F. Orlin Tremaine

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(January 7, 1899 – October 22, 1956)

Frederick Orlin Tremaine was a SF editor and writer. Tremaine became the second editor of Astounding in 1933, following the magazine's purchase by Street and Smith. He remained editor until 1937, during which time he bought such important stories as H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Shadow Out of Time", apparently without reading them. Tremaine permitted both tales to be severely abridged and edited by copyeditors, although Lovecraft complained only about the former. Tremaine was also responsible for the “Thought-Variants” concept at Astounding.

Prior to editing Astounding, Tremaine worked as an editor on several magazines, including Brain Power (1921–1924) and True Story (1924). In addition, he published short stories under the pseudonym of Orlin Frederick.

Desmond Hall was Temaine's assistant at Astounding, and together they became the founding editors of Street and Smith's women's magazine, Mademoiselle, in 1935. Tremaine was succeeded as editor of Astounding by John W. Campbell, Jr., and at Mademoiselle by Betsy Blackwell.

In 1937, Tremaine was appointed Editorial Director of Street and Smith, a position he held for a year. He then formed his own company and produced the SF magazine Comet Stories. He later became editor at Bartholomew House, which published the first paperback editions of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth (1944) and The Dunwich Horror (1945).

In August 1937 he became the third honorary member of the UK's Science Fiction Association (SFA). In accepting this position, and as reported in Novae Terrae #16, he wrote:

I have a keen interest in the development of science-fiction as one of the finest foundations for developing a general interest in scientific progress. I believe that the existence of such an organization of [sic] yours is an excellent means of extending that public interest.

Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Awards, Honors and GoHships:



Person 18991956
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