Edmund Cooper (30 April 1926 – 11 March 1982) was an English poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction, romances, technical essays, several detective stories, and a children's book. These were published under his own name and several pen names.
Biography Born on 30 Apri 1926, in Marple, near Stockport, Cheshire, Cooper left school at the age of 15. In 1942, he became engaged at 16 to a teacher four years older than he was, and married her four years later on 13 April 1946.Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald Hahn: Reclams Science-Fiction-Führer. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1982, p. 106 He worked as a labourer, then a civil servant, and in 1944, he joined the Merchant Navy.Edmund Cooper's Biography, by Joe Smith After the war, he trained as a teacher and began to publish verse, then short stories, then novels. Deadly Image, the first novel to appear under his own name, was completed in 1957 and published in 1958 in the United States. (The novel was published in the UK later in 1958 in a variant form and under its better-known title The Uncertain Midnight.) The Uncertain Midnight was adapted without authorisation for Swiss television in 1969. His short story The Brain Child (1956) was adapted as the movie The Invisible Boy (1957), which featured the return of Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.
Cooper reviewed science fiction for the Sunday Times from 1967 until his death in 1982.
In 2009, Carol Lake published Those Summers at Moon Farm (United Writers, Cornwall: 978-1-85200-141-4), a roman à clef about the writer and family. The author's comments says 'Although inspired by real people, this story is fiction'. Dedicated in part to Joan and Edmund Cooper, Lake acknowledges one of Cooper's daughters, 'for sharing memories and anecdotes'.
Work and criticism Cooper was an atheist and an individualist. His science fiction often depicts unconventional male heroes facing unfamiliar and remote environments.Ash, Brian: Who's Who in Science Fiction: Sphere Books Ltd; 1976 : "Cooper's forte is his portrayal of suspiciously Heinlein-type male heroes ... who act out their particular destinies (not always gloriously) against unfamiliar backdrops." His novel, The Uncertain Midnight, was noted for its treatment of the subject of androids, which was considered original at the time of writing.Ash, Brian: Who's Who in Science Fiction: Sphere Books Ltd; 1976 Also mentioned is the subject of the colonisation of planets, which is the basis of Cooper's Expendables series, published under the pen name Richard Avery (the name of the hero of Transit). The Expendables series features an unusual diversity, both in its cast of characters, and in the frank nature of their conversations and attitudes on racial and sexual topics.
TwoFive to Twelve, Who Needs Men? (Gender Genocide) of Cooper's books depict future Earths dominated by women after the genetic or physical need for men has been reduced. His attitude to women is said to have been controversial.Edmund Cooper's Biography "commentary by the feminist mafia didn't help.'" Cooper was quoted as saying: "Let them have totally equal competition ... they'll see that they can't make it.""We Must Love One Another or Die; an interview with Edmund Cooper by James Goddard page 3 The theme of both books is actually the need to retain both sexes. Five to Twelve ends with the phrase "if we do not make any more mistakes, we can create a balanced world of men and women". The more cynical Who Needs Men? ends by asking whether love of woman for man is worth death for that love.
