# Edgar Pangborn

## Biography

Edgar Pangborn was an American author, born in New York City on February 25, 1909. The son of a noted supernatural fiction writer, he began his higher education at Harvard University at age fifteen, later attending the New England Conservatory of Music, though he did not graduate from either institution. After abandoning music, he shifted his creative focus to writing, publishing his first novel, a mystery, in 1930 under a pseudonym. For two decades, he wrote extensively for pulp magazines, also spending time farming and serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II.

Pangborn’s serious literary career began in 1951 with his first science fiction story, "Angel's Egg," which gained significant acclaim. He became a prominent figure in the "humanist" school of science fiction, known for exploring themes of empathy and survival. His novel A Mirror for Observers won the International Fantasy Award in 1954. Other notable works include West of the Sun and the Davy series. Edgar Pangborn passed away on February 1, 1976, leaving a legacy of thoughtful and compassionate science fiction, and was posthumously honored with the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award in 2003.

## Books

- [The Music Master of Babylon](https://samolit.com/books/96340)
- [Angel's Egg](https://samolit.com/books/96199)