Paul Levinson | |
|---|---|
 Levinson in 2019 | |
| Born | (1947-03-25)March 25, 1947 (age 78) Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Christopher Columbus High School City College of New York New York University (BA,PhD) The New School (MA) |
| Occupations | Media theorist, novelist, singer-songwriter, short story writer |
Paul Levinson (born March 25, 1947)[1] is an American media theorist, novelist, singer-songwriter, and short story writer. He currently serves as professor of communications andmedia studies atFordham University in New York City. His novels, short fiction, and non-fiction works have been translated into sixteen languages. He is frequently quoted in news articles and appears as a guest commentator on major news outlets.
Paul Levinson graduated fromChristopher Columbus High School in the Bronx, attended theCity College of New York (CCNY) in the 1960s, and received a BA in journalism fromNew York University in 1975; an MA inMedia Studies fromThe New School in 1976; and a PhD from New York University inmedia ecology in 1979. His doctoral dissertation,Human Replay: A Theory of the Evolution of Media (1979), was mentored byNeil Postman.[2]
Levinson writes science fiction, fantasy, andsf/mystery hybrids with philosophical undertones as well as non-fiction about the history and future ofcommunications media, theFirst Amendment, the importance ofspace exploration, and popular culture themes.[3] His work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Macedonian, Croatian, Russian, Turkish, Persian, and Arabic.[4] Levinson's recent book,Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion, is an anthology of essays and science fiction stories which he edited with Michael Waltemathe,[5] and his latest novel isIt's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles.[6][7]
Levinson has received multiple nominations for theHugo,Nebula,Sturgeon,Prometheus,Sidewise,Edgar andAudie Awards. His novellaLoose Ends was a 1998 finalist for a Hugo, a Sturgeon, and a Nebula. In 2000, his novelThe Silk Code won theLocus Award for Best First Novel of 1999.[8] The central character ofThe Silk Code,NYPDforensic detective Dr.Phil D'Amato,[9] made his first appearance in Levinson's novelette, "The Chronology Protection Case", (published inAnalog magazine, September 1995). D'Amato returned in "The Copyright Notice Case" novelette (Analog, April 1996), "The Mendelian Lamp Case" novelette (Analog, April 1997),[10] and in subsequent novelsThe Consciousness Plague (2002), andThe Pixel Eye (2003). An adaptation of Levinson's "The Chronology Protection Case" (radioplay by Mark Shanahan with Paul Levinson & Jay Kensinger) was nominated by theMystery Writers of America for theEdgar Award for Best Play of 2002.
His next novel wasThe Plot To Save Socrates, a time travel story.Entertainment Weekly magazine called it "challenging fun".[11] His subsequent novel wasUnburning Alexandria, a sequel toThe Plot To Save Socrates. The first two chapters ofUnburning Alexandria appeared as a novelette in the November 2008 issue ofAnalog Science Fiction and Fact,[12] and the expanded novel was published as an e-book in May 2013.[13] The concluding novel in the series, titledChronica, was published in December 2014.[14]
He has taught atFordham University since 1998; he has been Professor of communication and media studies since 2000, and was chair of the department from 2002 to 2008. He had previously been Assistant (1977–82) and then Associate (1982–88) Professor atFairleigh Dickinson University, and had adjunct positions atThe New School,Hofstra University,St. John's University,Polytechnic University of New York,Audrey Cohen College and theWestern Behavioral Sciences Institute.[15] He has given lectures and keynote addresses at conferences at many universities and authored over 100 scholarly articles.[16]
In 1985 he co-foundedConnected Education, offeringonline courses forMasters credit.[17]
He served as president of theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 1998 to 2001.[3]
Levinson has been interviewed more than 500 times on local, national and international television and radio as a commentator on media, popular culture, and science fiction.[18] He is frequently quoted in newspapers and magazines around the world and hisop-eds have appeared in such major papers asThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution,[19][20] New York'sNewsday,[21] andThe New York Sun.[22] He was interviewed in a short weekly spot early Sunday mornings onKNX-AM Radio in Los Angeles, from 2006 to 2008 on media-related news events and popular culture. He hasseveral podcasts and blogs. In April 2009,The Chronicle of Higher Education named him ("PaulLev") one of Twitter's ten "High Fliers".[23]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, prior to his academic career, Levinson was a songwriter, singer, and record producer with recordings bythe Vogues, Donna Marie ofthe Archies,June Valli,Jimmy Clanton, andEllie Greenwich. As a radio producer he worked withMurray the K andWolfman Jack.[24]
He wrote over 100 songs published by major music publishers includingBourne,Chappell, Belwin Mills/Warner Brothers,Bobby Darin's TM Music, and Sunbury/RCA. Recordings of his songs were produced byEllie Greenwich,Jimmy Wisner, andPaul Leka for other artists. Songs he wrote, performed and/or produced were released on record labels includingColumbia,Decca,Philips,Atlantic,Buddah andLondon Records.[25]
He was principal artist, writer, and producer forTwice Upon a Rhyme, a 1972 LP released onHappySad Records[26][27] and subsequently re-issued on CD.[28] His song "Hung Up On Love" (co-writer Mikie Harris, produced byEllie Greenwich andMike Rashkow) was recorded by his trio The Other Voices and released onAtlantic Records in 1968; it was included inRhino Handmade's 2004 compilation CDCome to the Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults, compiled byAndrew Sandoval. He sang falsetto harmony on many of The Other Voices' recordings.
His songs "Merri Goes Round" and "Looking for Sunsets (In the Early Morning)", both co-written with Ed Fox in the 1970s, were recorded by Sundial Symphony (Robbie Rist and Don Frankel) and released by Big Stir Records in 2019.[29] His recent album of new songs,Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time, was released by Old Bear Records andLight In The Attic Records in 2020.[30]
I've seen multitudes of folkpsych wannabes hyped to the skies for their garage charm in euro lists that don't hold a candle to this baby.
