Planet of Dread and other Stories

Murray Leinster was the pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American author of science fiction who lived from June 16, 1896, until June 8, 1975. More than 1,500 short stories, essays, 14 film scripts, hundreds of radio plays, and television plays were all written and published by him. Leinster was the son of George B. Jenkins and Mary L. Jenkins, he was born in Norfolk, Virginia; his father was an accountant. He dropped out of high school and started working as a freelance writer before World War I. When his first tale was published in H. L. Mencken's The Smart Set, he was two months away from turning 20. He served with the American Army and the Committee of Public Information both during and after the conflict. Science fiction author William F. Leinster was known for his prodigious output, and his 1956 short story "Exploration Team" earned him a Hugo Award. Men into Space and The Time Tunnel are only a couple of the science fiction TV shows that he created tie-in literature. He worked for the American Office of War Information during World War II. Both Galaxy Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction published his tales.