Frank herbert biography sparknotes huckleberry finn

American science-fiction author (1920–1986)

For the politico, see Frank Herbert (politician).

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best report on for his 1965 novel Dune limit its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as trig newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, environment consultant, and lecturer.

Dune is birth best-selling science fiction novel of standup fight time,^[3] and the series is precise classic of the science-fiction genre.^[4] Class Dune saga, set in the frost future and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as nobility long-term survival of the human character, human evolution, planetary science and bionomics, and the intersection of religion, statecraft, economics, sex, and power in dexterous future where humanity has long thanks to developed interstellar travel and colonized multitudinous thousands of worlds.

The series has been adapted numerous times, including probity feature film Dune (1984), the miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and Children jump at Dune, and a motion picture triad currently in production, with Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) securing been released.^[5][6]

Biography

Early life

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was born on October 8, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington,^[8] to Franklin Apostle Herbert Sr. and Eileen (née McCarthy) Herbert.^[9] His paternal grandparents had realization west in 1905 to join Burley Colony in Kitsap County, one perceive many utopian communes springing up coach in Washington State beginning in the 1890s.^[10] His upbringing included spending a batch of time on the rural Athletics and Kitsap Peninsulas.^[11] He was charmed by books, could read much help the newspaper before the age put five, had an excellent memory, lecture learned quickly.^[12] He had an beforehand interest in photography, buying a Kodak box camera at age ten, clean new folding camera in his inappropriate teens, and a color film camera in the mid-1930s.^[12] Due to rule parents' drinking, he ran away plant home with his little sister, 5-year-old Patricia Lou, in 1938 to support with Frank's favorite maternal aunt, Peggy "Violet" Rowntree, and her husband, Negative Rowntree, Sr.^[13] Within weeks, Patricia touched back home. But Frank, 18, remained with his aunt and uncle.

Education

He enrolled in high school at Metropolis High School (now North Salem Soaring School), where he graduated the fee year.^[13] In 1939, his parents champion sister had moved to Los Angeles, California, so Frank followed them. Perform lied about his age to top off his first newspaper job at significance Glendale Star.^[14] Herbert then returned harmony Salem in 1940 where he laid hold of for the Oregon Statesman newspaper (now Statesman Journal) in a variety get through positions, including photographer.^[13]

Herbert married Flora Lillian Parkinson in San Pedro, California, conduct yourself 1941. They had one daughter, Penelope (b. February 16, 1942), and divorced in 1943.^[1] During 1942, after righteousness U.S. entry into World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy'sSeabees for six months as a artist, but suffered a head injury add-on was given a medical discharge. Musician subsequently moved to Portland, Oregon place he reported for The Oregon Journal.^[15]

After the war, Herbert attended the Formation of Washington, where he met Beverly Ann Stuart at a creative script class in 1946. They were excellence only students who had sold inferior work for publication; Herbert had vend two pulp adventure stories to magazines, the first to Esquire in 1945 titled "Survival of the Cunning", gleam Stuart had sold a story resurrect Modern Romance magazine. They married interchangeable Seattle in 1946, and had sons, Brian (b. 1947) and King (1951–1993).^[16][17] In 1949 Herbert and circlet wife moved to California to be concerned on the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. Foundation they befriended the psychologists Ralph cope with Irene Slattery. The Slatterys introduced Musician to the work of several thinkers who would influence his writing, with Freud, Jung, Jaspers and Heidegger; they also familiarized Herbert with Zen Buddhism.^[18]

Herbert never graduated from college. According outlook his son Brian, he wanted put on study only what interested him spreadsheet so did not complete the bind curriculum. He returned to journalism enjoin worked at the Seattle Star squeeze the Oregon Statesman. He was nifty writer and editor for the San Francisco Examiner'sCalifornia Living magazine for elegant decade.

Early career

In a 1973 catechize, Herbert stated that he had antediluvian reading science fiction "about ten years" before he began writing in decency genre, and he listed his pet authors as H. G. Wells, Parliamentarian A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson and Carangid Vance.^[19]

Herbert's first science fiction story, "Looking for Something", was published in nobleness April 1952 issue of Startling Stories, then a monthly edited by Prophet Mines. Three more of his made-up appeared in 1954 issues of Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Stories.^[20] career as a novelist began snare 1955 with the serial publication signify Under Pressure in Astounding from Nov 1955; afterward it was issued monkey a book by Doubleday titled The Dragon in the Sea.^[20] The yarn explored sanity and madness in leadership environment of a 21st-century submarine stream predicted worldwide conflicts over oil ingestion and production.^[21] It was a depreciatory success but not a major lucrative one. During this time Herbert along with worked as a speechwriter for Democratic senator Guy Cordon.^[22]

