- published: 02 Nov 2015
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Clifford Donald Simak (August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He was honored by fans with three Hugo Awards and by colleagues with one Nebula Award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977.
Simak was born in Millville, Wisconsin, son of John Lewis and Margaret (Wiseman) Simak. He married Agnes Kuchenberg on April 13, 1929 and they had two children, Scott and Shelley. Simak attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and later worked at various newspapers in the Midwest. He began a lifelong association with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune (in Minneapolis, Minnesota) in 1939, which continued until his retirement in 1976. He became Minneapolis Star's news editor in 1949 and coordinator of Minneapolis Tribune's Science Reading Series in 1961. In a blurb in Time and Again he wrote, "I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty three years and have two children. My favorite recreation is fishing (the lazy way, lying in a boat and letting them come to me). Hobbies: Chess, stamp collecting, growing roses." He dedicated the book to his wife Kay, "without whom I'd never have written a line". He was well liked by many of his science fiction cohorts, especially Isaac Asimov. He died in Minneapolis.
Who said the web of life is woven in a dream,
'Cause your life is filled with dreams you can't believe.
So the only way you live with it is acting every scene,
And you play the part so well, that you deceive
Now and again I find you ain't got a friend
Who knows, I come and I go, but it's your life...
Though the world is overcrowded you still found an empty place,
And I know he leaves you helpless and confused.
And your search for love has often left you staring into space
Just another broken heart, so what's the use?
How many times have I been so hard to find?
You know I come and I go, but it's your life...
How does it feel when he's not around?
Can he be real when he can be found nowhere?
Who lit the flame upon the candle tonight?
And who let herself be lit so easily?
And who let it burn until the early morning light
And in the early morning gave herself to me?
And so, my love, you know that it's your life...