Phil Glass (William Tenn) 1920-2010

Posted on | February 8, 2010 |

One of Science Fiction’s master short story writers, Phil Klass, passed away Sunday, February 7, 2010 at age 89. Phil Klass, who may be better known by the pseudonym William Tenn, wrote more than 60  SF stories. Connie Willis in her introduction to the book Immodest Proposals: The Complete Science Fiction of William Tenn, Volume 1
wrote:

Tenn’s stories are witty, clever, thought-provoking, ironic, intensely intelligent, touching, and hilarious. And too few and far between. Most of the stories in this collection were written in the fifties and sixties, and, until now, have been hard to find. I’m overjoyed that they will all be in print again and all in one place (though it’s also delightful to come across one in an anthology when you least expect it, and have him seduce or surprise or swindle you all over again), But I wish there were more of them.

He was named Author Emeritus by SFWA in 1999. Some of his more famous short stories (and this list is by no means complete) are:

• Brooklyn Project (1948)
• Venus and the Seven Sexes (1949)
• Down Among the Dead Men (1954)
• The Liberation of Earth (1953)
• Time in Advance (1956)

There is an excellent interview (well really it’s a monologue) with Phil Glass AKA William Tenn at Pulpnet.com. It was recorded at PulpCon 35 in 2006. Phil talks about working with John W. Campbell, Horace Gold and Fred Pohl among many others. He certainly had the gift of gab. If you feel saddened at his passing as I do, this recording will bring smile to your face.

Also there’s an another excellent interview from 2004 when he was on  WNYC’s Spinning On Air. Which also has him reading his short story On Venus, Have We Got A Rabbi! [via: SFFaudio]

If you have any recordings of William Tenn, we’d love to post them here. Please contact us.

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