Frank Malcolm Robinson (August 9, 1926 – June 30, 2014) was an American science fiction and techno-thriller writer. He was a speechwriter for gay politician Harvey Milk and Milk's designated successor in the event of his death but declined to be appointed to or run for office.

Biography

Born in Chicago, Illinois. Robinson was the son of a check forger. He started out in his teens working as a copy boy for International News Service and then became an office boy for Ziff Davis. After Milk's assassination, Robinson was co-executor, with Scott Smith, of Milk's last will and testament.

Robinson was the author of 16 books, the editor of two others, and penned numerous articles.

In the 1970s, Robinson started seriously collecting the vintage pulp-fiction magazines that he had grown up reading. The collection spawned a book on the history of the pulps as seen through their vivid cover art: Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines (with co-author Lawrence Davidson). He attended numerous pulp conventions and in 2000 won the Lamont Award for lifetime achievement at Pulpcon.

In 2009 he was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Works

Novels

  • The Power (1956)
  • The Glass Inferno (1974, with Thomas N. Scortia)
  • The Prometheus Crisis (1975, with Thomas N. Scortia)
  • The Nightmare Factor (1978, with Thomas N. Scortia)
  • The Gold Crew (1980, with Thomas N. Scortia)
  • The Great Divide (1982, with John F. Levin)
  • Blow-Out! (1987, with Thomas N. Scortia)
  • The Dark Beyond the Stars (1991)
  • Death of a Marionette (1995, with Paul Hull)
  • Waiting (1999)
  • The Donor (2004)

Short story collections

  • A Life in the Day of... and Other Short Stories (1981). Contains 9 short stories:
  • "The Maze" (1950)
  • "The Reluctant Heroes" (1951). Novelette
  • "The Fire and the Sword" (1951). Novelette
  • "The Santa Claus Planet" (1951). Novelette
  • "The Hunting Season" (1951). Novelette
  • "The Wreck of the Ship John B." (1967). Novelette
  • ""East Wind, West Wind"" (1972). Novelette
  • "A Life in the Day of..." (1969)
  • "Downhill All the Way" (1974)
  • Through My Glasses Darkly, Edited by Robin Wayne Bailey (2002). Contains 5 short stories:
  • "Causes" (1997). Novelette
  • ""East Wind, West Wind"" (1972). Novelette
  • "The Hunting Season" (1951). Novelette
  • "A Life in the Day Of..." (1969)
  • "Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll" (1994)

Short stories

Uncollected short stories.

  • "Situation Thirty" (1951)
  • "Two Weeks in August" (1951)
  • "Beyond the Ultra-Violet" (1951)
  • "Good Luck, Columbus!" (1951)
  • "Untitled Story" (1951). Novelette
  • "You've Got to Believe" (1951)
  • "The Girls from Earth" (1952). Novelette
  • "Viewpoint" (1953)
  • "The Night Shift" (1953)
  • "Muscle Man" (1953)
  • "Quiz Game" (1953)
  • "The Day the World Ended" (1953)
  • "Decision" (1953)
  • "Guaranteed - Forever!" (1953)
  • "The Siren Sounds at Midnight" (1953)
  • "Planted!, AKA The Observer" (1953)
  • "Quarter in the Slot" (1954)
  • "The Lonely Man" (1954)
  • "The Worlds of Joe Shannon" (1954)
  • "One Thousand Miles Up" (1954)
  • "The Oceans Are Wide" (1954). Novelette
  • "The Dead End Kids of Space" (1954). Novelette
  • "Cosmic Saboteur" (1955). Novelette
  • "Dream Street" (1955)
  • "Four Hours to Eternity" (1955)
  • "You Don't Walk Alone" (1955)
  • "Wanted: One Sane Man" (1955). Novelette
  • "A Rover I Will Be" (1960)
  • "Merry Christmas, No. 30267" (1993)
  • "The Greatest Dying" (1993)
  • "1969 Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll" (1994)
  • "Dealer's Choice" (1994)
  • "One Month in 1907" (1994) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Outlaws)
  • "The Phantom of the Barbary Coast" (1995). Novelette
  • "Infallibility, Obedience, and Acts of Contrition" (1997) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology Alternate Tyrants)
  • "Love Story" (2003)
  • "The Errand Boy" (2010). Novelette

Poems

  • The Nether Gardens (1945)

Nonfiction

;Autobiographies:

  • Not So Good a Gay Man: A Memoir (2017)

;Guides:

  • Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines (1998, with Lawrence Davidson)
  • Science Fiction of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History (1999)

;Self Help:

  • Therapeutic Re-Creation: Ideas and Experiences (1974)
  • A Holistic Perspective on the Disabled Child: Applications in Camping, Recreation, and Community Life (1985)
  • Coping+plus: Dimensions of Disability (1995, with Dwight Woodworth Jr., Doe West)

References

  • Frank M. Robinson's online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online