H. Beam Piper

Henry Beam Piper (March 23, 1904 - November 11, 1964) was an American writer of science fiction. He was largely self-educated; he obtained a deep knowledge of science and history: "without subjecting myself to the ridiculous misery of four years in the uncomfortable confines of a raccoon coat." At age eighteen, he went to work as a laborer for the Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona yards. He worked as detective and member of engineering staff of Pennsylvania Railroad in Williamsburg, PA. He is best known for his extensive future history series of stories, and a shorter series of alternate history stories.

Related Topics:
March 23 - 1904 - November 11 - 1964 - American - Science fiction - Future history - Alternate history

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Another source has his name as "Horace Beam Piper" and a different date of death.

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Piper published his first short story, "Time and Time Again", in 1947 in Astounding Science Fiction, and was primarily a short story author from then until 1961 when he began a productive but short-lived foray into writing novels. Then, burdened by financial hardships in the wake of a divorce, and the mistaken perception that his career was floundering (his agent had died without notifying him of multiple sales), he committed suicide.

Related Topics:
1947 - Astounding Science Fiction - 1961 - Suicide

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Piper's 1964 suicide -- which some biographers attribute to financial problems, others to family problems -- brought his career to a premature conclusion. On Monday, November 9th, 1964, H. Beam Piper shut off all the utilities to his apartment in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, put painter's drop-cloths over the walls and floor, and took his own life with a handgun from his collection. In his suicide note, he gave an explanation that "I don't like to leave messes when I go away, but if I could have cleaned up any of this mess, I wouldn't be going away. H. Beam Piper'"

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His output was eventually purchased by Ace Science Fiction and reprinted in a set of paperbacks in the early 1980s. Many of these have since gone out of print, though his two best-known arcs were again reprinted by Ace in 1998 and 2001.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1998 - 2001

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Late in his career, Piper corresponded with a young Jerry Pournelle.

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He was also a collector of guns, and wrote one mystery, Murder in the Gunroom. An unpublished story, Only the Arquebus, has been missing since his suicide; it is probable that he destroyed it along with many of his other personal papers.

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