Sam Weller (journalist)

Sam Weller is an American journalist, and author of fiction and nonfiction, best known for being writer Ray Bradbury's authorized biographer. Weller's 2005 book, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury (HarperCollins) is a full-biography and winner of the Society of Midland Author's Award in the "Biography" category.[1] Weller’s 2010, Listen to the Echoes, The Ray Bradbury Interviews (Melville House Publishing) is a collection of interviews, photos, mementos, and artifacts. Weller's 2014 Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (Melville House Publishing) features his last interview with Bradbury, and recounts Bradbury's influences, creative processes, and love for writing and reading.

Sam Weller
BornLake Forest, Illinois
OccupationAuthor, journalist, professor, lecturer
NationalityAmerican
GenreBiography, journalism, essays, fiction, arts criticism
Website
www.samweller.net

Biography

Weller was born in Lake Forest, Illinois. His The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury was a Los Angeles Times best-seller, winner of the 2005 Society of Midland Authors Award for Best Biography, and a Bram Stoker Award finalist. The companion book, Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews, was published by Melville House/Stop Smiling Books in 2010 and was also a Bram Stoker Award finalist. With Mort Castle, Weller co-edited the anthology Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury, winner of the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology. The anthology was also a Shirley Jackson Award nominee.[2]

In 2014, Weller edited Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview (Melville House), his final conversations with the writer. The book also included several previously unpublished rough draft essays by Bradbury, dictated to Weller. Also in 2014, IDW Comics released a five-issue Shadow Show comic book series curated and largely scripted by Weller and Mort Castle.[3] The graphic novel compendium of this series was the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel in 2015.

Weller is the former Midwest correspondent for Publishers Weekly magazine. He has written for The Paris Review, Playboy, All Things Considered, Slate Magazine, The Huffington Post, National Public Radio and The Los Angeles Review of Books.[4]

Weller's short fiction has appeared in books, literary journals and magazines, including the Chicago Reader, Printers Row Journal, and Rosebud. His pop-cultural essays have appeared in Post Road, Huffington Post Annalemma, and PopMatters,[5] among many other publications. Weller is a former associate professor in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago.[6][7]

In September 2020, Weller's collection of short stories, Dark Black, was published by Hat & Beard Press.[8] Newcity said: "With this collection, Weller is making an argument that he’s more than Bradbury’s chronicler. Weller is arguing he’s Bradbury’s literary heir. By sheer story quality alone, Weller makes a good damn argument."[9]

Weller was an associate professor at Columbia College Chicago in their English and Creative Writing department from 2005-2022.[10][11] Journalist Danny Fenster was one of his creative writing students in 2009.[11][12] On July 8, 2022, the college terminated Weller for violating its sexual harassment policies after investigating allegations by a faculty colleague.[10][13]

Bibliography
  • Secret Chicago: The Unique Guidebook to Chicago's Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes (2000)
  • The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury (2005)
  • Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews (2010)
  • Shadow Show: All New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury (2012, editor with Mort Castle)
  • "Roadside Cross" (Short Story, 2014)
  • Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations (2014)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #3" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #4" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show Comic #5" (2015)
  • "Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury" Graphic Novel (2015)
  • Dark Black (2020)

References
  1. "Past Winners | The Society of Midland Authors". Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  2. Tor.com (May 3, 2013). "Nominees for the 2012 Shirley Jackson Awards Announced!". Tor.com. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  3. "IDW". www.idwpublishing.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  4. "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. April 18, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  5. "How KISS Should End It All". PopMatters. June 22, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  6. "Sam Weller - Faculty - Academics - Columbia College Chicago". www.colum.edu. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  7. "English and Creative Writing Faculty". Columbia College Chicago. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  8. "Dark Black". Publishers Weekly. April 10, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  9. Buck, Brendan (May 28, 2020). "Review: Dark Black". Newcity Lit. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  10. Jennings, Noah (July 9, 2022). "BREAKING: College terminates tenured professor accused of sexual assault". The Columbia Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  11. Weller, Sam (June 15, 2021). "Journalist Danny Fenster's detainment shows we are living Fahrenheit 451". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  12. "'I'm proud of the journalist Danny Fenster became,' says one of the Metro Detroiter's professors". www.deadlinedetroit.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  13. Magazine, Smithsonian; Ofgang, Erik. "The Sideshow Magician Who Inspired Ray Bradbury—Then Vanished". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
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