Clifford D. Simak was one of the leading science fiction writers of his generation – and one of the giants of the genre. He was born in Wisconsin and worked as a journalist on various newspapers in the Midwest, only becoming a full-time writer on his retirement. Simak won three Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and was the third Grand Master of the ‘Science Fiction Writers of America’, while the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.
His writing career spans a remarkable period of time, from the days of the earliest pulp publishing to his last novel in the 1980s. He is often called a “pastoralist” because of his use of peaceful rural settings and small-town characters. His output was large and varied, although he is now best-known for a few of his works such as City and Way Station.