Michael Walsh (publisher)

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Michael Walsh
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPublisher

Michael Jarrett Walsh owns and operates Old Earth Books, a small press science fiction publisher. He primarily publishes re-prints, though occasionally he issues original books from established authors. [1] His first publication was a short story collection Rude Astronauts, by Allen Steele, published in 1993. [2] He is active in science fiction fandom.

Contents

Biography

Walsh has been active in fandom since the 1960s. He attended his first science fiction convention in 1968, and was chair of ConStellation, the 1983 Worldcon in Baltimore. He chaired the World Fantasy Convention in 1995 in Baltimore, in 2003 in Washington DC, and co-chaired in 2014 in Washington DC; [3] also chaired Balticon 15 in 1981; [4] Disclaves in 1985, 1989, and 1992 (co-chair); and Capclave in 2005 and 2014. [5] He was Fan Guest of Honor at Unicon, 1983; Balticon 29 (1995); Lunacon, 1997; Context, 1999; ConQuesT 33 (2002). In 2006 he was made a Fellow of NESFA. [6] He attends Baltimore Science Fiction Society meetings, and is a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA). [2]

In addition to being the chair of Disclave and Capclave, he also held these elected offices in Washington Science Fiction Association: President 1986–1988 – Vice President 1983–1984, 1985–1986 – Trustee 1997–2000. [7]

He is a part-time publisher: he worked full time as a sales manager for Johns Hopkins University Press from 1988 until his retirement. [8] He has worked in the book industry in some capacity for most of his life. [2] He has developed his publishing for a niche market that traditional publishers do not serve.

In 2009, he received a World Fantasy Award for publishing a Howard Waldrop short story collection, the Special Award – Non-Professional, [9] having been nominated twice before. [10] -

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References

  1. ↑ "Michael J. Walsh of Old Earth Books: Revolution SF Interview". Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  2. 1 2 3 "Emerald City - #109".
  3. ↑ "World Fantasy Convention History". Archived from the original on 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  4. ↑ "Balticon 15 Details [Version HH-14]".
  5. ↑ "Complete list of Disclaves and Capclaves".
  6. ↑ "*Michael J. Walsh". www.scifiinc.net. Archived from the original on 2003-05-13.
  7. ↑ "Past and Present WSFA Officers, by name". Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  8. ↑ "Grumpy Old Bookman: Old Earth Books". 6 October 2005.
  9. ↑ "World Fantasy Awards Home Page". Archived from the original on 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  10. ↑ "The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees". www.locusmag.com. Archived from the original on 2002-08-03.
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