James Edwin Gunn was a science fiction writer, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work as an editor of anthologies includes the six-volume Road to Science Fiction series. He won the Hugo Award for "Best Related Work" in 1983 and he won or was nominated for several other awards for his nonfiction works in the field of science fiction studies. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made him its 24th Grand Master in 2007, and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2015. His novel The Immortals was adapted into a 1970–71 TV series starring Christopher George. Gunn was a professor emeritus of English and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, both at the University of Kansas. Gunn died at the age of ninety-seven on December 23, 2020.