American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lovecraft parody) and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Carter served in the United States Army (infantry, Korea, 1951?1953), and then attended Columbia University and took part in Leonie Adams’s Poetry Workshop (1953?1954). He was an advertising and publishers’ copywriter from 1957 until 1969, when he took up writing full-time. He was also an editorial consultant. During much of his writing career he lived in Hollis, New York.
Carter was a member of the Trap Door Spiders, an all-male literary banqueting club which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov’s fictional group of mystery-solvers, the Black Widowers. Carter was the model for Asimov’s character Mario Gonzalo.
Carter resided in East Orange, New Jersey, in his later years, and drank and smoked heavily. It was probably smoking that gave him oral cancer in 1985. Only his status as a Korean War veteran enabled him to receive extensive surgery. However, it failed to cure the cancer and left him disfigured.
Carter was married twice. He died on 7 February 1988, aged 57, in Montclair, New Jersey.
Link to Wikipedia biography