Fans of genre writing usually know the names of the top authors in the fields that they enjoy, and the names of the authors they follow who aren't necessarily at the top levels. But fans seldom know, or remember, the names of the editors of those works.
One of those editors, a gentleman named Martin H. Greenberg, was responsible for literally hundreds of books and hundreds of careers. He edited or co-edited so many anthologies, someone is probably still counting them. He ran a book packaging company called Tekno Books. According to Locus magazine, he put out more than 2,300 published books. He worked in virtually every genre you could name--I was published in a couple of Western anthologies he co-edited, and there's still one more to come with one of my stories in it. He launched careers in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and more. If you read genre fiction, you have--I can guarantee this--read authors who were given their start by Marty, authors who were carried through hard times by Marty, and authors who were brought back to prominence by Marty. He was a fine gentleman to sit down for a meal with, loaded with stories about authors and publishing, and he was enthusiastic about the things he cared about--the things writers and readers care about--right up to the end.
We lost Marty on June 25, after a long and difficult struggle with cancer. It's unlikely that we'll ever have another like him.
Sorry about the loss of such a man. I didn't know him except through the books he edited. As you say, he was all over the genres and I couldn't tell you how many I have, or have read, that he had a hand in. As you also say, I likely read writers who had his encouragement, aid in bad times, that I don't even realize. From all I've read of him, we'll not see his like again.
Posted by: Randy Johnson | June 28, 2011 at 07:57 PM