Richard Matheson (1926-2013)
Richard Matheson was born in 1926. He began publishing SF with his short story 'Born of Man and Woman' which appeared inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fictionin 1950.I Am Legendwas published in 1954 and has been adapted to film three times. Matheson wrote the script for the filmThe Incredible Shrinking Man, an adaptation of his second SF novelThe Shrinking Man(published in 1956). The film won a Hugo award in 1958. He wrote many screenplays (includingThe Fall of the House of Usher) as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone. He continued to write short stories and novels, some of which formed the basis for film scripts, includingDuel, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1971. Further SF short stories were collected inThe Shores of Space(1957) andShock!(1961). His other novels includeHell House(1971) (filmed asThe Legend of Hell Housein 1973),Bid Time Return(1975),Earthbound(1982) andJournal of the Gun Years(1992). A film of his novelWhat Dreams May Come(1978) was released in 1998, starring Robin Williams. A collection of his stories from the 1950s and 1960s was released in 1989 asRichard Matheson: Collected Stories. He died in 2013.