Stephen Willis Stiles (July 16, 1943 – January 11, 2020)
Early life and education
Steven Willis Stiles was born to Norma and Irvin Stiles.
He had two brothers, Randy and Jeff.
Stiles studied at The High School of Music & Art and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and later wrote about this in his essay, "Art School":
Illustration and design
His first cartoon for a fanzine appeared in
Cry of the Nameless, edited by F.M. Busby and
Elinor Busby. A fanzine interlineation he coined ("Death is nature's way of telling you when to stop") became a national
catchphrase after it was reprinted in
Pageant in 1962.
[ Pageant, 1962.] His work (art and text) has since appeared in leading fanzines (
Xero,
Void,
Mimosa,
Trap Door) as well as the more obscure (
Vojo de Vivo). He publishes his own fanzine,
SAM. There were nine years between
SAM #14 and #15, the latter being published in 1983; and
SAM #16 was published 31 years later, in 2014, in anticipation of the 2014
Corflu science fiction convention.
Professional work
His first professional sale was in 1961, which was a cartoon for
Paul Krassner's
The Realist. After a stint in the military as an illustrator, he worked in advertising before becoming a
freelancer in 1975. He worked in genres ranging from underground comix to children's books to
superhero comic books. He designed a Peace and Humanitarian Achievements medal for the Samaritan community in Israel. The medal's first recipient was
Shimon Peres.
Awards
In 1968, Stiles was the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner, attending Thirdmancon, the 1968
Eastercon in
Buxton,
Derbyshire.
Harrison Country, a compilation of his writings and drawings about this trip, was published in 2007.
Stiles won eleven Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) Awards for best artist (2001, 2003–2006, 2010–2012, 2014–2016). In 1998, Stiles won the first Bill Rotsler Award, named after prolific fan artist William Rotsler. He was a Hugo Award nominee as Best Fan Artist in 1967, 1968, 2003 through 2008, and 2010 through 2016,
Personal life and demise
Stiles was married to Elaine Stiles (née Mandell).
On January 7, 2020, Stiles announced his most recent cancer diagnosis on Facebook, "So, the word is: I've got a few months, more or less."
External links
