# RIP: Damon Knight, 1922-2002 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922 "2002-04-16T12:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/1 "2002-04-16T12:30:52Z")
I just found out that noted SF critic and author Damon Knight died the other night (Click [here](http://www.locusmag.com/2002/News/News04Log.html) for a cite) He was most famous among non-SF fans for his story (adapted by the Twilight Zone) “To Serve Man” (you know it…it’s the one with the famous last line “…it’s a COOKBOOK!”) but he also wrote **In Search of Wonder** , a great book of SF reviews, edited a _ton_ of anthologies. The link above notes his Orbit series, but they never did as much for me as his stand-alones. \ Fenris ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/2 "2002-04-16T12:45:24Z")
Bugger. ☹ _vale_ ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/3 "2002-04-16T14:00:22Z")
Can’t say I’ve read too much of his work. Years ago I read “The Futurians” and really enjoyed it. The latest thing of his that I read was “Humpty Dumpty: An Oval” One of the strangest novels I’ve ever read. Great title. He’ll be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/4 "2002-04-16T14:06:28Z")
I see on the same webpage that it’s possible that **Henry Slesar** may have died too. Wow. Between the two of them, they must have had a story in every suspense/mystery/SF/fantasy anthology I read between 1969 and 1977. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/5 "2002-04-16T15:02:58Z")
Let’s also add that Knight was one of the first serious reviewers/critics of the sf field (_In Search of Wonder_ is a must read for anyone interested in the glories and horrors of 50s sf; he founded the Milford workshops for pros and the Clarion workshops for younger youngers; he created one of the major long-lasting series of original anthologies of literary sf, _Orbit_; he founded the Science Fiction Writers of America; and the list could go on from there. He is probably among the half dozen most influential people in the history of the field. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/6 "2002-04-16T15:07:56Z")
Oops, sorry, **Fenris** , I didn’t click on that _Locus_ link which included much of what I said. But perhaps the point is that I didn’t have to. Knight’s accomplishments were so great that everybody in the field knows them by heart. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-damon-knight-1922-2002/103922/7 "2002-04-16T17:34:49Z")
R.I.P. Damon Influential and profoundly human.