I want to take a moment to more formally remember Steve Davidson. A friend I admittedly only knew through the internet, Zoom, and the phone. Steve was a serious lifelong science fiction super fan, who had a massive collection of classic works and knew the genre in and out. He resurrected Amazing Stories, after years of the magazine being dead, because, in a loophole, he discovered the copyright had fallen out of control.
Steve swooped in and purchased the rights not because he wanted to make money (although he certainly wanted to do that); he did it because he cared about the legacy. Very few people cared about the history of the genre more than Steve.
Steve became important to me in the last few years. Our friendship started off contentious; I knew he was the publisher of Amazing Stories, and he seemed to despise all the modern Star Wars/ Star Trek/ major franchises. He and I would always argue about it.
After we started the Dickheads podcast, I started taking writing about the history of science fiction seriously. One person who constantly engaged with that content was Steve. He offered comments and was the first person to thank me for doing it. Then, out of the blue, Steve messaged me and pitched me: "How about writing a column on the history of SF, reviews and commentary." Writing for Amazing Stories and the tradition was something I was very excited about.
We podcasted together several times, including appearances on both Postcards and Dickheads. Steve was on several of the SF Hall of Fame series on Postcards (in many ways, he inspired it), and he edited all my 25th Century Five and Dime columns. I always got great feedback and liked sharing ideas with Steve.
My first interview with Steve: Steve Davidson on Amazing Stories and Cents of Wonder
First SF Hall of Fame with Steve
PKD hangout with Steve Talking first issues of classic magazines
During COVID, I wrote a Science Fiction novel that I thought was unmarketable; I posted about how I thought it would be a tough sell. Once, over Zoom, he asked me about it. Not too long ago, he asked me about it again, and I was surprised he remembered; he said he had thought about it a lot and wanted to publish it. I believed he did, but considering his health, I told Steve that is what I thought he should focus on. Still, even though he wasn’t publishing it, he still offered me some interesting advice on the project.
Steve was a thoughtful editor and an important voice in Science Fiction. Being Jewish was important to him. While I am not religious, my Jewish heritage is also important to me. He and I often debated Israel, as he was a supporter. He and I argued about it many times. We disagreed, but managed to work together. As entrenched as the issues are, some cannot understand how we could make it work.
I will miss Steve and the important work he did. I am not sure Amazing Stories survives without him. I sure hope it does, and I am willing to do my part.
