Happy birthday to the incomparable grandmaster Peter S. Beagle
A recipient of the prestigious World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award and creator of the iconic The Last Unicorn (1968), Peter S. Beagle’s has thrilled and entertained multiple generations of fans. His other book length works include A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE (1960), The Folk of the Air (1986, winner of the Mythopoeic Award), The Innkeeper’s Song (1993, winner of the Locus Poll Award), The Unicorn Sonata (1996), Tamsin (1999, winner of the Mythopoeic Award), SUMMERLONG (2016), IN CALABRIA (2017), and THE LAST UNICORN: THE LOST JOURNEY (2018).
Design by Elizabeth Story
Beagle’s numerous award-winning short fiction have been collected in Giant Bones (1997), THE RHINOCEROS WHO QUOTED NIETZSCHE AND OTHER ODD ACQUAINTANCES (1997), THE LINE BETWEEN (2006), Strange Roads (2008), WE NEVER TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER (2009), Mirror Kingdoms: The Best or Peter S. Beagle (2010), SLEIGHT OF HAND (2011), and THE OVERNEATH (2017). The story “My Son Heydari and the Karkadann” was published alongside ”The Unicorn Triangle” by Patricia A. McKillip in the limited edition chapbook THE KARKADANN TRIANGLE (2018).
He began working in TV and film by writing episodes of Thirty-Minute Theater (1967 “Come Death”) and Apple’s Way (1974 “The Zoo”) and the feature films The Dove (1974 with Adam Kennedy, based on the book by Robin Lee Graham and Derek Gill) and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened (1977; based on the book by Don Robertson). Beagle followed up the screenplay (with Chris Conkling) for the Ralph Bakshi-helmed Lord of the Rings (1978) with his own script for The Last Unicorn (1982), the Bass and Rankin interpretation of the beloved book. Among Beagle’s other writing credits are teleplays for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990; “Sarek,” one of the most influential and acclaimed episodes of the popular series) and The Little Mermaid TV series (1992). The film adaption of his story “The Bridge Partner” (shot in 2015) was included in the anthology film Grave Intentions (2020).
Beagle has edited several acclaimed anthologies: Peter S. Beagle’s Immortal Unicorn (1995 with Janet Berliner and Martin H. Greenberg), THE SECRET HISTORY OF FANTASY (2010), THE URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY (2011 with Joe R. Lansdale), THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY (2017 with Jacob Weisman; winner of the World Fantasy Award), and THE UNICORN ANTHOLOGY (2019 with Weisman).
Everyone at Tachyon wishes the beloved Peter a happy birthday. May it be magical.
