John W. Campbell

Campbell married Dona Stewart married in 1931. They divorced after eighteen years.

He then married Margaret Winter in 1950. They had three children. He spent most of his life in New Jersey.

He was a heavy smoker throughout his life, and was seldom seen without a cigarette. He was alienated from many illustrious writers due to his eccentric editorial demands.

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was born on June 8, 1910, to John Campbell, Sr. and Dorothy Strahern Campbell. His father was an electrical engineer. His mother had an identical twin, and young John could not tell them apart.

Campbell attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After he failed in German, MIT dismissed him. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1932 from Duke University.

He began writing science fiction at age 18. From January 1930 to June 1931, 'Amazing' magazine published six of his short stories, one novel, and six letters. By 21, he was a well-known pulp writer.

Campbell started his writing career with the American science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. But his first manuscripted titled ' ‘Invaders of the Infinite', which was accepted by the magazine was lost by its editor. His next story ‘When the Atoms Failed’ and five more stories appeared in Amazing’s monthly and Quarterly in 1930.

He published stories such as ‘Twilight’, ‘Night’ and ‘Who Goes There?’ under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart derived from his wife’s name, Dona Stewart. He also used the name Karl Van Campen.

‘Who Goes There?’ was about a group of Antarctic researchers who discover a crashed alien vessel, with a malevolent shape-changing occupant. It was first filmed as ‘The Thing from Another World’ in 1951.

In 1936, he began series of 18 monthly articles on the solar system under his own name. He also published a number of articles as Arthur McCann.

He was hired as the editor of Astounding magazine from October 1937 issue. He gave the label ‘mutant’ for unusual stories, and changed the title from Astounding Stories to Astounding Science-Fiction.

Campbell started the fantasy magazine Unknown in 1939. It was cancelled after only four years due to wartime paper shortages. It was, however, significant in the evolution of modern fantasy.