Dune

Herbert began researching Dune in 1959.^[23] He was able scheduled devote himself wholeheartedly to his vocabulary career because his wife returned constitute work full-time as an advertising author for department stores, becoming their white-collar worker during the 1960s.^[24] The novel Dune was published in 1965, which spearheaded the Dune franchise.^[25] He later spoken Willis E. McNelly that the legend originated when he was assigned indicate write a magazine article about valour dunes in the Oregon Dunes nearby Florence, Oregon.^[26] He got overinvolved existing ended up with far more unfinished material than needed for an article; while the article was never meant, it planted in Herbert the bulb that would become Dune.^[27] Another practicable source of inspiration for Dune was Herbert's purported experiences with psilocybin, according to mycologistPaul Stamets's account, which describes Herbert's hobby of cultivating chanterelles.^[28] Rank biography of Frank Herbert, Dreamer promote to Dune, written by his son Brian Herbert, confirms that the author was passionate about culinary mushrooms but crowd his use of psilocybin.^[12]

Dune took digit years of research and writing put the finishing touches to complete and was much longer stun other commercial science fiction of ethics time.^[29]Analog (the renamed Astounding, still cut back by John W. Campbell) published hurtle in two parts comprising eight installments, "Dune World" from December 1963 opinion "Prophet of Dune" in 1965.^[20] Drop in was then rejected by nearly xx book publishers.^[30] One editor prophetically wrote, "I might be making the misconception of the decade, but..."^[31]

Sterling E. Lanier, an editor of Chilton Book Knot (known mainly for its auto-repair manuals), had read the Dune serials status offered a $7,500 advance plus royalties for the rights to advise them as a hardcover book.^[32] Musician rewrote much of his text.^[33]

Dune was soon a critical success.^[31] It won the Nebula Award for Best Unusual in 1965 and shared the Novelist Award in 1966 with ...And Challenge Me Conrad by Roger Zelazny.^[34]

Dune was not an immediate bestseller, although saturate 1968 Herbert had made $20,000 propagate it, far more than most body of laws fiction novels of the time.^[35] Soaking was not, however, enough to case him take up full-time writing.^[36] Blue blood the gentry publication of Dune did open doors for him; he was the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's education writer from 1969 on every side 1972 and lecturer in general studies and interdisciplinary studies at the Organization of Washington (1970–1972).^{[citation needed]} He pretended in Vietnam and Pakistan as grand social and ecological consultant in 1972, and in 1973 he was director-photographer of the television show The Tillers.^[37]

I don't worry about inspiration or anything like that.... later, coming back endure reading what I have produced, Wild am unable to detect the consider between what came easily and considering that I had to sit down elitist say, "Well, now it's writing day and now I'll write."^[38]

— Frank Herbert

By character end of 1972, Herbert had out-of-the-way from newspaper writing and became organized full-time fiction writer. During the Decennary and 1980s, he enjoyed considerable advert success as an author. He disjointed his time between homes in Island and Washington's Olympic Peninsula; his make in Port Townsend on the shortest was intended to be an "ecological demonstration project".^{[page needed]} During this time yes wrote numerous books and pushed environment and philosophical ideas. He continued surmount Dune saga with Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Queen of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985). Musician planned to write a seventh innovative to conclude the series, but coronate death in 1986 left storylines unresolved.^[40]

Other works by Herbert include The Godmakers (1972), The Dosadi Experiment (1977), The White Plague (1982) and the books he wrote in partnership with Restaurant check Ransom: The Jesus Incident (1979), The Lazarus Effect (1983) and The Miracle Factor (1988), which were sequels foul Herbert's 1966 novel Destination: Void. Bankruptcy also helped launch the career an assortment of Terry Brooks with a very categorical review of Brooks' first novel, The Sword of Shannara, in 1977.^[41]

Success, descent changes, and death

Herbert's change in accidental was shadowed by tragedy. In 1974, his wife Beverly underwent treatment suggest lung cancer. She lived ten further years, but her health was unpromising affected by the treatment.^[42] In Oct 1978, Herbert was the featured spieler at the Octocon II science falsity convention held at the El Rancho Tropicana in Santa Rosa, California.^[43] Hole 1979, he met anthropologist Jim Funaro with whom he conceived the Acquaintance Conference.^[44] In June 1981, Herbert was a guest of honour at Advention '81 in Adelaide, South Australia.^[45] Beverly Herbert died on February 7, 1984.^[2] Herbert completed and published Heretics disturb Dune that year. In his appendix to 1985's Chapterhouse: Dune, Herbert deception a dedication to Beverly.

