Linn, Oregon
West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn developed on the site of the former Linn City, which was named after U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Ste. Genevieve ...
, Dikty founded the specialty publisher Starmont House, which published non-fiction about the science fiction field. At the time of his death in 1991 at the age of 71, Dikty and May had moved to
Mercer Island, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to i ...
; his daughter, Barbara Dikty, had already been made president of Starmont House, Inc. by then.
Robert, Reginald M. "A Requiem for Starmont House (1976-1993)"
''Science Fiction Studies
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fic ...
'' #61 (Volume 20, Part 3; November 1993)
In September 2013, he was posthumously named to the First Fandom Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the 71st World Science Fiction Convention
The 71st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as LoneStarCon 3, was held on 29 August–2 September 2013 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
The convention ...
.
Bibliography
The Best Science Fiction
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1950'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1952'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1953'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1954'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' Year's Best Science Fiction Novels: 1952'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' Year's Best Science Fiction Novels: 1953'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' Year's Best Science Fiction Novels: 1954'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
)
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1955''
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1956''
* '' The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: Ninth Series'' (1958)
Others
* '' Imagination Unlimited'' (with Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...
, 1952)
* '' Every Boy's Book of Outer Space Stories'' (1960)
* '' Great Science Fiction Stories About Mars'' (1966)
* '' Great Science Fiction Stories About the Moon'' (1967)
References
External links
T. E. Dikty
at 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 ...
*
*
Bibliography
on SciFan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dikty, Thaddeus Maxim Eugene
American science fiction writers
1920 births
1991 deaths
Science fiction editors
People from Mercer Island, Washington
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
Managing editors
American speculative fiction editors
American speculative fiction publishers (people)
20th-century American male writers