Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick was born in 1928 and passed away in 1982. The separation of his parents when he was five, the death of his twin sister Jane, his five unsuccessful marriages from which he had three children, police harassment due to his "subversive" works, various romantic disappointments leading to two suicide attempts, his drug addiction, the stressful pace of his life and writing, and especially the two mystical experiences he had—first in 1963 when he "saw" the face of evil in the sky, and the second in 1974, which he called a "meeting with God"—are the main events that marked his short, tragic life. For a brief period, he opened a record store—music was one of his passions—but he closed it and worked for a short time at a radio station. Over forty novels and numerous short stories fill this unhappy life, enriching modern American science fiction and literature in general with their quality and originality. Life, death, God, the multifaceted and multidimensional "consciousness of reality," Authority, and above all, Man, are the focal points of his concerns. He is considered and indeed is one of the most significant science fiction writers. His most important novel, "The Man in the High Castle," published in 1962, was the first to be honored with the Hugo Award, followed by many more accolades.