Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen

INTRODUCTIONH. Beam Piper (1904–1964) was an American science fiction author best known for his science fiction novels and short stories, particularly Little Fuzzy and its sequels. Little Fuzzy is part of an extensive future history, his Terro-Human series of stories, plus the much shorter “Paratime” alternate history series. He created confusion about his first name by claiming it was “Horace” (it was actually Henry) to give the impression he wrote as H. Beam Piper because he disliked his name. Piper was largely self-educated; he obtained his knowledge of science and history “without subjecting myself to the ridiculous misery of four years in the uncomfortable confines of a raccoon coat.” He went to work at age 18 as a laborer at the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Altoona yards in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He also worked as a night watchman for the railroad. Piper published his first short story, “Time and Time Again,” in 1947 in Astounding Science Fiction; it was adapted for the radio program Dimension X and first broadcast in 1951, and was re-produced for X Minus One in 1956. He was primarily a short story author until 1961, when he made a productive, if short-lived, foray into novels. He also collected guns and wrote one mystery novel, Murder in the Gunroom. In 1964, his career apparently on the skids, and prevented by reticence and his Libertarian principles from asking anyone to assist him with his financial difficulties, Piper committed suicide. The exact date of his death is unknown; the last entry in his diary was dated November 5, and the date his body was found is reported as November 9 or November 11 by various sources. According to Jerry Pournelle’s introduction to Little Fuzzy, Piper shut off all the utilities to his apartment, put painter’s drop-cloths over the walls and floor, and took his own life with a handgun from his collection. In his suicide note, he gave an explanation that “I don't like to leave messes when I go away, but if I could have cleaned up any of this mess, I wouldn’t be going away. H. Beam Piper.” Some biographers attribute his act to financial problems, others to family problems; he was unhappily divorced. Pournelle wrote that Piper felt burdened by financial hardships in the wake of his divorce, and the mistaken perception that his career was foundering (his agent had died without notifying him of multiple sales). Editor George H. Scithers, who knew Piper socially, has stated that Piper wanted to spite the ex-wife he despised: by killing himself, Piper voided his life insurance policy and prevented her from collecting. An unpublished story, “Only the Arquebus,” has gone missing since his suicide. It is probable that he destroyed it along with many of his personal papers. His copyrights were purchased by paperback publisher Ace Science Fiction from his former wife—who was technically still his heir—and reprinted in a set of paperbacks in the early 1980s. Many of these have since gone out of print, though his two best-known arcs were again reprinted by Ace in 1998 and 2001. Ace failed to renew his copyrights, so many of his early works are now in the public domain, which has resulted in a mini H. Beam Piper publishing boom in recent years. —John Betancourt Cabin John, Maryland