Charles D. Hornig

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on May 25, 1916, Charles Derwin Hornig became active in science fiction fandom while still very young. At just 17, he launched The Fantasy Fan in 1933, a pioneering fanzine that gave space to both fans and professional writers and is remembered as an important early magazine in fantasy and science fiction fandom.

That same youthful enthusiasm led to an extraordinary editorial career. Hugo Gernsback brought him in to work on Wonder Stories, making Hornig one of the youngest editors ever to run a professional science fiction magazine. He later edited magazines including Future Fiction, Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Quarterly, helping shape the pulp-era field during the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Hornig was also part of the wider network that helped early science fiction fandom grow into a real community. Although he wrote a small amount of fiction himself, he is chiefly remembered as an editor, organizer, and fan whose work linked readers, writers, and magazines at a formative moment in the genre’s history. He died on October 11, 1999.