The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1964

Avram Davidson was born in Yonkers, New York. He was educated in public schools, then studied anthropology at New York University before joining the U.S. Navy in 1942. He served as a hospital corpsman (medic), first with the Naval Air Corps, and then with the Fifth Marines. After the war, he travelled in England, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean before returning the the U.S. to resume his education. He continued his education at several schools, but never earned a degree. In 1950 he re...

Damon Knight was born in Baker City, Oregon. He graduated from the WPA Art Center in Salem, Oregon, then moved to New York City. His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941. In 1943 he went into publishing, first with Popular Publications, then editing Beyond in 1950-51 and If in 1959-60. He became a science fiction critic in 1945, but gave that up in 1954. In 1956 he co-founded the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference. Also in 1956, he received the Hugo Award for science f...

Donald Edwin Westlake (1933-2008) was an American crime writer born in Brooklyn, New York. He published over a hundred novels and non-fiction books, many under pseudonyms including Richard Stark (the Parker novels), Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Curt Clark. He is best known for comic capers such as the Dortmunder series, alongside the hard-boiled Parker books, with occasional science fiction. He won three Edgar Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Ed Emshwiller was a writer whose stories often appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction. His work explored the science fiction genre.

Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont, and Todd Harding. His work focused on socioeconomic speculation, usually expressed in thought-provoking explorations of utopian societies from a radical, sometime satiric perspective. He was a popular author from the 1950s to the 1970s, especially with readers of science fiction and fantasy magazines.