Galaxy Science Fiction
(See Galaxy for other star systems.)
Galaxy Science Fiction was a digest-sized prozine, published from 1950 to 1980. Its first editor was H. L. Gold, who quickly made Galaxy the leading prozine of the day by focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology. Evelyn Gold, his wife and assistant editor, served as the “face” of the magazine to the sf community.
Initially published by World Editions, in 1952, it was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. Fred Pohl joined the company and was helping Gold with the magazine's production by the late 1950s. When Gold's health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time.
In 1969, Guinn sold Galaxy to Universal Publishing and Distribution (UPD) and Pohl resigned, to be replaced by Ejler Jakobsson. Under Jakobsson, the magazine declined in quality. It recovered somewhat under Jim Baen, who took over in mid-1974, but when he left at the end of 1977 the deterioration resumed and the schedule became erratic. By the end of the 1970s the gaps between issues were lengthening, and the title was finally sold to Vincent McCaffrey, who brought out just one issue in 1980.
The title was revived for eight issues as a semiprozine in 1994 by H. L. and Evelyn Gold's son, E. J. Gold, then turned into an e-zine, and then sold to an online magazine.
At its peak, Galaxy greatly influenced in the science fiction field. It was regarded as one of the leading sf magazines almost from the start, and its influence did not wane until Pohl resigned in 1969. Gold brought a "sophisticated intellectual subtlety" to magazine science fiction according to Pohl, who added that "after Galaxy, it was impossible to go on being naive."
On the other hand, at Tricon, the 1966 Worldcon, the magazine sponsored "A Galaxy of Fashion," a fashion show featuring a bevy of femmefen and pros’ wives modeling futuristicostumes.
Awards and Honors
Galaxy was nominated for the Best Professional Magazine Hugo or its editor for the Best Professional Editor Hugo in 1957, 1959–1960, 1962–1972, and 1975–1977. It won the category in 1953 and received Retro Hugo nominations for 1951 and 1954. See Best Professional Magazine Hugo for links to details for these years.
- Galaxy prozine Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
- Galaxy e-zine Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
- Galaxy online Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
- Galaxy issues at the Internet Archive.
| Publication | 1950—1980 |
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