Mark Reinsberg

Born in 1923 and active in Chicago science-fiction fandom, he is best remembered as one of the founders of Shasta Publishers, a small press created in 1947 with Erle Melvin Korshak and T. E. Dikty. Shasta went on to publish important science-fiction and fantasy books in the late 1940s and 1950s, including work by major writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Alfred Bester.

Accounts of Shasta’s history credit him not only as a co-founder but also with suggesting the company’s name, inspired by a summer job he and Korshak had held at Mount Shasta. Before that, he was part of the circle of fans and collectors trying to build a serious checklist of fantastic literature, an effort that eventually led to Everett F. Bleiler’s influential reference work under the Shasta imprint.

Although readily available biographical details about his personal life are limited, his place in science-fiction history is clear: he was part of the enthusiastic fan-publisher network that helped preserve, organize, and promote the field in its formative years. He died in 1981.