Stephen Willis Stiles (July 16, 1943 – January 11, 2020) was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

and writer, coming out of the

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" wa ...

tradition. He won the 2016

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

for Best Fan Artist.

Early life and education

Steven Willis Stiles was born to Norma and Irvin Stiles. He had two brothers, Randy and Jeff. Stiles studied at

The High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

and the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and later wrote about this in his essay, "Art School":

Illustration and design

His first cartoon for a fanzine appeared in ''Cry of the Nameless'', edited by

F.M. Busby Francis Marion Busby (March 11, 1921 – February 17, 2005) was an American science fiction writer and science fiction fan. In 1960 he was a co-winner of the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine. Biography Francis Busby was born in Indianapolis, the son of ...

and

Elinor Busby Elinor Busby (born 1924) is an American science fiction writer and fanzine editor. In 1960, she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award. Biography Elinor Doub was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1924. She married editor and writer F. M. Busb ...

. A fanzine interlineation he coined ("Death is nature's way of telling you when to stop") became a national

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

after it was reprinted in '' Pageant'' in 1962. His work (art and text) has since appeared in leading fanzines ('' Xero'', '' Void'', ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...

'', ''

Trap Door A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

'') as well as the more obscure (''Vojo de Vivo''). He publishes his own fanzine, ''SAM''. There were nine years between ''SAM'' #14 and #15, the latter being published in 1983; and ''SAM'' #16 was published 31 years later, in 2014, in anticipation of the 2014

Corflu Corflu is a science fiction fanzine convention held each spring in North America (and three times in Britain). It is named after a slang term for the "correction fluid" used in mimeograph printing, a common way to produce fanzines before the arrival ...

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 expre ...

Professional work

His first professional sale was in 1961, which was a cartoon for

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American author, journalist, and comedian. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key ...

's ''The Realist''. After a stint in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

as an illustrator, he worked in advertising before becoming a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

in 1975. He worked in genres ranging from

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority ...

to children's books to

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

. He designed a Peace and Humanitarian Achievements medal for the Samaritan community in Israel. The medal's first recipient was

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

Awards

In 1968, Stiles was the

Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, often known as ''TAFF'', is a crowdfunding project created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular members of science fiction fandom familiar to fans on both sides of the ocean, acro ...

winner, attending Thirdmancon, the 1968

Eastercon Eastercon is the common name for the annual British national science fiction convention. The convention is organised by voluntary self-organising committees, rather than a permanent entity. Organisation Groups of fans (typically 5–8 in n ...

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. ''Harrison Country'', a compilation of his writings and drawings about this trip, was published in 2007. Stiles won eleven Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards for best artist (2001, 2003–2006, 2010–2012, 2014–2016). In 1998, Stiles won the first Bill Rotsler Award, named after prolific fan artist

Bill Rotsler Charles William Rotsler () was an American artist, cartoonist, pornographer and science fiction author. Rotsler was a four-time Hugo Award winner and one-time Nebula Award nominee. Rotsler's papers including dozens of matted color drawings, un ...

. He was a

nominee as Best Fan Artist in 1967, 1968, 2003 through 2008, and 2010 through 2016, winning in 2016.

Personal life and demise

Stiles was married to Elaine Stiles (née Mandell). On January 7, 2020, Stiles announced his most recent cancer diagnosis on Facebook, "So, the word is: I've got a few months, more or less." He died on January 11, 2020, of the aforementioned cancer.

References

External links

Official website1998 Rotsler Award: Steve Stiles
at scifiinc.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiles, Steve 1943 births 2020 deaths American cartoonists American comics artists Role-playing game artists Underground cartoonists The High School of Music & Art alumni School of Visual Arts alumni