Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be widely influential in those roles.

In 1939, Judith graduated from Morris High School in the Bronx at 16 and rethought her politics under the influence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (August 23), shifting to a Trotskyist outlook. She married Dan Zissman the next year, less than four months into a relationship that started when they met at a Trotskyist Fourth of July picnic in Central Park. Their daughter Merril Zissman was born in December 1942. In this period, she also became one of the few female members of the New York City-based group of science fiction writers, editors, artists and fans, the Futurians, which included Kornbluth. The Zissmans separated about 1945; in 1946 Frederik Pohl, another Futurian, began living with her. After her divorce from Zissman became final in 1948, she married Pohl on November 25; they divorced in 1952.

Judith Merril began writing professionally, especially short stories about sports, starting in 1945, before publishing her first science fiction story in 1948. A number, but by no means all, of her contributions were to magazines edited by fellow ex-Futurians. She was a co-founder of the Hydra Club in this period.

Her story "Dead Center'" (F&SF, November 1954) is one of only two stories taken from any science fiction or fantasy magazine for the Best American Short Stories volumes edited by Martha Foley in the 1950s. Groff Conklin described her first novel, Shadow on the Hearth, as "a masterly example of sensitive and perceptive story-telling". Boucher and McComas praised it as "a sensitively human novel, terrifying in its small-scale reflection of grand-scale catastrophe". P. Schuyler Miller found it a "warm, human novel" comparable to Earth Abides.

Her second child, Ann Pohl, was born in 1950; she and Pohl separated in 1952 and their divorce was finalized the next year, during which she also lived with Walter M. Miller for six months. Her third marriage came in 1960, devolved into separation in 1963, but never reached a final divorce. Ann Pohl's daughter, Merril's granddaughter Emily Pohl-Weary, writes young adult fiction including science fiction and is a professor of creative writing at the University of British Columbia. She also co-authored Merril's biography after the latter's death, using access to her drafts, notes and letters. She had a role as Books Editor for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) from 1965 until 1969.

Canadian years

Merril was among those who in 1968 signed an anti-Vietnam War advertisement in Galaxy Science Fiction. In the late 1960s, Merril moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, citing what she called undemocratic suppression of anti-Vietnam War activities by the U.S. government. She was a founding resident of Rochdale College, an experiment in student-run education and cooperative living, very much part of the zeitgeist of the era. At Rochdale, she was the "Resource Person on Writing and Publishing" with her extensive personal collection of books and unpublished manuscripts.

From 1978 to 1981 Merril introduced Canadian broadcasts of Doctor Who. As the "Undoctor", Merril presented short (3-7 minute) philosophical commentaries on the show's themes.

Merril was an active organizer and promoter of science fiction in Canada. For example, she founded the Hydra North network of writers. In 1985 she launched and edited the first Tesseract, an occasional anthology of Canadian science fiction from Press Porcépic (Toronto).

In the early 1980s, Merril donated to the National Archives of Canada her voluminous collection of correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, and Japanese science fiction material – eventually the Judith Merril Fonds.

Merril became a Canadian citizen in 1976 and became active in its Writers' Union.

From the mid-1970s until her death, Merril spent much time in the Canadian peace movement, including traveling to Ottawa dressed as a witch in order to hex Parliament for allowing American cruise missile testing over Canada. She also remained active in the SF world as a commentator and mentor. Her lifetime of work was honoured by the International Authors Festival at the Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. She spent much time working on her memoirs.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA renamed) made Merril its Author Emeritus for 1997 and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted her in 2013.

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;Citations

  • What If? A Film about Judith Merril. full-length documentary. Writer/director: Helene Klodawsky. Producer: Imageries, Montreal. First shown on Canadian Space Channel, February 1999.
  • TVOntario Dr. Who Judith Merril 1978 – audio-video, with Merril extro to a Dr Who episode
  • TVOntario More Judith Merril 1978 – AV, with Merril extro to an episode
  • Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy at Toronto Public Library
  • Judithmerril.com, evidently by the Merril Estate and its literary agency
  • Judith Merril: An Appreciation by Robert J. Sawyer
  • (under 'Merril, Judith, 1923–', previous page of browse report)
  • Cyril Judd at LC Authorities with 3 records (joint writing by C.&nbsp;M. Kornbluth and Merril)