Involvement in science fiction fandom The 1979 first edition of
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls Wollheim "one of the first and most vociferous SF fans." He published numerous fanzines and co-edited the early
Fanciful Tales of Time and Space. His importance to early fandom is chronicled in the 1974 book
The Immortal Storm by Sam Moskowitz and in the 1977 book
The Futurians by Damon Knight. Wollheim was a member of the New York Science Fiction League, one of the clubs established by
Hugo Gernsback to promote science fiction. When payment was not forthcoming for the first story he sold to Gernsback, Wollheim formed a group with several other authors, and successfully sued for payment. He was expelled from the Science Fiction League as "a disruptive influence" when he was nineteen. He was not paid for the story, and when he learned that other authors had not been paid either, he said so in the
Bulletin of the Terrestrial Fantascience Guild. Publisher
Hugo Gernsback eventually settled with Wollheim and the other authors out of court for $75. However, when Wollheim submitted another story ("The Space Lens") under the pseudonym Millard Verne Gordon, His third known story was published in
Fanciful Tales of Time and Space, Fall 1936, a fanzine that he edited himself. His daughter
Betsy declared: "In true editorial fashion, he was honest about the quality of his own writing. He felt it was fair to middling at best. He always knew that his great talent was as an editor."
Career as editor and publisher Robert Silverberg said that Wollheim was "one of the most significant figures in 20th century American science fiction publishing," adding, "A plausible case could be made that he was
the most significant figure—responsible in large measure for the development of the science fiction paperback, the science fiction anthology, and the whole post-Tolkien boom in fantasy fiction." It resulted in Wollheim's editing two of the earliest periodicals devoted to science fiction, the
Cosmic Stories and
Stirring Science Stories magazines starting in February 1941. After the magazines were cancelled later in 1941, Wollheim was able to find another publisher, Manhattan Fiction Publications, and a fourth issue of
Stirring appeared, dated March 1942. Wartime constraints prevented ongoing publication, and there were no more issues of either title. Wollheim edited the first science fiction anthology to be mass-marketed,
The Pocket Book of Science Fiction (1943). During this period he also edited eighteen issues of the influential
Avon Fantasy Reader as well as three of the
Avon Science Fiction Reader. These periodicals contained mostly reprints and a few original stories. In 1952 Wollheim left Avon to work for
A. A. Wyn at the Ace Magazine Company and spearheaded a new paperback book list,
Ace Books. In 1953 he introduced science fiction to the Ace lineup, This account was disputed by Tolkien, who claimed that he never received any communication from Ace prior to publication of their version. In any case, Tolkien had previously authorized paperback editions of
The Hobbit and
Tree and Leaf. The authorized Ballantine paperback edition of
The Lord of the Rings was then published in November 1965. Ace subsequently agreed to cease publishing the unauthorized edition and to pay Tolkien for their sales following a
grassroots campaign by Tolkien's U.S. fans. A 1993 court determined that the copyright loophole suggested by Ace Books was invalid and its paperback edition was found to have been a violation of copyright under
U.S. law (at this time, the U.S. had yet to join the
International Copyright Convention, and most laws on the books existed to protect domestic creations from foreign infringement.
Houghton Mifflin was technically in violation of the law when they exceeded their import limits and failed to renew their interim copyright). In the
Locus obituary for Donald Wollheim, however, more details emerge:
Foundation of DAW Books Wollheim left Ace in 1971.
Frederik Pohl describes the circumstances: Unfortunately, when Wyn died [in 1968] the company was sold to a consortium headed by a bank. ... Few of them had any publishing experience before they found themselves running Ace. It showed. Before long, bills weren't being paid, authors' advances and royalties were delayed, budgets were cut back, and most of Donald's time was spent trying to soothe authors and agents who were indignant, and had every right to be, at the way they were treated. Upon leaving Ace, he and his wife, Elsie Balter Wollheim, founded
DAW Books, which he named for his initials. DAW can claim to be the first mass market specialist science fiction and
fantasy fiction publishing house. DAW issued its first four titles in April 1972. Most of the writers whom he had developed at Ace went with him to DAW: Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, Philip K. Dick, John Brunner,
A. Bertram Chandler,
Kenneth Bulmer,
Gordon R. Dickson,
A. E. van Vogt, and
Jack Vance. In later years, when his distributor,
New American Library, threatened to withhold
Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical
historical fantasy How Are the Mighty Fallen (1974), owing to its homosexual content, Wollheim fought vigorously against their decision, and they relented. His later author discoveries included
Tanith Lee,
Jennifer Roberson,
Michael Shea,
Tad Williams,
Celia S. Friedman, and
C. J. Cherryh, whose
Downbelow Station (1982) was the first DAW book to win the Hugo Award for best novel. He was also able to give a number of British writers, including
E. C. Tubb,
Brian Stableford,
Barrington Bayley, and
Michael Coney, a new American audience. He published translations of international sf as well as anthologies of translated stories,
Best From the Rest of the World. With the help of
Arthur W. Saha, Wollheim also edited and published the popular "Annual World's Best Science Fiction" anthology from 1971 until his death. ==Recognition==