Andre Norton life and biography

Andre Alice Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author (with some works of historical fiction and contemporary fiction). Born Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland, Ohio. She published her first novel in 1934, was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and she won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the SFWA in 1983. She wrote under the "noms de plume" Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston. Alan E. Nourse, assumed by some to be one of her noms de plume, was in fact another author of science fiction.

Norton's parents were Adalbert Freely Norton, who owned a rug company, and Bertha Stemm Norton. She began writing at Collinwood High School in Cleveland, under the tutelage of Miss Sylvia Cochrane. She was the editor of a literary page in the school's paper called "The Collingwood Spotlight" for which she wrote short stories. During this time, she wrote her first book "Ralestone Luck", which was eventually published as her second novel in 1938, the first being "The Prince Commands" in 1934.

After graduating from high school in 1930, Norton continued her education at Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University. In 1932, she began working for the Cleveland Library System and remained there for 18 years, latterly in the children's section of the Nottingham Branch Library in Cleveland. She legally changed her name to "Andre Alice Norton" in 1934 to appeal to a predominantly male audience and to increase her marketability. From 1940 to 1941, she worked as a special librarian in the cataloguing department of the Library of Congress, involved in a project related to alien citizenship. The project was abruptly terminated upon the American entry into World War II.

In 1941, she bought a bookstore called the "Mystery House" in Mount Rainier, Maryland. The business failed and she returned to the Cleveland Public Library until 1950. Then she began working as a reader for the Martin Greenberg at the Gnome Press company, where she remained until 1958, after which she became a full-time professional author. Note that Martin Greenberg is not the S.F. author Martin H. Greenberg

She was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's "Flashing Swords!" anthologies.

In later years, as Norton's health became uncertain, she was motivated to move to Florida in November 1966, and then to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. From February 21, 2005, she was under hospice care, with her health in a precipitous decline. She died on March 17, 2005, peacefully, in her own home.

Her final complete novel, "Three Hands for Scorpio", was published on 1 April 2005. She was collaborating with Jean Rabe on the novel "Return to Quag Keep" when she died. It was completed by Rabe and published in 2006.

On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the Young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. While the Andre Norton Award is not a Nebula Award, the eligibility requirements and award procedures are the same as those for the Nebula Awards.

Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J.M Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, and K. D. Wentworth.

Recurring themes

In most Norton books, whether science-fiction or fantasy, the plot takes place in the open countryside, with only short episodes in a city environment. Protagonists usually move about singly or in small groups, and in conflict situations they are more often scouts, spies or guerillas rather than regular soldiers in large military formations (A. Jakes, "Fictional Soldiers", p. 46, 81).

As could be expected of such characters, they tend to be resourceful and capable of taking independent initiative. In some books, protagonists are introduced already in possession of such characteristics. In others the protagonists (often young) are thrust into situations where they must develop them quickly, and invariably succeed at it.

Other planets in the books are usually earthlike places, where humans can live without special protection, and have extensive flora and fauna which are described in considerable detail and often have substantial bearing on the plot. Airless planets and ones with unbreathable atmospheres are sometimes mentioned in passing, but are virtually never the main scene of a Norton book.

A common theme in the books is the presence of sympathetically presented feudal and tribal cultures. In several books Native American tribes and their various analogues are given a chance to be more successful than they were in actual American history. Non-human creatures and cultures are usually presented sympathetically, with human protagonists sometimes supporting them against oppressive human authorities. In contrast, several books present technological and mechanised cultures as negative or even positively evil.

An important role in Norton's books is often given to animals - both ordinary terrestrial ones, such as cats (with whom she had much personal experience) and exotic fictional ones, whose characteristics are meticulously worked out. Many of Norton's animals are highly intelligent without being anthropomorphic, acting as virtually full partners to the human protagonists and in many books forming telepathic links with them.

Some background elements - such as the use of "Credits" as a unit of currency, and of the lethal "Blasters" and the non-lethal "Stunners" as the main hand-weapons - are common to most Norton science-fiction books, even when they are not set in precisely the same future.

A fictional board and counter game called 'Stars and Comets' appears in many Norton books. However, only fleeting hints of the rules are revealed. Counters styled as either 'stars' or 'comets' move across the board taking opponents' pieces. The rules of movement and capture seem to be very complex allowing hidden strategies and sudden reversals of fortune. It may be that there are both elements of skill and chance. Often, it is not the game being played itself which features, but references to it as an analogy of some plot situation. Its use helps to reinforce the alien culture being portrayed, and also gives the reader a sense of continuity between books portraying differing people and places.

"Star Man's Son" ( AKA "Day Break 2250"), the story of a young man's quest through a post-apocalyptic landscape, has been retold endlessly, in print and in film, though Norton never received proper recognition for developing this theme. She also developed the concept of traveling through alternate worlds, in "The Cross Roads of Time", another theme which she developed. In the "Time Trader" series, she explored Celtic Europe, and Ice Age America, synthesizing of anthropology, archeology, and hard science fiction, and this series must also be seen as a pivotal exploration of time travel, as a method of fictionally exploring lost cultures. The second book in the Time Trader series, "Galactic Derelict", features the use of recovered alien technology, to enable human travel to the stars, and this theme is also very recurrent, with definite features developed by Andre Norton.

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