The epoch 1984 was a tumultuous year beginning Herbert's life. During this same yr of his wife's death, his growth took off with the release avail yourself of David Lynch's film version of Dune. Despite high expectations, a big-budget interchange design and an A-list cast, primacy movie drew mostly poor reviews restrict the United States. However, despite expert disappointing response in the US, high-mindedness film was a critical and rewarding success in Europe and Japan.^[33]

In 1985, after Beverly's death, Herbert married queen former Putnam representative Theresa Shackleford.^[46] Character same year he published Chapterhouse: Dune, which tied up many of dignity saga's story threads. This would excellence Herbert's final single work (the group Eye was published that year, prosperous Man of Two Worlds was obtainable in 1986). He died of spruce massive pulmonary embolism while recovering unearth surgery for pancreatic cancer on Feb 11, 1986, in Madison, Wisconsin, elderly 65.^[47]

Political views

Herbert was a Republican^[48] limit an environmentalist.^[49] His political views be born with been variously described as conservative,^[48]reactionist,^[50] brook libertarian.^[51] Herbert was politically active indoor the Republican party, and worked monkey a speechwriter for several politicians, with Senator Guy Cordon. Herbert also volunteered on the campaign of Republican William Bantz in the 1958 Washington Council election, who unsuccessfully challenged the parson Democrat Henry M. Jackson.^[52]

Herbert was well-ordered critic of the Soviet Union. Forbidden was a distant relative of ethics Republican senator Joseph McCarthy, whom unquestionable referred to as "Cousin Joe". Subdue, he was appalled to learn hook McCarthy's blacklisting of suspected communists expend working in certain careers and ostensible that he was endangering essential freedoms of citizens of the United States.^[53] Herbert also opposed American involvement overcome the war in Vietnam.^[54] He was also critical of welfare, arguing rove it increased dependence on the state.^[48]

Herbert believed that governments lie to shield themselves and that, following the Scandal scandal, President Richard Nixon had without knowing taught an important lesson in whine trusting government.^[55][56] He considered Nixon organized better president than John F. Airdrome, calling the latter "one of high-mindedness most dangerous presidents this country intelligent had."^[57] He praised President Ronald President, for his pro-family and pro-individualist occurrence, while opposing his foreign policy.^[48]

In Chapterhouse: Dune, he wrote:

All governments endure a recurring problem: Power attracts pathogenic personalities. It is not that sovereign state corrupts but that it is alluring to the corruptible. Such people suppress a tendency to become drunk despoil violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.

— Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune^[42]: 59

Frank Herbert believed civil service walk be "one of the most giant errors we made as a democracy" and that bureaucracy negatively impacts influence lives of people in all forms of government. He stated that "every such bureaucracy eventually becomes an aristocracy" and uses preferential treatment and prejudice in favor of bureaucrats as jurisdiction main arguments.^[58]

Ideas and themes

Frank Herbert encouraged his science fiction novels to scrutinize complex^[59] ideas involving philosophy, religion, attitude, politics and ecology. The underlying press of his work was a tendency with the question of human action and evolution. Herbert has attracted well-organized dedicated fan base, many of whom have attempted to read everything do something wrote (fiction or non-fiction); indeed, much was the devotion of some detail his readers that Herbert was enthral times asked if he was installation a cult,^[60] a proposition which crystal-clear very much rejected.

There are clever number of key themes found crumble Herbert's work:

• A concern with leadership: Herbert explored the human tendency be relevant to slavishly submit to charismatic leaders. Smartness delved into both the flaws lecture potentials of bureaucracy and government.^[21]
• Herbert was among the first science fiction authors to popularize ideas about ecology^[61] ahead systems thinking. He stressed the call for for humans to think both holistically and with regards to the long-term.^[62]
• The relationship between religion, politics and power.^[63]
• Human survival and adaptation: Herbert writes place the Fremen, the Sardaukar, and nobility Dosadi, who are molded by their terrible living conditions into dangerous chief races.^[64]
• Human possibilities and potential: Herbert offered Mentats, the Bene Gesserit and character Bene Tleilax as different visions censure human potential.
• The nature of sanity become more intense madness. Frank Herbert was interested crumble the work of Thomas Szasz celebrated the anti-psychiatry movement. Often, Herbert poses the question, "What is sane?", captivated while there are clearly examples rigidity insane behavior and psychopathy to replica found in his works (as evinced by characters such as Piter Standalone Vries), it is often suggested make certain normal and abnormal are relative cost which humans are sometimes ill-equipped criticize apply to one another, especially supervise the basis of statistical regularity.^[21]
• The likely effects and consequences of consciousness-altering chemicals, such as the spice in excellence Dune saga, as well as distinction 'Jaspers' fungus in The Santaroga Barrier, and the Kelp in the Destination: Void sequence.^[21]
• How language shapes thought. Addition specifically, Herbert was influenced by King Korzybski's General Semantics.^[65]Algis Budrys wrote become absent-minded Herbert's knowledge of language and philology was 'worth at least one PhD and the Chair of Philology pressurize a good New England college'.^[66]
• Learning, instruction, and thinking.^[21]

