Steve Stiles

Steve Stiles
Steve Stiles in 2006
Born	1943 (age 80–81)
Died	January 11, 2020
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
Awards	Bill Rotsler Award, 1998 Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Award, 2001, 2003–2006 Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist, 2016

Steve Stiles (1943 - January 11, 2020) was an American cartoonist and writer, coming out of the science fiction fanzine tradition. He won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist.

Early life and education

Stiles studied at The High School of Music & Art and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and later wrote about this in his essay, "Art School":

Both were located in Manhattan, where I was, and both had excellent reputations. And so, in 1956, at age 13, I took the entrance exams at M&A, which partly consisted of drawing an arrangement of old shoes and flowers, as well as a review of my portfolio pieces – which included two issues of my first fanzine, Sam; that was a lucky break because my interviewers had never heard of a kid pubbing an ish and thought the whole concept incredibly creative. Four years later, the people over at Visual Arts had the same reaction to some of my other fanzines and awarded me a three-year scholarship. I was blown away by the realization that fandom had actually helped me achieve my goals in the Real World! That's the last time that happened... Music & Art certainly wasn't a full-fledged art school but rather a high school with additional emphasis on art and music classes. Even so, I had more opportunity to familiarize myself with a wider range of materials, from chalks and caseins to oils. And here I was studying in the same school that my heroes Harvey Kurtzman, Bill Elder and John Severin – the guys at Mad – went to, so it was pretty heady.

Illustration and design

Steve Stiles, Falls Church, Virginia, Spring 1979. Kodachrome 25 by Jeff Schalles

His first cartoon for a fanzine appeared in Cry of the Nameless, edited by F.M. Busby and Elinor Busby. A fanzine interlineation he coined ("Death is nature's way of telling you when to stop") became a national catchphrase after it was reprinted in Pageant in 1962. His work (art and text) has since appeared in leading fanzines (Xero, Void, Mimosa, Trap Door) as well as the more obscure (Vojo de Vivo). He publishes his own fanzine, SAM. There were nine years between SAM #14 and #15, the latter being published in 1983; and SAM #16 was published 31 years later, in 2014, in anticipation of the 2014 Corflu science fiction convention.

Professional work

His first professional sale was in 1961 was a cartoon for Paul Krassner's The Realist. After a stint in the military as an illustrator, he worked in advertising before becoming a freelancer in 1975. He has worked in genres ranging from underground comix to children's books to superhero comics. Most recently, he designed a Peace and Humanitarian Achievements medal for the Samaritan community in Israel. The medal's first recipient was Shimon Peres.

Awards

Stiles has won eleven Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards for best artist (2001, 2003–2006, 2010–2012, 2014–2016). In 1998, Stiles won the first Bill Rotsler Award, named after prolific fan artist Bill Rotsler. He was a Hugo Award nominee as Best Fan Artist in 1967, 1968, 2003 through 2008, and 2010 through 2016, winning in 2016.

Death

On January 7, 2020, Stiles announced on Facebook, "So, the word is: I've got a few months, more or less." He died on January 11, 2020, of cancer.

External links

• 1998 Rotsler Award: Steve Stiles
• Steve Stiles official site