Born on April 23, 1923, Avram Davidson was a medic in the Marine Corps during World War II, fought with the Israeli Army in the 1948 war for independence, and began writing in the early 1950s as a Talmudic scholar. He eventually produced nineteen acclaim novels including Joyleg (1962 with Ward Moore), Mutiny in Space (1964), Rogue Dragon (1965),  Clash of Star-Kings (1966), The Phoenix in The Mirror (1969), The Island Under the Earth (1969), Ursus of Ultima Thule (1973), and THE BOSS IN THE WALL (1998 with Grania Davis).

His more than two hundred short stories and essays were collected in Or All the Seas with Oysters (1962), What Strange Stars and Skies (1965), The Redward Edward Papers (1978), The Best of Avram Davidson (1979), Avram Davidson: Collected Fantasies (1982), The Avram Davidson Treasury (1998), The Investigations of Avram Davidson (1999), and The Other Nineteenth Century (2001).

While at the helm of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964, Davidson also edited three volumes of The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction (13-15) and later Magic for Sale (1983).

His works garnered Davidson two Hugo, two World Fantasy, and an Edgar award. In 1986, he was given the prestigious World Fantasy Award For Life Achievement.