first met Damon Knight when I was just a kid. He couldn't possibly have remembered that because we didn't actually meet face to face until years later. But that's the beauty of art. I met up with the fruits of his multitalented mind; he was able to give me nightmares from a distance. Those uneasy dreams came from watching a Twilight Zone episode based on one of his short stories, "To Serve Man." For some, the iconic object from that classic series is the gremlin on the wing teasing the panicked William Shatner in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" or the broken glasses of a frustrated post-apocalyptic Burgess Meredith in "Time Enough at Last." But for me, it is the manual offered to the inhabitants of Earth by supposedly benevolent aliens—the manual titled "To Serve Man" that turns out not to be a promise of help, but a cookbook—that most chills my spine.
That Twilight Zone moment created by writer Damon Knight—taken from us on April 15 of this year at the age of 79—is likely the dream of his with which the wider world is most familiar. But those of us in love with all aspects of science fiction, and not just those propelled to wider fame by film and television, will remember so much more.
As a fledgling writer in the early '40s, Damon was part of the famed fan group The Futurians, which included among its members Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Donald Wollheim and many others who went on to mold the modern face of science fiction. In 1956, he co-founded the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference, which in turn inspired Robin Scott Wilson to found the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' workshop, a project in which Damon and his wife, Kate Wilhelm, jointly taught the final two weeks for most of its existence. Damon founded the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 and also served as the first president. In 1995, for this and so much else, he was named a SFWA Grand Master.
On a personal note, he was one of my teachers when I attended Clarion back in 1979. He shared his love of the pleasures of the perfect phrase, and taught me to eschew the trivial in my fiction. He was there at the start of so many good and lasting things, and his actions will continue to reverberate long past his own lifetime.
Leaving behind an unmatched legacy
If you don't believe me, all you would have needed do is to take a look around at those in attendance at the 2002 Nebula Awards Weekend, held in Kansas City over the past few days. Being there, I was reminded of the epitaph written for Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), who was responsible for so many of London's great buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Of Wren, his son wrote, Si monumentum requiris, circumspice—If you would see his monument, look around. Those who were with me in Kansas City could easily understand the meaning of that phrase as it applied to Damon Knight.
First, the event would not even have occurred without Damon, as he created both the organization and the award itself. But in addition, every nominated fiction category had Damon's imprint. Geoffrey A. Landis, whose book Mars Crossing was up for Best Novel, attended Clarion in 1985. Lucius Shepherd, whose "Radiant Green Star" was competing for Best Novella, attended in 1980. Michael Burstein, whose "Kaddish for the Last Survivor" was in the Best Short Story category, attended Clarion in 1994. Other nominees, such as George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis and Jack Dann, attended Milford conferences. Surprisingly, five of the six Best Novelette nominees—Amy Sterling Casil (Clarion '84), Andy Duncan (Clarion West '94), James Patrick Kelly (Clarion '74 and '76), Kelly Link (Clarion '95) and Willian Shunn (Clarion '85)—were influenced by the teachings of the man.
Even the awards presenters were not immune. Gordon van Gelder, the editor and publisher of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, who co-presented in the Best Script category, attended Clarion in 1987. Gardner Dozois,
co-presenting for Best Short Story, was first brought to prominence through his early stories published in Damon's influential Orbit anthology series.
Damon founded the organization, and though he could no longer be there to take part in the annual celebration of the field he loves, no one could deny that he was still present, and would continue to be present for years to come. More truly and widely than anyone else in the field, Damon Knight knew what it meant to serve science fiction, and he served it well.
Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.
Scott Edelman started his trek to the editor-in-chief position at Science
Fiction Weekly back in 1974, when he began working as an assistant editor at
Marvel Comics. Between these two positions, this four-time Hugo Award nominee in
the category of Best Editor was the founding editor of the
award-winning magazine Science Fiction Age, in addition to editing
Sci-Fi Universe, Sci-Fi Flix and Satellite Orbit. Currently, he also edits SCI
FI, the official magazine of the SCI FI Channel. A collection of his short fiction, These Words Are Haunted, is available from Wildside Press.
