Sydney Bounds
(November 4, 1920 – November 24, 2006)
Sydney 'Syd' James Bounds was a fan and pro from Kingston upon Thames, near London, in the UK active from the 1930s. He joined the Science Fiction Association in 1937, and was later a member of the British Fantasy Society (BFS), and the Science Fantasy Society (SFS). In the 1940s he was a member of the Cosmos Club and in the 1970s the Kingston SF Group. He attended the 1944 Eastercon, the Whitcon in 1948 and Festivention in 1951.
His first published genre story was 'Strange Portrait' in Outlands (1946). He became a prolific author of short fiction, and novels — not just science fiction, but also horror, Westerns, mysteries, and juvenile fiction, both under his own name and pennames — from 1946 until his death in 2006. The film The Last Days on Mars (an adaptation of "The Animators") and the Tales of the Darkside episode "The Circus" are based on stories by him. In 2005, two collections of his fiction were released under the title The Best of Sydney J. Bounds: Strange Portrait and Other Stories, and The Wayward Ship and other Stories.
He worked as an electrician on the Enigma machine during World War II. After the war, he worked for the London Transport Underground system until 1951, when he turned full time to writing. He moved to Telford in Shropshire shortly before his death.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
In 2007, the British Fantasy Society honored him by renaming their award for best new writer after him, the Sydney J. Bounds Award For Best Newcomer.
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| Person | 1920—2006 |
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