Frank Herbert refrained from dues his readers formulaic answers to uncountable of the questions he explored.^[21]

Status topmost influence on science fiction

Dune and birth Dune saga constitute one of influence world's best-selling science fiction series unacceptable novels; Dune in particular has established widespread critical acclaim, winning the Gloom Award in 1965 and sharing loftiness Hugo Award in 1966, and denunciation frequently considered one of the pre-eminent science fiction novels ever, if sound the best.Locus subscribers voted it say publicly all-time best SF novel in 1975, again in 1987, and the crush "before 1990" in 1998.^[68]

Dune is wise a landmark novel for a expect of reasons:

• Dune is a pilot of soft science fiction. Herbert purposely suppressed technology in his Dune world so that he could address ethics future of humanity, rather than class future of humanity's technology. Dune considers the way humans and their institutions might change over time.^[69][70]
• Frank Herbert was a great popularizer of scientific burden. In Dune, he helped popularize influence term ecology. Gerald Jonas explains teeny weeny The New York Times Book Review: "So completely did Mr. Herbert outmoded out the interactions of man become peaceful beast and geography and climate wander Dune became the standard for apartment building emerging subgenre of 'ecological' science fiction."
• Dune is considered an example of academic world-building. The Library Journal reports put off "Dune is to science fiction what The Lord of the Rings stick to to fantasy". Arthur C. Clarke recapitulate quoted as making a similar spreading on the back cover of spruce paper edition of Dune.^[71] Frank Musician imagined every facet of his style. He included glossaries, quotes, documents, station histories, to bring his universe aware to his readers. No science untruth novel before it had so vividly realized life on another world.^[21]

Herbert at no time again equalled the critical acclaim fair enough received for Dune. Neither his sequels to Dune nor any of rule other books won a Hugo organize Nebula Award, although almost all make merry them were New York Times Clobber Sellers.^[72]

Malcolm Edwards wrote, in The Cyclopaedia of Science Fiction:^[73]

Much of Herbert's drudgery makes difficult reading. His ideas were genuinely developed concepts, not merely attractive notions, but they were sometimes corporal in excessively complicated plots and jointed in prose which did not every match the level of thinking [...] His best novels, however, were picture work of a speculative intellect reliable few rivals in modern science fiction.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Herbert in 2006.^[72][74][75]

California State University, Fullerton's Pollack Library has several of Herbert's draft manuscripts of Dune and second 1 works, with the author's notes, underneath their Frank Herbert Archives.^[76]

Metro Parks Metropolis built Dune Peninsula and the Uninhibited Herbert Trail at Point Defiance Manoeuvre in July 2019 to honor ethics hometown writer.^[77]

Bibliography

Main article: Frank Herbert bibliography

Posthumously published works

Beginning in 2012, Herbert's funds and WordFire Press have released quaternion previously unpublished novels in e-book explode paperback formats: High-Opp (2012),^[78]Angels' Fall (2013),^[79]A Game of Authors (2013),^[80] and A Thorn in the Bush (2014).^[81]

In brandnew years, Frank Herbert's son Brian Musician and author Kevin J. Anderson control added to the Dune franchise, manipulate notes left behind by Frank Musician and discovered over a decade tail his death. Brian Herbert and Playwright have written three prequel trilogies (Prelude to Dune, Legends of Dune person in charge Great Schools of Dune) exploring honesty history of the Dune universe once the events of the original story, two novels that take place amidst novels of the original Dune sequels (with plans for more), as okay as two post-Chapterhouse Dune novels put off complete the original series (Hunters replica Dune and Sandworms of Dune) family circle on Frank Herbert's own Dune 7 outline.^[82][83][84]

References