Dr. Dobb's Journal January 2003
It's not everyday you come face-to-face with a living legend. That's not to say that Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, or even J.D. Hildebrand don't have a certain panache when you bump into them at Comdex or on the Software Development Conference show floor. Still, it's hard to imagine the adjective "legendary" prefixed to any of their names.
No, if you want to meet a living legend, you have to go where real living legends hang out—bars, bus stations, and comic book conventions. As luck would have it, I was wandering around the latter when one appeared smack dab in front of me. Hey, I knew at once that Julius Schwartz was a "Living Legend"—it said so on his cap. But seriously, I didn't need his hat to tell me that "Julie" is a living legend—you can't be a science-fiction or comic-book fan and not know about Julie Schwartz.
According to his science-fiction trading card (yes, there really is such a thing, see http://www.chicon.org/chi2000/card37.htm), Schwartz was the first editor of a science-fiction fan magazine, The Time Traveler, in 1932, and the first literary agent to specialize in science fiction. Writers he represented included Alfred Bester, Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft, Leigh Brackett, Robert Heinlein, Stanley Weinbaum, and L. Sprague de Camp, among others. (Schwartz once composed a ditty about being a literary agent: "Bradbury, Bester, Binder, Brackett, and Bloch, and that was just the Bs—and for the L of it, I also represented H.P. Lovecraft.") In 1939, Schwartz helped organize the first World Science Fiction Convention in New York City (which, according to his delightful biography Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics, he ditched one year for a New York Yankees baseball game where he heard Lou Gehrig give his famous "I'm the luckiest man on the face of the earth" farewell speech). Along the way, Schwartz has received the Forry Award for Lifetime Achievement in science fiction; the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award; the Raymond Z. Gallun Award for outstanding contributions to the genre of science fiction; and (you can see this one coming) the Julie Award for universal achievement spanning multiple genres. (Other recipients of the Julie Award include rock singer Alice Cooper and science-fiction author Harlan Ellison.)
Although Schwartz was a prime mover in science fiction, he eventually became even more influential in the world of comic books, upon becoming a DC Comics editor in 1944. With his academic roots in physics and math, professional background in science fiction, and his drive, vision, and creativity, Schwartz became "responsible for turning more readers on to [science fiction] than any other individual" (there's that trading card again). He went on to usher in the Silver Age superhero comic book revival of the 1950s, reworking and updating Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Rex the Wonder Dog, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and other classic characters, as well as introducing the great Barry Allen, Police Chemist. Without a doubt, says Harlan Ellison (who credits Schwartz with launching his writing career), Schwartz "is the only living legend in both science fiction and comics."
So there you have it. All it takes to become a living legend is a lifetime of hard work, the ability to think creatively, and a desire to treat people decently—and a hat, of course. Don't forget that hat. And that's also why it was extra special to chat with Schwartz when meeting him at a comic book convention.
Even at 87-years-old, Schwartz, whose role at DC Comics has shifted from that of "editor" to "goodwill ambassador," is still at the top of his game—signing books, shaking hands, giving interviews, generally spreading around goodwill. One thing I've always wondered about in terms of science fiction is how much of it do authors and editors expect to be "science" and how much "fiction." According to Schwartz, they thought that all of science fiction in the 1930s and '40s would come true—everything seemed possible back then. However, he added, the one thing they never imagined was the computer and the impact it would have on society.
Julius Schwartz's impact on the art and science of science fiction can't be underestimated. James Gunn, director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction (http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~sfcenter/), notes that "Julie Schwartz was there when it all started, and science fiction would not be the same if it had not been for him. He went on to the bigger circulation comic magazines, where he was equally a pioneer; but in retirement, he returned to his roots and he remains, to our lasting benefit, a source of enlightenment about that golden period." BYTE.COM columnist, science-fiction author, and ever-the-diplomat Jerry Pournelle is more blunt: "Big Julie? He's wonderful, I love him...even if he is an old goat"—not to mention, of course, a living legend.
Jonathan Erickson
editor-in-chief
jerickson@ddj.com