\\Harry Clement Stubbs, who under the pen name of Hal Clement wrote
science fiction for sixty years and received SFWA’s Grand Master Award
in 1999, died in his sleep at his Milton, Massachusetts home on October
29th, 2003, at age 81.
Clement was an exemplar of the hard science fiction writer, always
basing his stories in thorough and rigorous science. He held three
science degrees, a bachelor’s in astronomy from Harvard and masters’ in
education and chemistry. He was a high-school science teacher for forty
years, most of that time at Milton Academy in his home town.
His first short story, “Proof”, which appeared in Astounding in 1942,
is widely considered the first successful melding of SF with the
mystery genre. After a stint in the Army Air Force in World War II, he
published his first novel, Needle, as a serial in Astounding in 1949. A
second military stint intervened before he produced his most famous and
enduring work, Mission of Gravity. His portrayal of Mesklin, a vast and
fast-spinning planet with gravity varying hugely from poles to bulging
equator, from the viewpoint of a native adventurer trekking across its
surface was a tour de force of hard science.
Clement’s other work included two more Mesklin novels, Close to
Critical and Star Light, as well as Iceworld, Cycle of Fire, The
Nitrogen Fix, Still River, and Half Life, along with some short story
collections. His most recent novel, Noise, was published earlier this
year by Tor, and he was reportedly working on further things at the
time of his death. His enduring legacy will be his portrayal of his
favorite character: the Universe, at once wondrous and comprehensible.
Clement was also a familiar and beloved figure at SF conventions,
enlivening any panel with sharp observations, self-effacing humor, and
remarkable anecdotes. His talents did not stop there. Not three weeks
ago at Albacon, I had the unusual privilege of listening as he and new
Analog writer Carl Frederick spent perhaps a quarter-hour at a social
gathering singing Welsh folk ballads. What an abstruse and charming
thing to know; what a breadth of experience and knowledge it revealed
in him.
A memorial service will be held at Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church at
112 Randolph Street in Milton, Massachusetts, at 10 am this Saturday.
Harry Clement Stubbs is survived by his wife of over fifty years, Mary,
and his children George & Richard Stubbs and Christine Heusel. On
behalf of all the members of SFWA, Online Update offers heartfelt
condolences to his family and many friends.\\
A gentleman in every sense of the word. I did a panel or two with him
at Arisia, and he was a pleasure, even going so far as to complement me
when I brought up an interesting point about writing Superman stories
and most story writing that he said, as a hard SF guy, he never got
until that moment– the point that if your character can do anything
(be it science, fantasy, or what have you) then the only stories left
to tell are ethical ones– should the character do this or not? And
why?
That, to me, summed up the man– even at the age of 80 or so, he still
was happy to learn new things he hadn’t considered. He’ll be missed.