Donald A. Wollheim

Born in New York City in 1914, Donald A. Wollheim became one of the most influential figures in American science fiction. He was active in early fandom in the 1930s, wrote fiction under his own name and several pseudonyms, and built a reputation as someone who cared deeply about the future of the genre.

He worked as an editor at Ace Books and later founded DAW Books, a publishing house devoted to science fiction and fantasy. That move made him especially important to readers and writers alike, because he helped bring a wide range of speculative fiction into paperback form and gave many authors a lasting home.

Wollheim died in 1990, but his impact on the genre stayed visible long after. For many fans, his legacy is not just in the stories he wrote, but in the books he chose, championed, and helped put into readers’ hands.