Fritz Leiber (Fritz Reuter, Jr Leiber) Biography

American short-story writer and novelist, born in Chicago, educated at the University of Chicago. Most of his work has been fantasy, though he is highly regarded for his occasional science fiction novels. He is perhaps best known for his ‘Sword and Sorcery’ tales (a term which he coined) involving two characters, Fafhrd (a self-portrait) and Gray Mouser (based on a long-time friend), but his other works, distinguished by human-itarianism, sexual daring, and frequent formal experiments, are highly regarded within the field. The Wanderer (1964) concerns a planetary disaster, while Our Lady of Darkness (1977) is a ghost story set in the richly observed heart of San Francisco where Leiber lived for many years. Other novels include Gather, Darkness! (1950), Conjure Wife (1953), The Green Millennium (1953), and A Spectre is Haunting Texas (1969). Some of the best of his earlier short stories were collected in Ship of Shadows (1979) but among his best achievements are the autobiographical fantasies gathered in The Ghost Light (1984).