author
Gerda Rhoads
A mid-century writer remembered chiefly for a single striking science-fiction story, she brought an unusually rich artistic background to the page. Born in Vienna, trained in dance and painting, she turned to fiction after moving through several countries and creative worlds.
1 Audiobook
My past is mine
by Gerda Rhoads
About the author
According to the original magazine note reprinted with My Past Is Mine, she was born in Vienna and came to the United States with her parents by way of London and Rio. That same note says she studied at Hunter College, worked as a ballet dancer, took up painting, and later married a painter before living in Paris and turning to writing.
She is best known today for My Past Is Mine, a science-fiction story first published in Fantastic Universe in October 1954. Current catalog and bookseller records found during this search point to that story as the work most clearly associated with her, and some sources describe it as her only credited science-fiction publication.
Because so little reliably documented biographical material appears to be available online, her published record remains somewhat elusive. Even so, the surviving details suggest a writer whose path into fiction was shaped by movement across countries and by deep involvement in other arts.