Collection: H. Beam Piper

Born on March 23, 1904, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Henry Beam Piper educated himself after being expelled from high school. He began working for the Pennsylvania Railroad as an engineer and night watchman at age eighteen, but retained a strong interest in history and science that would inspire him to become a writer and carry forward as themes in many of his works. His first published work was the mystery novel Murder in the Gunroom; he wrote several other science fiction novels and short stories before publishing his most famous work, Little Fuzzy, in 1962. 

 Although his work received little acclaim during his lifetime, he gained a strong and loyal fan base following his tragic death in 1964, at age 60. While biographers differ on the reason Piper took his own life, most cite a combination of family and financial problems; he had thought his career was failing because his agent had died without informing him of multiple sales. 

 Piper wrote two sequels to Little Fuzzy: Fuzzy Sapiens (published in 1964), and Fuzzies and Other People (written in 1964 but not published until 1984).