Cogswell, Theodore R.

Theodore Rose Cogswell was born in 1918 in Pennsylvania. In 1937, when he was 19, Cogswell told his parents he was going on vacation to France but instead he crossed the Pyrenees into Spain to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. He trained as a signalman with a machine gun company, but when it was discovered that he was under 21 he was transferred off the front lines, first to work as a truck driver, then later as an ambulance driver for the Hospital Pasionaria in Murcia. Cogswell returned to the States on the S.S. Washington in July 1938, and enrolled in Cleveland College. During World War II, he flew cargo planes with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Asian theater. After the war, Cogswell completed a Master's degree in English and began his career as a writer of science fiction. He published short stories and novellas, and served as national secretary of the Science Fiction Writers of America, occasionally working with fellow writer and Spanish Civil War veteran Arthur Landis. Cogswell died in Pennsylvania in 1987.

From the description of Papers, 1937-1988 (bulk 1937-1939). (New York University). WorldCat record id: 478063385

Theodore R. Cogswell (1918-1987) was an American science fiction author. Most of his stories were light-hearted humorous pieces; he also co-authored (with Charles A. Spano) the Star Trek novel Spock, Messiah! . Cogswell was the editor of the long-running fanzine Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies, in which writers and editors discussed their own and each other's works.

From the guide to the Theodore R. Cogswell Papers, 1955-1986, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Theodore Rose Cogswell was born in 1918 in Pennsylvania. In 1937, when he was 19, Cogswell told his parents he was going on vacation to France but instead he crossed the Pyrenees into Spain to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. He trained as a signalman with a machine gun company, but when it was discovered that he was under 21 he was transferred off the front lines, first to work as a truck driver, then later as an ambulance driver for the Hospital Pasionaria in Murcia. Cogswell returned to the States on the S.S. Washington in July 1938, and enrolled in Cleveland College. During World War II, he flew cargo planes with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Asian theater. After the war, Cogswell completed a Master's degree in English and began his career as a writer of science fiction. He published short stories and novellas, and served as national secretary of the Science Fiction Writers of America, occasionally working with fellow writer and Spanish Civil War veteran Arthur Landis. Cogswell died in Pennsylvania in 1987.

Source: Our Fight: Writings by Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Spain 1936-1939, edited by Alvah Bessie and Albert Prago (New York, N.Y.: Monthly Review Press with the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 1987).

From the guide to the Theodore Cogswell Papers, Bulk, 1937-1939, 1937-1988, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)