Byron Preiss
Byron C. Preiss | |
---|---|
East Hampton, New York, U.S. | |
Occupation | Writer, editor, publisher |
Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania Stanford University |
Genre | Fantasy, illustrated novels, audiobooks, digital publishing |
Notable works | The Words of Gandhi Dragonworld |
Notable awards | Inkpot Award (1977)[1] |
Spouse | Sandi Mendelson |
Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)
Biography
Early life and career
A native of
In 1971, while Preiss was teaching at a Philadelphia elementary school, he conceived, and with Jim Steranko, produced an anti-drug comic book, The Block, designed for low-level reading skills. Published by Steranko's company, Supergraphics, it was distributed to schools nationwide.[4]
He founded Byron Preiss Visual Publications in 1974[
Publishing career
As a
He published
Preiss was co-author, with Michael Reaves, of the children's novel Dragonworld (Doubleday, 1979), with 80 illustrations by Joseph Zucker. Dragonworld was originally planned to be the fifth Fiction Illustrated title.[citation needed]
In 1982, Preiss published The Secret, a puzzle book that combined 12 short verses and 12 elaborate fantasy paintings by John Jude Palencar. Readers were expected to pair each painting with a verse in a way that would provide clues to finding one of 12 plexiglass boxes buried in various parks around North America. Each box contained a ceramic box that contained a key that could be redeemed for a jewel worth $1,000. The book was inspired by the success of Masquerade, written and illustrated by Kit Williams and published in England in August 1979, but The Secret never led to the same level of treasure hunting frenzy. One of the ceramic boxes was found in Chicago in 1983, one in Cleveland in 2004, and one in Boston in October 2019.[6] The remaining nine boxes have yet to be found,[7] and reportedly Preiss was the only one who knew where they were when he died.[6]
He edited the recording of the
Later life and death
Preiss was married to Sandi Mendelson, with whom he had daughters Karah and Blaire.
List of Byron Preiss publications
Published by Preiss, or packaged by Preiss for other publishers
- The Electric Company Joke Book (1973) ISBN 0-307-64824-9
- The Silent e's from Outer Space (Western Pub., 1973; Goldencraft, 1974 ISBN 0-307-64821-4)
- One Year Affair (1976) ISBN 0-911104-86-0
- Pyramid Books, 1975–77)
- Vol. 1 (ISBN 0-515-04257-9); collections of illustrated, pulp-inspired stories
- Vol. 1 (
- Pyramid Books, 1976; by Preiss and Tom Sutton)
- Fiction Illustrated #2 – Starfawn (Pyramid Books, 1976; by Preiss and Stephen Fabian)
- Fiction Illustrated #3 – ISBN 1-56971-438-X)
- Fiction Illustrated #4 – Son of Sherlock Holmes (Pyramid Books, 1977; by Preiss and Ralph Reese)
- ISBN 0-425-03900-5
- The Illustrated ISBN 978-0441365258
- The Beach Boys (1979; revised ed. 1983 ISBN 0-312-07026-8)
- The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon (1981) ISBN 0-345-28449-6
- The Dinosaurs (1981; revised 2000 as The New Dinosaurs)
- ISBN 0-553-01408-0 – illustrated by John Jude Palencar
- The First Crazy Word Book: Verbs (1982) ISBN 0-531-04500-5
- The Little Blue Brontosaurus (1983) ISBN 0-89845-165-5
- Not the Webster's Dictionary (1983) ISBN 0-671-47418-9
- Be an Interplanetary Spy (Bantam Books, 1983–1985) — series of twelve interactive children's science fiction books, illustrated by Marc Hempel, Mark Wheatley, Tom Sutton, Alex Niño, Dennis Francis, and others
- The Bat Family (1984) ISBN 0-89845-237-6
- Time Machine 1 — Secret of the Knights (Bantam Books, 1984; by Jim Gasperini, illustrated by Richard Hescox) ISBN 0-553-23601-6
- Nuts! (1985) ISBN 0-553-24725-5
- The Planets (1985) ISBN 0-553-05109-1
- The Universe (1987) ISBN 0-553-05227-6
- Time Machine 19 — The Death Mask of Pancho Villa (Bantam Books, 1987; by Carol Gaskin and George Guthridge, illustrated by Kenneth Huey, cover by ISBN 0-553-26674-8
- ISBN 1-55802-003-9
- The Microverse (1989) ISBN 0-553-05705-7
- First Contact: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (1990) ISBN 0-7472-3508-2
- Tales from the One-Eyed Crow: The Vulgmaster by Dennis L. McKiernan and Alex Nino (1991) ISBN 9780451450883
