James E. Gunn

James E. Gunn (1923–2020) was both a fine writer, The Listeners, about the long patience of listening for alien signals, is his masterwork, and one of the genre’s great scholars and teachers. He founded the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, wrote key critical histories, and was named an SFWA Grand Master and Hugo-winning non-fiction author. Few did more to establish SF as a subject worthy of serious study.