Algis Budrys

Born Algirdas Jonas Budrys in 1931, he was a Lithuanian American science fiction writer whose career stretched across novels, short fiction, criticism, and editing. He published widely in the 1950s and 1960s, earning lasting attention for books including Who?, Rogue Moon, and Michaelmas.

Beyond his fiction, he was an important presence in science fiction as a reviewer and mentor. He edited magazines, wrote criticism that was widely respected in the genre, and later helped teach and encourage new writers through workshops and publishing work.

He died in 2008, but his reputation has endured because of the intelligence and psychological depth of his work. His fiction is still remembered for taking classic science fiction ideas and giving them a human, unsettling edge.