Emil Theodore Petaja[1] (12 April 1915 – 17 August 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose career spanned seven decades.
Petaja's series brought him readers from around the world,[2] while his particular mythological approach to science fiction has been discussed in scholarly publications[3] and included in related anthologies.
[4] In a statement published in Contemporary Authors (Gale Research, 1984), Petaja commented, "My writing endeavors have mainly been to entertain, except for the factual material concerning Hannes Bok and fantasy art in general, which serves to indicate my enthusiasm for these subjects.
"[5] Emil Petaja (pronounced PET-a-ya) was born on April 12, 1915, in Milltown, Montana[6] – a small lumber town in the western part of the state.
Petaja started out as a fan and immersed himself in the genres by befriending other interested individuals, by collecting pulp and science fiction magazines, and by forming clubs and associations.
During this time, Petaja also struck-up correspondence with, and sometimes befriended, such early luminaries as H. P. Lovecraft,[8] Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, and August Derleth.
Other short fiction and verse was published in The Californian (alongside the efforts of Lovecraft), Futuria Fantasia, The Acolyte, and other small press and regional publications.
In 1936, Petaja self-published a chapbook of poems, Brief Candle, running-off copies on the mimeograph machine at Montana State University, where he was a student majoring in creative writing.
Throughout 1937 and 1938, Petaja and Bok shared an apartment, and together they attended fan meetings, haunted second-hand book shops, went to the movies, and helped each other with their poems and stories.
In that fabled back room where so many of the s-f elite have sat around the long table chewing the fat, fanwize, Hannes first met Forrie Ackerman, Henry Kuttner, et al." During the 1940s, Petaja continued to write, turning out dozens of stories for many of the pulp fiction magazines.
[6] Many of these stories have evocative titles like "The Corpse Wants Company," "Good Night, Dream Bandit," "The Perfumed Peril," "Satan Hogs the Camera," "Bullets on the Downbeat," "Sixgun Serenade," and "Trigger Surgery."
As such, Petaja was published alongside emerging writers like Samuel R. Delany, Michael Moorcock, Brian Stableford, and Dean Koontz.
The series brought Petaja readers from around the world; while his mythological approach to science fiction – an early example within the genre – was discussed in scholarly papers presented at academic conferences.
As chairman of the Golden Gate Futurians – an informal club for writers and fans – Petaja hosted meetings for friends and colleagues at his home in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco.
Writers and editors who might be visiting from out of town – such as Donald Wollheim or Harlan Ellison – would also attend and there have a chance to meet local figures like the Satanist Anton LeVay or the film maker Kenneth Anger.
Petaja enjoyed the company of other writers and artists and was acquainted with a number of individuals who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as Warren Hinkle (his upstairs neighbor), Anthony Boucher, Frank M. Robinson, Poul Anderson, Philip K. Dick and Robert A. Heinlein.
According to a published statement, the foundation was set up "with the help and encouragement of Harold Taves of Seattle and Ray Bradbury of Los Angeles and the Golden Gate Futurians of San Francisco .
The avowed intention of Bokanalia is simply to keep the great imaginative art of Hannes Bok from slipping into oblivion, and to make new (better than pulp) prints available to his many admirers all over the world".
Petaja also authored a commemorative volume, And Flights of Angels: The Life and Legend of Hannes Bok (Bokanalia Memorial Foundation, 1968).
Along with brief contributions from Wollheim, Roger Zelazny, Jack Gaughan, and others, And Flights of Angels contains Petaja's long biographical essay on the artist, a checklist of Bok's published artwork and writings, and reproductions of a substantial number of drawings, prints and illustrations.