Frank M. Robinson obit

Remembering Frank M. Robinson

 

He was not on the list.

On June 30, 2014, the pulp community not only lost a great collector, but even more so, a great friend. Frank M. Robinson was 87 years old at the time of his passing. A science-fiction and thriller writer, editor, speech writer for gay activist Harvey Milk, and a movie actor, Frank was known in the pulp community as the leading collector of top-grade pulp magazines.

Although he majored in physics in college, Frank Robinson always wanted to write. He sold his first story to Astounding Science Fiction in 1950. Following the Korean War, Robinson studied journalism and soon began a career as an editor, first with Science Digest and later with Rogue and Playboy. In 1974, The Glass Inferno was published, a novel written by Robinson and Thomas Scortia. Later filmed as The Towering Inferno, Frank invested much of the proceeds he received from the book in his pulp collection. Years later, the sale of the Frank Robinson Pulp Collection attained almost legendary status among the pulp community.

Winner of the 2000 Lamont Award, Frank Robinson was the author of The Power, Pulp Culture, Science Fiction of the 20th Century, and other works. On Thursday, August 7th, beginning at 8 PM, PulpFest will pay tribute to this fine writer and editor, great collector, and good friend who recently passed. Be sure to be at the Hyatt Regency Columbus for “Remembering Frank Robinson.”

 

Works

Novels

The Power (1956)

The Glass Inferno (1974, with Thomas N. Scortia)

The Prometheus Crisis (1975, with Thomas N. Scortia)

The Nightmare Factor (1978, with Thomas N. Scortia)

The Gold Crew (1980, with Thomas N. Scortia)

The Great Divide (1982, with John F. Levin)

Blow-Out! (1987, with Thomas N. Scortia)

The Dark Beyond the Stars (1991)

Death of a Marionette (1995, with Paul Hull)

Waiting (1999)

The Donor (2004)

Short story collections

A Life in the Day of... and Other Short Stories (1981). Contains 9 short stories:

"The Maze" (1950)

"The Reluctant Heroes" (1951). Novelette

"The Fire and the Sword" (1951). Novelette

"The Santa Claus Planet" (1951). Novelette

"The Hunting Season" (1951). Novelette

"The Wreck of the Ship John B." (1967). Novelette

""East Wind, West Wind"" (1972). Novelette

"A Life in the Day of..." (1969)

"Downhill All the Way" (1974)

Through My Glasses Darkly, Edited by Robin Wayne Bailey (2002). Contains 5 short stories:

"Causes" (1997). Novelette

""East Wind, West Wind"" (1972). Novelette

"The Hunting Season" (1951). Novelette

"A Life in the Day Of..." (1969)

"Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll" (1994)

Short stories

Uncollected short stories.

 

"Situation Thirty" (1951)

"Two Weeks in August" (1951)

"Beyond the Ultra-Violet" (1951)

"Good Luck, Columbus!" (1951)

"Untitled Story" (1951). Novelette

"You've Got to Believe" (1951)

"The Girls from Earth" (1952). Novelette

"Viewpoint" (1953)

"The Night Shift" (1953)

"Muscle Man" (1953)

"Quiz Game" (1953)

"The Day the World Ended" (1953)

"Decision" (1953)

"Guaranteed - Forever!" (1953)

"The Siren Sounds at Midnight" (1953)

"Planted!, AKA The Observer" (1953)

"Quarter in the Slot" (1954)

"The Lonely Man" (1954)

"The Worlds of Joe Shannon" (1954)

"One Thousand Miles Up" (1954)

"The Oceans Are Wide" (1954). Novelette

"The Dead End Kids of Space" (1954). Novelette

"Cosmic Saboteur" (1955). Novelette

"Dream Street" (1955)

"Four Hours to Eternity" (1955)

"You Don't Walk Alone" (1955)

"Wanted: One Sane Man" (1955). Novelette

"A Rover I Will Be" (1960)

"Merry Christmas, No. 30267" (1993)

"The Greatest Dying" (1993)

"1969 Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll" (1994)

"Dealer's Choice" (1994)

"One Month in 1907" (1994) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Outlaws)

"The Phantom of the Barbary Coast" (1995). Novelette

"Infallibility, Obedience, and Acts of Contrition" (1997) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Tyrants)

"Love Story" (2003)

"The Errand Boy" (2010). Novelette

Poems

The Nether Gardens (1945)

Nonfiction

Autobiographies

Not So Good a Gay Man: A Memoir (2017)

Guides

Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines (1998, with Lawrence Davidson)

Science Fiction of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History (1999)

Self Help

Therapeutic Re-Creation: Ideas and Experiences (1974)

A Holistic Perspective on the Disabled Child: Applications in Camping, Recreation, and Community Life (1985)

Coping+plus: Dimensions of Disability (1995, with Dwight Woodworth Jr., Doe West)