Nebula Conference

The author and editor John W. Campbell wrote the story that inspired “The Thing”; laid down the rules for an entire genre in his three decades at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction; edited the first version of Dune; and discovered or mentored such legendary figures as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke. He also collaborated with L. Ron Hubbard on the development of dianetics; championed the investigation of psychic phenomena and antigravity devices; and ended his life, in the words of Asimov, as “a diminishing shadow of what he had once been.” What was the true impact of Campbell’s opinions, politics, and personality? Was he really, as Asimov said, “the most powerful force in science fiction ever?” And how does an understanding of his life and career help us make sense of the genre today?