Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison is a very well known American Science Fiction Author, with the hugely popular Stainless Steel Rat and Bill the Galactic Hero Series.

Harry was born in Stamford, Connecticut in the USA as Harry Maxwell Dempsey, however his father changed thier name to Harrison soon after Harry's birth. Harry spent his first 2 years in stanford before his family moved to Brooklyn, then Queens, where he grew up and went to school.

In Harry's early years he was not interested in writing but drawing and painting, however he did love to read pulp science fiction magazines and novels from his local library. At the age of 13 Harry discovered Sci Fi fandom and was hooked. Harry Graduated from Froset Hills high School in 1943 and was immediately drafted into the US Army Air Corps for the Second World War, he was aged 18. He was given basic training in mississippi before being sent to Lowry Field in Denver, Colorado, where he trained as a Power Operated and Computing Gunsight specialist due to his mechanical aptitude.

While at lowry field, he learned how to repair the "sperry Mark 1", a top secret computer. In 1944 he was sent to Laredo Air corps base in Texas where he kept the Sperry in working order, tought kids to shoot 50 calibre machine guns and other various jobs. It was while at Laredo that Harry was awarded the Sharpshooter Medal for his shooting skills.

Harry was discharged from the Army in 1946, and this time he spent enlisted effected the stories he would write. He hated the army life and this is clear in series like Bill the Galactic Hero.

Harry eventually moved back to illustrating, and went to art school, after leaving he set up his own Comic book factory. He worked on a variety of Magazines and Comics including Marvel Series. He continued Illustrating until into the 1950's, where he gradually moved into writing over drawing. This came about due his move from drawing comics, to editing them, working with with such titles as Science Fiction Adventures, Fantasy Fiction, Rocket Stories, Sea Stories, and Private Eye. During this period he also began writing short science fiction stories and In 1956, having enough money saved, he quit work for life as a freelance writer. By this time he was Married to Joan. They moved to Mexico so harry could start his freelance writing career and spent an enjoyable year there. In 1957 the Harrisons moved back to New York briefly, before Flying to Bromley, Kent, England on a low cost Sci Fi Fan ticket.

They spent some time living in bromley before moving to Italy as they knew friend there. It was in Italy that Harry met Dan Barry, the Artist who was drawing "Flash Gordon", Harry became an Artist working on Flash Gordon comics while he continued to write.

In 1957, Harry published his seventh short story and Introduced the character "James Bolivar DiGritz", hero of the Stainless Steel Rat series. At this time, he was still working on his first full Novel Deathworld, which he had originally started writing in mexico. The Harrisons moved to Denmark in 1959, after Deathworld was finished and published in "Astounding Fiction" where they stayed for seven years. They moved back to America before settling permnently in Ireland, with a small flat in Brighton. Amongst Harrys most famous works is the novel "Make Room! Make Room", written in 1966, which was the basis for the film "Soylent Green".

Joan Harrison sadly passed away in 2002 after a battle with cancer.

Harry is Co President of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group (who run Novacon) and has recently been selected by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as the 2009 recipient of their Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.