Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother toMinneapolis in 1937.[2] He served in the United States Army, from 1943 to 1946, and received a Bachelor of Arts from theUniversity of Minnesota, in 1948.[3] From 1948 through 1950 he attended the University of Minnesota for graduate work.[citation needed] His first publishedspeculative fiction was the short story "Trespass!", written jointly withPoul Anderson, in the Spring 1950 issue ofFantastic Stories Quarterly (ed.Sam Merwin), the inaugural number ofFantastic Story Magazine as it came to be titled. Next year three of his solo efforts were published byJohn W. Campbell inAstounding Science Fiction and one appeared inPlanet Stories. Anderson and Dickson also inaugurated the Hoka series with "The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch" (Other Worlds Science Stories, May 1951).[4]
John Clute has characterized Dickson as a "gregarious, engaging, genial, successful man of letters" who had not been an introvert.[6] Clute considers Dickson a "science fiction romantic".[6] Nevertheless, Clute stresses in connection to Dickson thatscience fiction welcomes "images of heightened solitude, romantically vague, limitless landscapes, and an anguished submission toafflatus", due to its origin inGothic fiction.[2]
Clute has pointed out that Dickson, likePoul Anderson, with whom he collaborated in theHoka series, "[tends] to infuse an austere Nordic pathos into wooded, rural midwestern American settings."[6] His works often have mercenaries as their protagonists and deal with aliens that are "less deracinated and more lovable than humans".[6] They "are inclined to take on a heightened, sagalike complexion",[2] particularly by the insertion of lyric poetry that is sometimes inferior.[6]
In 1974 Dickson donated to the Manuscripts Division of theUniversity of Minnesota Libraries notes, outlines, and drafts for more than 240 short stories and 36 novels and novelettes. These included materials forAlien Art,The Outposter,The Pritcher Mass,None But Man, andSoldier Ask Not. They were made available to researchers without restriction.[7]
Clute, John (1982). "Gordon R. Dickson (1923–)". InBleiler, Richard (ed.).Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.[ISBN missing]
Clute, John (11 March 2024)."Dickson, Gordon R.". In Clute, John; Langford, David (eds.).The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Ansible Editions.ISSN3049-7612. Retrieved9 July 2024.
Stokes, Keith (2018)."Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame". Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc.Archived from the original on 2013-05-21. Retrieved2013-03-22. This was the official website of the Hall of Fame to 2004.
Levinson, Paul (February 1, 2001)."Gordon R. Dickson (1923-2001)". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Archived fromthe original on February 22, 2015. RetrievedApril 1, 2010.
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