Harry Harrison was born in Stamford, Connecticut back in March of 1925. He was a man of good humor and talented writing skills. But many fans of his many books might often forget the authors early roots in Sci-Fi illustration. In the 1940′s Harry was providing art pieces in Sci-Fi magazines like Galaxy Science Fiction while drawing comics for Entertaining Comics (EC Comics). Some of the more notable comic books Harry worked on were The Vault of Horror, Weird Science, and DC’s Star Spangled War Stories. But in 1957 Harry began the career that most of his fans would know him best for, writing science fiction stories. Harry wrote for over 55 years, with stories ranging from hilarious Sci-Fi parodies that mocked the genre and other great Sci-Fi writers, to hardcore tales of alien planets and futuristic technology. Some of his longest last creations was James Bolivar DiGriz, or the Stainless Steel Rat, who was a futuristic con-man featured in over 11 novels written by Harrison, the most recent of which came out just 2 years ago. The Stainless Steel Rat also found his way into comics through 2000AD. But this was nowhere near the limit of Harry’s legacy characters and concepts, with the infamous Deathworld books and novels revolving around the humorous Bill, the Galactic Hero (both of which also saw comic series from Adventure Comics and Topps respectively). But perhaps one of my favorite contribution to Sci-Fi that Harrison added was his role as writer of the Flash Gordon comic strips from 1958–1964. Of course, the contribution that will shock most people in their familiarity would like come down to his relation to the classic 1973 Sci-Fi film, Soylent Green, based of Harrison’s 1966 novel, Make Room! Make Room! about overpopulation.

Sadly, Harry Harrison has passed away this morning at the accomplished age of 87. He is a man who has left a mark on the Science Fiction and writing communities, been inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, won several major writing awards, and has countless fans who admire and follow all of his work. Harry Harrison will be missed.

If you wish to know more about Harry Harrison, check out his official website. Fans wishing to pass on their condolences or share memories of Harry can do so here. And for those who have not been able to enjoy many of Harry’s great works, most of them can now be found online for digital readers like the Kindle. I highly recommend his Eden trilogy, West of Eden, Winter in Eden, and Return to Eden.