Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert was an American author, and the creator of the Dune novels and its vast fictional universe.

Herbert was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1920. From an early age he had literary ambitions, and worked as a journalist and a photographer before pursuing a career as a writer. His early work consisted of short science-fiction stories.

In 1959 he began research for his novel 'Dune', which he completed in 1965. As with his earlier work, he extended his science-fiction writing beyond the superficial predictions and plots that were common at the time, and adopted complex psychological, social and environmental themes that resulted in greater depth and subtlety.

Not surprisingly considering this bold approach, Herbert initially had difficulty finding a willing publisher for 'Dune'. Eventually, the Chilton Book Company picked up the work and released it to critical acclaim. In 1965 'Dune' won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and in 1966 it shared the Hugo Award.

Despite the relative success of 'Dune', it took several more years before Frank Herbert could become a financially secure full time novelist. Herbert went on to write 20 more full-length novels, including five more in the Dune series, and in 1984 witnessed Dune become a major motion picture.

Frank Herbert died of pancreatic cancer in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 11, 1986.

The principle source of information for this article was Wikipedia. For more information visit the Wikipedia entry for Frank Herbert at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert.