the stars my destination by alfred bester 1957

Once settled there, they lived on Geigel Hill Road in Ottsville, Pennsylvania. Bester was very nearly a lifelong New Yorker, although he lived in Europe for a little over a year in the mid-1950s and moved to Pennsylvania with Rolly in the early 1980s. The Besters remained married for 48 years until her death on January 12, 1984. He played on the football team in 1935 and, by his own account, was 'the most successful member of the fencing team.' He went on to Columbia Law School, but tired of it and dropped out.īester and Rolly Goulko married in 1936. Rolly Bester had a successful career as a Broadway, radio and television actress before changing careers to become an advertising executive during the 1960s. (Their first child, Rita, was born in 1908.) Though his father was of Jewish background, and his mother became a Christian Scientist, Alfred Bester himself was not raised within any religious traditions he wrote that 'his home life was completely liberal and iconoclastic.'īester attended the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Philomathean Society. Alfred was James and Belle's second and final child, and only son. Alfred's mother, Belle (née Silverman), was born in Russia and spoke Yiddish as her first language before coming to America as a youth. Bester owned a shoe store and was a first-generation American whose parents were both Austrian. BiographyĪlfred Bester was born in Manhattan, New York City, on December 18, 1913. Shortly before his death, the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) named Bester its ninth Grand Master, presented posthumously in 1988.The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2001.

Science fiction author Harry Harrison wrote, 'Alfred Bester was one of the handful of writers who invented modern science fiction.' Though successful in all these fields, he is probably best remembered today for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953.

Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books.

The stars my destination by alfred bester 1957