author
1909–1998
Best known as a mid-century science fiction editor, this American pulp-magazine hand helped shape stories for readers during a lively, competitive era of the genre. He also wrote a small number of stories of his own and assembled a notable anthology from the magazines he guided.
by Samuel Mines
by Samuel Mines
by Samuel Mines
Born in New York on October 4, 1909, Samuel Mines became an important behind-the-scenes figure in American science fiction publishing. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction identifies him as an editor and author who worked for Standard Magazines from 1942, first mainly on non-science-fiction pulps.
When editor Sam Merwin Jr. left in 1951, Mines took over several of Standard's science fiction magazines, including Startling Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fantastic Story Quarterly, Wonder Story Annual, and the short-lived Space Stories. He stepped into the job at a difficult time for pulp magazines, but he is remembered for keeping up the quality of the magazines as the field changed around him.
He also published four stories in Thrilling Wonder Stories, beginning with "Find the Sculptor" in 1946, and edited The Best from Startling Stories in 1953, with an introduction by Robert A. Heinlein. After leaving Standard in 1954, he did not continue in major science fiction editorial posts, though he later reviewed books for Luna Monthly. He died in Waterbury, Connecticut, on September 27, 1998.