Since he began writing professionally in 1972, Spider Robinson has won three
Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the
E.E. ("Doc") Smith Memorial Award (Skylark), the Pat Terry Memorial Award for
Humorous Science Fiction, and Locus Awards for Best Novella and Best
Critic. Twenty-four of his 29 books are still in print, in 10 languages. His
short work has appeared in magazines around the planet, from Omni and
Analog to Xhurnal Izobretatel i Rationalizator (Moscow), and in
numerous anthologies. In 2000 he released Belaboring the Obvious, a CD
comprising readings of excerpts from Callahan's Key, plus original music
performed by Spider with legendary Alberta guitarist Amos Garrett and top
session players.
Spider was born in New York City on 3 successive days (they had to handle him
in sections), and holds a Bachelors degree in English from the State University
of New York. He was book reviewer for Galaxy, Analog and New Destinies
magazines for nearly a decade, and currently writes occasional book reviews
and a regular op-ed column, "Future Tense," for The Globe and Mail,
Canada's national newspaper.
He was married for 35 years to Jeanne Robinson, a Boston-born writer,
modern dance choreographer, and former dancer who died in 2010. The Robinsons collaborated on the
Hugo-, Nebula-and Locus-winning novel Stardance (included in the Baen
volume The Star Dancers).
Spider and Jeanne met in the woods of Nova Scotia in the early 1970s, and
have lived for the last 16 years in British Columbia, where they raise and
exhibit hopes. From 1981 on, they lived together in Canada—primarily in
Nova Scotia and British Columbia—where they raised and exhibited hopes.
Spider now lives on Bowen Island, Vancouver, BC.
