Richard Matheson and his son, Richard C. Matheson.
Photo copyright RC Matheson.

Author Richard Matheson died 23 June 2013. Born in Allendale, New Jersey, on 20 February 1926, he won the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, the World Horror Grandmaster Award in 1993, the International Horror Guild Living Legend Award in 2000, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010. He was scheduled to be the Guest of Honor at this year’s World Fantasy Convention. The WFC Committee announced “We are saddened to report that Richard Matheson passed away on June 23, aged 87. We are proud to have known him and delighted to have worked closely with him over the past few years. World Fantasy Convention 2013 will now be dedicated to his memory and stand as a tribute to one of our genre’s greatest storytellers. Our condolences go out to his family as this time.”

Following his army service during World War II, he earned a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1949, and moved to California in 1951. His first published story, “Born of Man and Woman,” appeared in the Summer 1950 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It later appeared in SFWA’s The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, 1929-1964. His first novel, Someone is Bleeding, appeared in 1953.

Many of his stories and books were adapted by Hollywood into television shows and movies, including his third book, I Am Legend, which first appeared in 1954, has been turned into at least four feature films, most recently the Will Smith 2007 film by the same title. He was also credited as the writer of some 80 screenplays and teleplays, including 14 episodes of The Twilight Zone (such as 1963’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”) and the original Star Trek episode “The Enemy Within” (1966).

He married Ruth Ann Woodson in 1952, and they had four children, three of whom are writers: Chris Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, and Ali Matheson.

More information on Matheson:
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
IMDb
Science Fiction Awards Database
World Fantasy Convention
Wikipedia