History Creator / TheodoreSturgeon

He was given a lifetime-achievement UsefulNotes/WorldFantasyAward in 1985. The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction short-story of the year was created in his honor.

[[caption-width-right:280:''"Writing is a communication."'']]

->''"Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever."''

[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sturgeon.jpg]]

Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo; February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American writer of SpeculativeFiction, often considered one of the best genre writers of his era (and some critics would omit the word "genre"). He never achieved much mainstream popularity, but he has been cited as a major influence by writers such as Creator/RayBradbury, Creator/KurtVonnegut and Creator/HarlanEllison. He only wrote a handful of novels, of which ''Literature/MoreThanHuman'' is probably the most famous, but a number of his ''many'' short stories still remain popular, including "Killdozer!" (which inspired a [[Film/{{Killdozer}} film]], a comic book, and a rock band)[[note]] and falls under WriteWhatYouKnow – yes, folks, Sturgeon once worked as bulldozer driver![[/note]], the much-imitated "Microcosmic God" (which has been referenced by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', among others), and "[[Literature/DangerousVisions If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?]]"

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theodore_sturgeon.jpg]]

Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo; February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American writer of SpeculativeFiction, often considered one of the best genre writers of his era (and some critics would omit the word "genre"). He never achieved much mainstream popularity, but he has been cited as a major influence by writers such as Creator/RayBradbury, Creator/KurtVonnegut and Creator/HarlanEllison. He only wrote a handful of novels, of which ''Literature/MoreThanHuman'' is probably the most famous, but several of his ''many'' short-stories are still popular, including "Killdozer!" (which inspired a [[Film/{{Killdozer}} film]], a comic book, and a rock band)[[note]] and falls under WriteWhatYouKnow - yes, folks, Sturgeon once worked as bulldozer driver![[/note]], the much-imitated "Microcosmic God" (which has been referenced by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', among others), and "[[Literature/DangerousVisions If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?]]"

* MuckMonster: The 1940 short story "It!" is about a plant monster that is ultimately revealed to have formed around a human skeleton in a swamp. The story is generally regarded as having been the inspiration for ComicBook/TheHeap, ComicBook/ManThing and ComicBook/SwampThing.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: The short-story "Some of Your Blood" features a non-supernatural vampire. You figure it out.

Sturgeon wrote the screenplays for the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episodes "Shore Leave" and "Amok Time", and is credited with inventing the concept of "Pon Farr". He has also been cited as the inventor of that show's [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]]. In addition to ''Star Trek'', Sturgeon wrote an episode of ''Series/LandOfTheLost'', and two of his short stories were adapted for ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''. He also wrote some {{novelization}}s of popular movies, including ''Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'' (a film which inspired a later [[Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea TV series]]).

* BizarreSexualDimorphism: "The World Well Lost" centers on a pair of fugitive "[[YaoiGuys loverbirds]]" from the planet Dirbanu, which has shunned contact with Earth. The loverbirds are initially assumed to be a male and female, but they manage to explain, via some illustrations, that male and female Dirbanu are vastly different in appearance. In fact, the main reason why the Dirbanu dislike humans is due to homophobia, because they perceive all human relationships as being homosexual.

Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo; February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American writer of SpeculativeFiction, often considered one of the best genre writers of his era (and some critics would omit the word "genre"). He never achieved much mainstream popularity, but he has been cited as a major influence by writers such as Creator/RayBradbury, Creator/KurtVonnegut and Creator/HarlanEllison. He only wrote a handful of novels, of which ''More Than Human'' is probably the most famous, but several of his ''many'' short-stories are still popular, including "Killdozer!" (which inspired a [[Film/{{Killdozer}} film]], a comic book, and a rock band)[[note]] and falls under WriteWhatYouKnow - yes, folks, Sturgeon once worked as bulldozer driver![[/note]], the much-imitated "Microcosmic God" (which has been referenced by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', among others), and "[[Literature/DangerousVisions If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?]]"

* EvilHand: In "Bianca's Hands" Bianca, who's severely retarded, has hands which are more attractive than the rest of her and move by themselves. Ran (who's not too bright himself) marries her after falling in love with the hands, onlt to be strangled by them during the wedding night.

He was given a lifetime-achievement UsefulNotes/WorldFantasyAward in 1985. The TheodoreSturgeonMemorialAward for best science fiction short-story of the year was created in his honor.

* VirginPower: In "The Silken-Swift", the unicorn subverts this trope itself. Given a choice between a gentle young woman who'd recently been raped, and the virginal witch who'd maliciously (though indirectly) caused the assault to happen, the unicorn chooses to lay his head in the lap of the true innocent (who promptly sets it free).

Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American writer of SpeculativeFiction, often considered one of the best genre writers of his era (and some critics would omit the word "genre"). He never achieved much mainstream popularity, but he has been cited as a major influence by writers such as Creator/RayBradbury, Creator/KurtVonnegut and Creator/HarlanEllison. He only wrote a handful of novels, of which ''More Than Human'' is probably the most famous, but several of his ''many'' short-stories are still popular, including "Killdozer!" (which inspired a [[Film/{{Killdozer}} film]], a comic book, and a rock band)[[note]] and falls under WriteWhatYouKnow - yes, folks, Sturgeon once worked as bulldozer driver![[/note]], the much-imitated "Microcosmic God" (which has been referenced by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', among others), and "[[Literature/DangerousVisions If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?]]"

* EvilHands: In "Bianca's Hands" Bianca, who's severely retarded, has hands which are more attractive than the rest of her and move by themselves. Ran (who's not too bright himself) marries her after falling in love with the hands, onlt to be strangled by them during the wedding night.

* MessageInABottle: The short story "A Saucer of Loneliness", which was adapted into an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''.