Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

Born in Milwaukee in 1913, Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger became widely known as Cordwainer Smith, the name he used for his science fiction. Reliable biographical sources describe him not only as a writer, but also as a scholar of East Asia and a specialist in psychological warfare.

Linebarger’s life was unusually international, and that breadth shows in his fiction. He wrote stories and novels that later readers grouped into the Instrumentality of Mankind sequence, a body of work known for its distinctive voice and emotional depth. His science fiction has remained influential well beyond his lifetime.

He died in 1966, but his reputation has endured because his work feels unlike anyone else’s: visionary, unsettling, and deeply humane. For listeners coming to him for the first time, he offers a kind of classic science fiction that still feels surprising.