Publications
Novels
As George Kinley 1954 Ferry Rocket, Curtis Books
As Broderick Quain 1954 They Shall Not Die, Curtis Books
As Martin Lester 1954, The Black Phoenix, Curtis Books
As Edmund Cooper 1957 The Invisible Boy (chapbook) Ungar Electronics Tools 1958 Deadly Image (aka The Uncertain Midnight) Ballantine (Text 1), Hutchinson (Text 2), Panther (Text 2 rev), Hodder (Text 1), Coronet (Text 1), Remploy (Text 2) 1959 Seed of Light, Hutchinson (Text 1), Ballantine (Text 2), Panther (Text 1), Coronet (Text 2 rev) 1960 Wish Goes to Slumber Land: An Adventure in Plasticene, Hutchinson 1964 Transit, Faber & Faber, Lancer, 4 Square, Coronet, Ace, Remploy 1966 All Fools' Day, Hodder & Stoughton, Walker, Coronet, Berkley, Remploy 1967 A Far Sunset, Hodder & Stoughton, Walker, Berkley Medallion, Hodder, AceA Far Sunset publication history at the Edmund Cooper Visual Bibliography 1968 Five to Twelve, Hodder & Stoughton, Putnam, Doubleday/SFBC, Hodder, Berkley, Coronet 1969 Seahorse in the Sky, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder, Putnam, SFBC, Coronet, Berkley, Ace 1969 The Last Continent, Dell, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder, Coronet 1970 Son of Kronk, Hodder & Stoughton; later as Kronk, Putnam, Berkley, Coronet 1971 The Overman Culture, Hodder & Stoughton, Putnam, Berkley Medallion, Readers Union, Coronet 1972 Who Needs Men?, Hodder & Stoughton, Coronet; later as Gender Genocide, Ace 1973 The Tenth Planet, Putnam, Hodder & Stoughton, Readers Union, Berkley, Coronet 1973 The Cloud Walker, Hodder & Stoughton, Ballantine, Coronet 1974 Prisoner of Fire, Hodder & Stoughton, Walker, Coronet 1974 The Slaves of Heaven, Putnam, SFBC, Hodder & Stoughton, Berkley Medallion, Coronet 1978 Merry Christmas, Ms Minerva!, Robert Hale 2014 SF Gateway Omnibus: The Cloud Walker, All Fools' Day, A Far Sunset, Gollancz
As Richard Avery The Expendables Series: 1975 The Expendables (1) The Deathworms of Kratos, Coronet, Fawcett Gold Medal, Severn House; later as The Deathworms of Kratos by Cooper, 1979 1975 The Expendables (2) The Rings of Tantalus, Coronet, Fawcett Gold Medal, Severn House; later as The Rings of Tantalus by Cooper, 1979 1975 The Expendables (3) The War Games of Zelos, Coronet, Fawcett Gold Medal; later as The War Games of Zelos by Cooper, 1980 1976 The Expendables (4) The Venom of Argus, Coronet, Fawcett Gold Medal; later as The Venom of Argus by Cooper, 1980
Short stories (collections) 1958 Tomorrow's Gift, Ballantine, Digit 1960 Voices in the Dark, Digit 1963 Tomorrow Came, Panther 1964 The Square Root of Tomorrow, Robert Hale 1968 News from Elsewhere, Mayflower, Berkley 1971 Unborn Tomorrow, Robert Hale 1971 Double Phoenix (with Roger Lancelyn Green) (edited by Lin Carter, "Adult Fantasy" series), Ballantine 1979 Jupiter Laughs and Other Stories, Hodder & Stoughton, Readers' Union, Coronet 1980 World of Difference, Robert Hale
Short stories by Edmund Cooper 1963 "The Piccadilly Interval" in Tomorrow Came, Panther 1969 "The Lizard of Woz" Reprinted by permission of the author in Flying Saucers (1982) by Isaac Asimov, Martin Harry Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh,
Work adapted for the screen 1957 The Invisible Boy, written with Cyril Hume, directed by Herman Hoffman from The Brain Child 1956 page 4, Short Stories "Brain Child, The : The Saturday Evening Post (as 'The Invisible Boy'); 23 June 1956"; page 11, Filmography "Invisible Boy, The : Brain Child, The: Herman Hoffman; USA; 1957", "O .B.N. in arrivo : Death Watch: part of series ' Racconti di fantascienza di Blasetti, I':Alessandro Blasetti; Italy; 1978" 1969 The Uncertain Midnight (French) TV serial, unauthorised 1979 Death Watch as "OBN in Arrivo", part of series I racconti di fantascienza directed by Alessandro Blasetti (Rai, Italy)"
References
External links
Edmund Cooper's Biography Edmund Cooper
Edmund Cooper Visual Bibliography