Wed 3 Apr 2019
Pulp SF Stories I’m Reading: ROGER DEE – First Life.
Posted by Steve under Pulp Fiction , Science Fiction & Fantasy , Stories I'm Reading[4] Comments
LOU SAHADI, Editor – An Argosy Special: Science Fiction. One-shot reprint magazine. Popular Publications, 1977.
#1. ROGER DEE – First Life. Short story. First published in Super Science Stories, July 1950. Not reprinted elsewhere.
This late 70s Argosy Special consists (at first glance) of nine random stories selected from a group of second-rank SF magazines published by Popular Publications in the early 1950s. Assuming you’ll allow me, I’m going to go through the magazine story by story over the next few weeks, and write up my comments on them in a series of individual posts.
First up is “First Life” by Roger Dee, the working byline of Roger Dee Aycock, born in Georgia in 1914. You may never have heard of him unless you’re a collector-reader of SF magazines from the 50s, even those not in the top three (Astounding, Galaxy, F&SF). He was the author of several dozen short stories in that era, but only one novel, An Earth Gone Mad, half of an Ace Double in 1954.
In this story a young boy has been in touch with far advanced beings from the stars, and on the fateful night that the story takes place, a small individual spaceship has come to pick him up to meet his future. Unfortunately he also has to say goodbye to his parents and dog, and it isn’t easy.
The story isn’t told in the most elegant of prose, but it caught my attention anyway. It reminded me of seeing each of my children off to school for the first time, knowing that they wouldn’t ever be the same, once the bus brought them home again. The poignancy is even higher in “First Life,” though, as young Donnie will never be coming home again. You will have to read the story yourself to learn why.
April 3rd, 2019 at 8:24 pm
With a title like SUPER SCIENCE STORIES it is surprising how good that pulp often was, but then it wasn’t hard in that period. I’ve read a few stories by Dee, usually interesting, but not always elegant in the telling, but what a great name for a SF writer.
April 4th, 2019 at 8:45 pm
Looks like maybe David and I are the only rwo people reading this blog who have ever read a Roger Dee story. I’m joking, but then again, I wouldn’t be surprised.
April 5th, 2019 at 3:10 pm
The Jakobsson SSS was a little ahead of the curve of the 1950s boom, so did manage to pick up a few decent stories that had slipped by the impressive panoply of magazines already publishing…the new F&SF and GALAXY and the also new WORLDS BEYOND and a few others soon after, along with the upgrading PLANET STORIES, STARTLING and THRILLING WONDER, the always decent FAMOUS FANTASTIC .MYSTERIES with its one or so new story per issue and WEIRD TALES with the occasional sf story or borderline science fiction, the occasional pickup of an sf story by the likes of BLUEBOOK and the slicks, and Howard Browne occasionally striving for something a bit better at FANTASTIC ADVENTURES and AMAZING while Ziff-Davis dithered over whether they were going to offer a slick version of their magazines…and eventually almost did.
As you might suspect, I’ve read Dee, most in back issues of F&SF…
April 5th, 2019 at 3:12 pm
Frederik Pohl eventually found it amusing that Jakobsson followed him as editor of the revived SUPER SCIENCE (no ASTONISHING this time from Popular) and would do so more immediately after the sale of the GALAXY group of magazines…