Tom Godwin (June 6, 1915 – August 31, 1980) was an American

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 ...

author active throughout the 1950s into the 1970s. In his career, Godwin published three novels and around thirty short stories. He is best known for his short story, "

The Cold Equations "The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin, first published in ''Astounding Magazine'' in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science-fiction short s ...

". Published in 1954, the short story was Godwin’s fourth work to be published and was one whose controversial dark ending helped redefine the genre.

Early life and education

Godwin was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1915. He had a rough childhood that was marked by much loss and suffering. At the age of five, his younger sister died as a result of an accidental shooting that occurred after he had been "playing with the gun that killed her". After his mother's death, he was raised by his father, with whom he did not have the best relationship. He withdrew from school after the third grade, but he went on to teach himself multiple other subjects to expand his knowledge and be able to write better stories.

Personal life

Godwin had a spinal disorder known as

kyphosis Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result fr ...

, which results in a curvature of the spine, making him appear hunchbacked. He spent a few months in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

before he was discharged due to his spinal condition worsening. In the early 1960s, Godwin was living in a remote area of northwestern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

with his father writing and making his own

drywasher A drywasher is a common desert mining tool for gold mining. A drywasher is like a highbanker, since it uses a motor and a form of sluice, but it has no need for water. It drywasher operates by the use of air. By forcing air to flow up thro ...

s to sell. It was in the summer of 1961 that he met his future wife, Laureola Godwin, and his then twelve-year-old step-daughter, whom he later adopted, Diane Godwin Sullivan, through the sale of one of his drywashers. He went on to base two of the main characters in his second novel, ''The Space Barbarians'', after them. He worked for the forest service in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state for a short period of time. His wife died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in the early 1970s. This was something that had a heavy impact on him for the rest of his life. After living with his adopted daughter and her family in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for some time after his wife's death, he moved to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Death

Throughout his life, Godwin battled with

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-relat ...

with varying degrees of success in being able to control it. It was his wife's death that eventually led him to be "consume by drinking which led to many health problems. Godwin died in a

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

hospital in the summer of 1980. He did not have any identification on him so his body was held at a funeral home until a friend of his who was a

physician assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of Mid-level practitioner, mid-level health care provider. In North America PAs may diagnose illnesses, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and may serve as a pri ...

learned of his death and contacted his daughter, Diane.

Works

Novels

Ragnarok series: *'' The Survivors'' (

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 ...

, 1958; also known as ''Space Prison'',

Pyramid Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...

, 1960) *''The Space Barbarians'' (Pyramid Books, 1964) Others: *''Beyond Another Sun'' (

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...

, 1971)

Short stories

* "The Gulf Between" in ''

Astounding ''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 Cl ...

'', October 1953 * "Mother of Invention" in ''Astounding'', December 1953 * "The Greater Thing" in ''Astounding'', February 1954 * "

" in ''Astounding'', August 1954 * "No Species Alone" in ''Universe'', November 1954 * "You Created Us" in ''

Fantastic Universe ''Fantastic Universe'' was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishin ...

'', October 1955 * "The Barbarians" in '' If'', December 1955 * "Operation Opera" in ''

Fantasy and 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 ...

'', April 1956 * "Brain Teaser" in ''If'', October 1956 * "Too Soon to Die" (basis for his novel ''The Survivors'') in ''

Venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

'', March 1957 * "The Harvest" in ''Venture'', July 1957 * "The Last Victory" in ''If'', August 1957 * "The Nothing Equation" in ''Amazing'', December 1957 * "The Wild Ones" in ''Science Fiction Stories'', January 1958 * "My Brother - The Ape" in ''Amazing'', January 1958 * "Cry From a Far Planet" in ''Amazing'', September 1958 * "A Place Beyond the Stars" in ''

Super-Science Fiction ''Super-Science Fiction'' was an American digest science fiction magazine published from 1956 to 1959, edited by W. W. Scott and published by Feature Publications. Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison, who were at the start of their careers at ...

'', February 1959 * "Empathy" in ''Fantastic'', October 1959 * "The Helpful Hand of God" in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', December 1961 * "...and Devious the Line of Duty" in ''Analog'', December 1962 * "Desert Execution" in '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Magazine'', July 1967 * "The Gentle Captive" in the original story anthology ''Signs and Wonders'' (1972) * "She Was a Child" in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'', April 1973 * "We'll Walk Again in the Moonlight" in the anthology ''Crisis'' (1974) * "Backfire" in ''Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Mystery Magazine'', April 1975 * "The Steel Guardian" in ''

Antaeus Antaeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀνταῖος ''Antaîos'', "opponent", derived from , ''antao'' – 'I face, I oppose'), known to the Berbers as Anti, was a figure in Berber and Greek mythology. He was famed for his defeat by Heracles as part o ...

'', Spring/Summer 1977 * "Social Blunder" in ''Amazing'', July 1977 * "Before Willows Ever Walked" in ''Fantasy and Science Fiction'', March 1980

Collections

The following stories are collected in the book
''The Cold Equations & Other Stories''
ed.

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...

(

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

, 2004): * "The Survivors" • novel * "The Harvest" • short story * "Brain Teaser" • short story * "Mother of Invention" • novella * "...and Devious the Line of Duty" • novelette * "Empathy" • novelette * "No Species Alone" • novelette * "The Gulf Between" • novella * "The Cold Equations" • novelette

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Tom 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers 1915 births 1980 deaths American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers