EMP|SFM is proud to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees: Octavia E. Butler, Richard Matheson, Douglas Trumbull and Roger Zelazny.
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Saturday, June 26, 2010 at EMP|SFM in conjunction with the Science Fiction Awards Weekend, June 25-27, 2010. The Locus Awards and NW Media Arts writing workshops with Connie Willis and Gregory Frost are also a part of the weekend. Further information and tickets to the Science Fiction Awards Weekend are available on the Locus Web site.
Additional information about the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be available soon.
Octavia E. Butler (1947 - 2006)
Octavia E. Butler merged science fiction with themes of gender, race and other social issues. An introspective child, she began writing at the age of ten to escape self-described "loneliness and boredom," and her first novel, Patternmaster (1976), is ostensibly a reworking of one of her childhood stories. It became part of the five-book Patternist series, which explores topics of biology, power and enslavement. Butler's most renowned novel, Kindred (1979), is also a modern exploration of slavery that she described as "grim fantasy" rather than science fiction. She won her first Nebula and Hugo awards for the novelette Bloodchild (1984), and would later earn such honors as the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant and the PEN American Center lifetime achievement award. Butler is notable for being a female African American writer of science fiction—a rarity—but mainly she's notable as one of the most eminent science fiction writers overall.
Richard Matheson (1926 - )
Richard Matheson is among the most prolific and quietly recognizable authors of science fiction short stories, novels and screenplays. His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. Although written as a simple tale of terror, the tale was lauded as a great work of science fiction, earning Matheson immediate fame. Matheson transitioned to TV and film writing in the late 1960s, adapting a number of his stories and novels for the screen. Among his most notable film adaptations are his first novel I Am Legend (1954; filmed originally as The Omega Man, 1971), and The Shrinking Man (1956; filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, 1957) for which he earned a Hugo award. Matheson's publications and film work often explore themes of human existence facing alternate reality and incorporate the paranormal, terror, survival and ardor.
Douglas Trumbull (1942 - )
Douglas Trumbull has forged a multi-faceted career as an innovative master of special effects, a visionary filmmaker, and an entrepreneur. Born in Los Angeles, Trumbull began his career as a technical illustrator for Graphic Films, a small animation and graphic arts studio that produced documentary films for NASA and the Air Force. His work on the Graphic Films feature Journey Beyond the Stars caught the attention of director Stanley Kubrick and resulted in Trumbull's hire as special effects supervisor on Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film utilized Trumbull's own process of slit-scan photography to obtain the more abstract sequences. This groundbreaking technique contributed to the film's critical acclaim and established Trumbull as one of the top names in motion picture special effects. Trumbull continued to impart his special effects talent on such landmark science fiction films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and Blade Runner (1982), each one earning him an Academy Award nomination.
Roger Zelazny (1937 - 1995)
Roger Zelazny was one of the foremost writers of science fiction's New Wave movement, authoring short stories and novels packed with both psychological and mythological structures. After earning his B.A. in English at Western Reserve University, Zelazny continued with graduate studies at Columbia University, specializing in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. It was only after earning his M.A. in 1962 that Zelazny took serious steps towards writing professionally when he penned the short story "Passion Play" (Amazing Stories, 1962) followed by "Horseman!" (Fantastic, 1962). Zelazny continued to prosper in short fiction, even authoring some tales under the pseudonym Harrison Denmark. Among his best-known works are "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" (1969), This Immortal (1966), and Lord of Light (1967), the latter two novels earning him Hugo awards. During the course of his career, Zelazny received six Hugo awards and three Nebula awards.
About the Science Fiction Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame honors the lives, works, and ongoing legacies of science fiction's greatest creators.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KCSFFS) in conjunction with the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. Created in 1971, the KCSFFS fosters interest in the
literary forms known as science fiction and fantasy, and is one of the oldest science fiction clubs in mid-America.
Each year since 1996, the Hall of Fame has inducted four individuals on the basis of their continued excellence and long-time contribution to the science fiction field. The Science Fiction Museum is honored to now be the permanent physical home of the Hall of Fame, and will continue its mission through annual inductions of individuals who have made outstanding and significant contributions to Science Fiction.
Exhibition located on Level 2 at EMP|SFM. (PDF -- 2.3MB)