Author and Fan, David A. Kyle, Passes Away at 97
[photo by Kyle Cassidy]
David A. Kyle, science fiction author and longtime member of fandom, passed away on September 18, 2016.
Kyle co-founded Gnome Press in 1948 with Martin Greenberg, which closed in 1962. He published numerous essays and illustrated covers for books. He wrote two illustrated histories of science fiction, BFSA Award winner A Pictorial History of Science Fiction (1976) and The Illustrated Book of Science Fiction Ideas and Dreams (1977). In the early 1980s he wrote three additional novels in the Lensman Universe: The Dragon Lensman, (1980), Lensman from Rigel (1982), and Z-Lensman (1983).
Kyle was a member of First Fandom and later became a founding member of the Futurians. He attended the first Worldcon in 1942, writing a manifesto condemning the organizers, a document which resulted in having several members of the Futurarians banned from the convention (but not himself). He later chaired the 14thWorldcon (NyCon II) in 1956 and was a fan guest of honor at the 41stWorldcon in 1983. He received the Big Heart Award in 1973 and was inducted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1988. It was through his fandom he met his late wife, Ruth, at a convention in 1955, marrying her 2 years later, with a honeymoon at the 1957 Worldcon in England.
In a Facebook post announcing his passing, son, Kerry Kyle, wrote:
…his spirit was strong, his heart was hugeI hope it makes you feel better to know that, as always, Dad chatted about science fiction with the EMT…and the nurses…
He chatted about the love of his life…science fiction…genuinely interested in hearing what they read and watch. Always spreading the world and wishing to instill within them the flame he had within himself. And, yes, he made constant jokes and terrible puns that charmed everyone in the hospital…
David A Kyle is survived by a son, a daughter, and grandchildren.
