The Resume

(June 8, 1910-July 11, 1971)
Born in Newark, New Jersey
Science fiction author and editor
Best-known short story was 'Who Goes There?' (1938)
Editor of the magazine 'Astounding Science Fiction' (1937-71)
Namesake for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Why he might be annoying:

Isaac Asimov said, 'Talking to him meant listening to a monologue.'
He was a chain smoker whose response to the Surgeon General's warning was an editorial calling the link between cigarettes and cancer 'esoteric' and 'barely determinable.'
He got into Dianetics and declared that L. Ron Hubbard would win the Nobel Peace Prize for it.
In later years, he promoted pseudoscientific notions such as telepathy, ESP and the physics-defying Dean drive.
His eccentric behavior and arbitrary editorial demands alienated many of his more illustrious contributors to the point that they eventually stopped sending him their stories.
Alfred Bester said after meeting him, 'It reinforced my private opinion that a majority of the science-fiction crowd, despite their brilliance, were missing their marbles.'

Why he might not be annoying:

Asimov described him as 'the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely.'
He is considered a key figure in the 'Golden Age of Science Fiction.'
He published the first stories of A.E. van Vogt, Theodore Sturgeon and Robert Heinlein.
'Who Goes There?' inspired the classic sci-fi film 'The Thing' (1951) (and John Carpenter's 1982 remake, which stuck a lot closer to the original story).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Award Namesakes
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 45]
• I Attended Duke University
• I Attended MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• I Died in 1971 (Ranked: 61)
• I Write Pulp Fiction
• I Write Sci-Fi
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• Look at My Book Cover
• People with John or Mary in their Names
• Profiles 33501-33750 (Ranked: 33626)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 43 Votes: 81.40% Annoying