Elizabeth Anne Hull
(January 10, 1937 – August 3, 2021)
Dr. Elizabeth Anne “Betty” Hull was aChicagolandacademic,political activist,collector andSFfan. She was a founder ofSFFNCS and a one-time regular atGeorge Price’s. She was atraveling jiant and inveteratecon-goer.
She served as president of theScience Fiction Research Association and editor of itsnewsletter,co-chairing twoSFRA Conferences. She was a member of the panel for theJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award for bestSF novel for over 20 years, beginning in 1986 and a judge for theISFiC Writers Contest. For over a decade, she served asNorth American secretary forWorld SF: An Organization of SF Professionals.
She andBeverly Friend organized theacademictrack atChicon 7 in 2012. She ran writers’ workshops and judged writing contests for a number ofconventions. She was a contributor toLocus.
She was married to distinguishedfan andproFred Pohl from 1984 until his death. They met atMidAmeriCon, and he proposed to her with an ad inLocus! With Pohl, Hull edited the international anthologyTales from the Planet Earth. She was editor of the 2010 anthology,Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl.
She was Professor Emerita of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine,Illinois, where she taught English for over 30 years. She was born in Upper Darby,Pennsylvania, and educated at Illinois State University (1954–55); City Colleges of Chicago (A.A., 1965); Northwestern University and Loyola University (M.A., 1970, Ph.D., 1975). At the request of the Democratic Party, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois’ 8th District in 1996; she was defeated by the incumbent.
She was a sparkling conversationalist and brilliantly intelligent ... about everything except computers and the internet (she struggled even with online shopping). She lovedWheel of Fortune and cooking.
She died from complications a few months after falling and fracturing her hip. At age 49, she had had a heart attack and technically died for several minutes. She considered every day afterward a gift.
- Profile atThe Way the Future Blogs.
- “Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” Betty on online shopping.
- Entry inThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 1989 --ICON 14
- 1997 --Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service
- 1999 --DucKon VIII
- 2005 --NESFA Press Guest atBoskone 42
| Person | 1937—2021 |
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