Archives: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame

Farnsworth Henderson was dubbed the "Enfant Terrible" and "The Whiz Kid" of the New Wave of Science Fiction in the 1960s, despite the fact that he was in his fifties at the time. He was a renaissance man: writer, editor, illustrator, film director, hula hoop champion and self-publicist.

Farnsworth Henderson came to the notice of the SF establishment with a series of radical, free-form short stories which often drew on his experience as an experimental subject for research into breakfast cereals. "'Snicker Snack,' cried Mysterio" and "Love Is What You Pay For" shook everyone connected with SF — even more when they actually read the stories. The Stream of Self-consciousness style of "What is the Sound of One Glass Cymbal?" paved the way for "Rumble Rumble in my Tummy" and "Ochre/Paisley Werewolf Asparagus". where sentences were less important than words, and words were less important than Literary Awards.

Having gained some fame, or rather, some notoriety, Henderson proceeded to endear himself to fans by sniping at some of the most respected figures in SF. He became known for his wit, which was likened to a fifteen pound sledgehammer, but not as delicate. He was reported as having called Jacob Basileus "a boring old dinosaur"; but when approached by Basileus, Henderson denied this and claimed, "What I said was that you were a boring, old, fat, semi-literate, acne-pocked, malodorous, offensive old fart who should not be allowed to write and whose only use would be as landfill."

In between insulting fellow writers, Henderson found time to edit a massive anthology, Naughty Imaginings, which, according to the immense introduction (three-fifths of the book), was designed to "break new ground in SF. Or to make a lot of money. Whichever." The anthology was much praised — and by people other than Henderson. The introduction won a special Hugo for its "Total Lack of Self-deprecation".

Henderson did suffer a setback when his suggestion to rename the Nebula Award "The Farnsworth Henderson Nebula Award" was rejected and laughed at (not necessarily in that order); and his alternative awards, the "Farnsworths". never really caught on — especially after Henderson made a clean sweep of them in their first year.

Henderson became a noted Master of Ceremonies for SF functions and was in demand until the 1973 incident in Cincinnati with the microphone, the frozen chicken and the lime jelly.

Henderson's SF output has declined of late, but he has produced such notable novels as The Death of Deadly Deathtime (1981) and Risible Risks (1984), where Henderson's talents for imagery, ellipsis and innuendo were shown to be undiminished. Flat Out In The Heart of Pain (1987) remains the only novel to be reviewed by its writer on the back cover. Henderson defended this by saying that he wanted the book reviewed by the best reviewer possible.

Henderson recently moved into film, announcing that he was to remake Citizen Kane and "do it right this time". but abandoned the project due to artistic differences with the studio. They wanted more art, he wanted more money.