The Way the Future Was, 1930–1951
This chapter looks at Frederik Pohl's first foray into creating a science fictional world by focusing on his youthful adventures in science fiction (SF) fandom. Pohl discovered SF at age ten in 1930. At that time, SF as a defined category of fiction was only in its fifth year, although the genre itself had a much longer pedigree. Hugo Gernsback launched the first SF magazine, Amazing Stories, in April 1926. The first SF magazine Pohl read was the Summer 1930 issue of Wonder Stories Quarterly. This chapter discusses Pohl's discovery of a collection of pulp magazines in 1931 at his uncle's farm in Pennsylvania; his interest in science fiction magazines; his initial attempts at writing his own stories; and his involvement with the group called Futurians. The chapter also describes Pohl's involvement in the literary agency business.