Perhaps the best thing to come out of Canada since Ice Hockey, Gordon Rupert Dickson mastered the art of the Science Fiction Novel. Born in Edmonton, Alberta on November 1, 1923, Dickson and mother moved across the border to the United States in 1936, after the death of his father. The pair would settle in the Minneapolis area in the following year.
After high school, Gordy attended the University of Minnesota. The only problem was World War II was going on at the time. This interrupted his collegiate experience. Dickson fought in the war from 1943 to 1946. Thankfully to those who enjoy science fiction literature, he came back to the U.S. safe and sound, and resumed college. He finally graduated in 1948.
While a young child, Dickson used to stop reading about halfway through a book and imagine the ending. He found this entertaining as he could get two stories for the price of one. After college Gordy began pouring out the literature. As you can tell from the bibliography provided in doug's write-up, the man was a busy man.
Gordy tried to do at least one novel a year. Usually he'd be able to finish 2 or 3, not to mention various short stories, novellas, etc. While Dickson wrote a wide variety of science fiction, he will most likely be known for the unfinished Childe Cycle, which is also referred to as The Dorsai Series or Dorsai Cycle, a term Gordy did not like. The Childe Cycle was supposed to consist of 12 novels, broken up between the past, present and future. Dickson only managed to finish eight of the books in the series. Gordon R. Dickson died while working on the 9th book.
Gordon R. Dickson died due to complications from his asthma, which he had throughout his life. Gordon was 77 years old when he passed away, on January 31, 2001. He is interred at the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. While not a shy person by any means, Gordon was not a big fan of the camera, yet had no problem holding conversations nor jamming out a folk tune on his guitar. Gordy was also allergic to cats.
Sources:
Bassie,Don. http://www.geocities.com/canadian_sf/pages/authors/dickson.htm - Gordon R. Dickson Accessed January 1, 2003
http://members.tripod.com/~gwillick/dickson.html - DICKSON, Gordon R. Accessed January 1, 2003