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Philip E. High
--- Introduction
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--- Essays and Short Fiction - Part 1
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A Brief Biography of Philip E. High (1914-2006)
Philip Empson High was an English science fiction author.

High was born on 28 April 1914, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire in England. His father was a bank worker and the family moved first to North Walsham in Norfolk, then to Great Yarmouth, and finally to Whitstable in Kent in 1921.

Young High was a prodigious reader of all types of fiction and non-fiction, but especially of the novels of Nevil Shute. At age 16 he began to write his own stories in various genres, including detective stories, westerns and romances, and began to submit them for publication without success, but he did not try his hand at science fiction until many years later.

Although he had encountered science fiction for the first time at the age of 13, it was not until the 1930s that High began to read British science fiction magazines such as Scoops. He would also buy imported copies of American SF magazines such as Astounding Stories when he could get them.

High's career as a local newspaper reporter was interrupted by the Second World War. After serving in the Royal Navy he gained employment as an insurance agent before becoming a bus driver with the East Kent Car Road Company in 1950, a job he retained until his retirement in 1979. He married Pamela Baker in 1950 and they had two children, Beverley and Jacqueline.

It was not until 1955 that High decided to try his hand at writing science fiction stories. His first attempt, The Statics, was published in the September issue of Authentic Science Fiction. This was a begin a successful period, with the publication over the next eight years of nearly fifty stories in magazines such as Authentic Science Fiction, Nebula Science Fiction and New Worlds Science Fiction.

By 1964, the science fiction magazine market in the UK was changing. High had little sympathy for this new direction so decided to redirect his efforts to writing novels. His first, The Prodigal Sun, was published by Ace Books and lead to a string of fourteen novels and numerous reprints.

With the exception of four short stories for the short-lived magazine Vision of Tomorrow, High continued to concentrate his efforts on writing novels, until 1979 when High was told that the market had changed again and there was no demand for his stories. Tragically, he took their word for it and stopped writing.

Almost two decades later, Philip Harbottle, who had previously edited Vision of Tomorrow, approached High with a request to contribute to Fantasy Annual. He found that he still had ideas for new stories and more than thirty new pieces followed as well as two anthologies and reprints of some of his novels.

Philip E. High died on 9 August 2006, aged 92.

References
- Vector - Issue 83, Vol.5, No.3, October 1977 - see pp.26-9 - 'The Man Who Invented Wooden Spaceships' by Andrew Darlington
- Space Voyager - Issue 7, February-March 1984 - see pp.51-3 - 'Prophet Without Honour' by Marion Van Der Voort
- Locus - Issue 548, Vol.57, No.3, June 2007 - see pp.82-3 - 'Philip E. High' by Philip Harbottle
- Locus - Issue 548, Vol.57, No.3, June 2007 - see p.83 - 'Phil High' by Marion & Richard van der Voort
- Philip E. High: A Tribute - Philip E. High - A History - retrieved 27 October 2016
- Philip E. High: A Tribute - Books Written by Philip E. High - retrieved 27 October 2016
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Philip E. High - retrieved 25 June 2011
- Infinity Plus - Phil High - Literary Craftsman - retrieved 25 June 2011
- Eight Miles Higher - The Man Who Created the Wooden Spaceships - retrieved 6 March 2016
- The Independent - Philip E. High - retrieved 25 June 2011
- Science Fiction Writers of America - Philip E. High (1914-2006) - archived 30 September 2007
- The Internet Speculative Fiction Database - Philip E. High - Summary Bibliography - retrieved 25 June 2011

A list of the first publications of Philip E. High's novels and short stories appears below.
An illustrated bibliography can be found here.

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