- The Ultimate Dracula (1991) ISBN 0-7472-0552-3
- The Ultimate Frankenstein (1991) ISBN 0-440-50352-3
- The Ultimate Werewolf (1991 reissue ISBN 0-440-50354-X)
- The Ultimate Dinosaur: Past, Present, and Future (1992) ISBN 0-553-07676-0
- The Vampire State Building (1992) ISBN 0-553-15998-4
- The Ultimate Zombie (1993) ISBN 0-440-50534-8
- The Ultimate Witch (1993) ISBN 0-440-50531-3
- The Ultimate Dragon (1995) ISBN 0-440-50630-1
- The Ultimate Alien (1995) ISBN 0-440-50631-X
- The Best Children's Books in the World (1996) ISBN 0-8109-1246-5
- The Rhino History of Rock 'n' Roll: The '70s (1997) ISBN 0-671-01175-8
- Are We Alone in the Cosmos? The Search for Alien Contact in the New Millennium (1999) ISBN 0-671-03892-3
- The New Dinosaurs (2000) ISBN 0-7434-0724-5
- The Roadkill of Middle Earth (2001) by John Carnell, illustrated by Tom Sutton, cover by Steve Fastner and Rich Larson. ISBN 0-7434-3467-6
- Battlestar Galactica: Resurrection (2001) by Richard Hatch and Stan Timmons; ibooks. ISBN 0-7434-1326-1
- Dying Inside (2002) ISBN 0-7434-3508-7
- The Ultimate Dragon (2003) ISBN 0-7434-5868-0
- The Best Bizarre But True Stories Ever! (2003) ISBN 978-0-7434-4557-3
- Exploring The Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present (2004) ISBN 0-312-31359-4
- Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe (2005) ISBN 1-59687-847-9
- Year's Best Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga (2005) ISBN 0-312-34326-4
Dragonworld
Dragonworld, the illustrated children's novel by Byron Preiss and Michael Reaves, was published in several editions from 1979 to 2005:
- Doubleday hardcover, 1979
- ISBN 0-553-01077-8
- Spectra paperback (July 1983) ISBN 0-553-25857-5
- ISBN 0-553-23426-9
- ibooks, Inc. paperback (2000) ISBN 0-671-03907-5
- ibooks, Inc. ebook (Microsoft Reader; 2001)
- ibooks, Inc. paperback (2002) ISBN 0-7434-5253-4
- ibooks, Inc. paperback (2005) ISBN 1-59687-233-0
Further reading
- Williams, Paul (February 2021). "The Strange Case of Byron Preiss Visual Publications". Journal of American Studies. Vol. 55, no. 1. pp. 102–129.
References
- ^ Inkpot Award
- ^ Byron Preiss at the Social Security Death Index via Genealogybank.com. Retrieved on May 20, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Byron Preiss, 52, Digital Publishing Pioneer, Dies". The New York Times. July 11, 2005. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022.
- ^ Steranko, Jim (July 10, 2005). "Comics Loses One of its Major Visionaries: Byron Preiss". Comicon.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2006. Additional , June 20, 2011.
- ^ "Babylon Gardens to Battlestar Galactica: Armageddon". The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 1984–1998. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
- ^ a b Hidden treasure, a family's quest, and "The Secret"
- ^ "The Secret". Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ The Words of Gandhi in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- ^ "1984 Grammy Winners: 27th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- ^ "Preiss Was Influential Publishing Figure". Publishers Weekly. July 11, 2005. Archived from the original on January 5, 2006.
- ^ "ibooks & Byron Preiss Visual Publications File Chapter 7; Creditors Confab Set for Apr. 4". ICv2.com. February 24, 2006. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011.
External links
- Frauenfelder, Mark (November 1993). "The Way of Comics". Wired. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014.
- Zeitchik, Steven (July 15, 2005). "Byron Preiss: 'He Saw Books Where Other People Didn't'". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 252, no. 29. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012.
- Fantastic Fiction: Byron Preiss
- Byron Preiss at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "Preiss, Byron" at the Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections Division: Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection, "Prehistoric Adventure Comics" to "Pre-Raphaelites"
- Byron Preiss at Library of Congress, with 40 library catalog records (previous page of browse report as 'Preiss, Byron' without ', 1953–2005')