Clifford Donald Simak (Portrait Stellar Publishing / Wonder Stories, 1931) was born on August 3, 1904, in Millville, Wisconsin, in a rural community that influenced the setting of many of his stories.

Clifford D. Simak studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1929 he married Agnes Kuchenberg and they had two children: Richard Scott and Shelly Ellen. In the ’30s he started working as a journalist for various publications in the Midwest and from 1939 he started working with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, an association that continued until his retirement.

Clifford D. Simak read the works of H.G. Wells in his childhood and as an adult maintained an interest in science fiction. In 1931, he published his first short story of this genre, “The World of the Red Sun”, in Hugo Gernsback’s magazine “Wonder Stories”. For a few years, his work as a science fiction writer was sporadic but in 1937 John W. Campbell became the editor of the magazine “Astounding”, later known as “Astounding Science Fiction”, and Simak became a regular contributor.

The first novel by Clifford D. Simak, “Cosmic Engineers” (1939), followed the style of the “superscience” typical of those years but later the author developed his own style that put together future technologies with pastoral landscapes. In those years, he also published western and war stories in various magazines. In his science fiction stories, the aliens weren’t the traditional invaders of those years.

Between 1944 and 1951, Clifford D. Simak published stories that were collected in 1952 to form the novel “City”, which received the International Fantasy Award. In 1972 he published a new version containing a new story that gives it a conclusion.

In the ’50s, Clifford D. Simak published several other novels such as “Time and Again” in 1951 and “Ring Around the Sun” in 1952. His 1958 novella “The Big Front Yard” received the Hugo Award.

In the ’60s, Clifford D. Simak published other high-level novels such as “They Walked Like Men” in 1962 and especially “Way Station” in 1963, which received the Hugo Award, in which perhaps he was able to give his best putting together the most recurring elements of his stories. Among the novels published in this decade, there are also “All Flesh Is Grass” in 1965 and “The Werewolf Principle” in 1967.

In the ’70s, Clifford D. Simak’s started assuming more pessimistic tones than the earlier ones. Topics such as the conflict between technology and humanity started showing a more negative attitude. The author’s health started deteriorating and not all of his works of the last phase of his career are of high quality.

Among the novels of those years, there are “Enchanted Pilgrimage” in 1975, “A Heritage of Stars” in 1977, “Mastodonia” in 1978, “The Visitors” in 1980, and” “Project Pope” in 1981.

In 1977, Clifford D. Simak received the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. With his 1981 short story “Grotto of the Dancing Deer”, he won the Hugo and Nebula awards.

The last novel by Clifford D. Simak was “Highway of Eternity” in 1986. The author died on April 25, 1988. He wasn’t as famous as other writers but he has always been much admired by his fans and even by his colleagues and certainly, he had an important influence in the field of science fiction.