Jerome Bixby was an American short story writer and screenwriter whose work left a lasting impact on mid-twentieth-century science fiction. Born Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby in 1923, he established himself as a versatile author, publishing numerous short stories and westerns. Throughout his career, Bixby wrote under various pseudonyms, including Jay Lewis Bixby, D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, and Albert Russell, demonstrating his prolific output across different genres and publications.
Bixby is perhaps most famous for his chilling 1953 short story "It's a Good Life," which was later selected for inclusion in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. The story, which depicts a town terrorized by a boy with godlike powers, was famously adapted into a classic 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone and later reimagined for the 1983 anthology film Twilight Zone: The Movie.
In addition to his short fiction, Bixby made significant contributions to television and film. He penned four highly regarded episodes of the original Star Trek series, including "Mirror, Mirror," which introduced the concept of the Mirror Universe, and "Requiem for Methuselah." He also co-wrote the original story that served as the basis for the 1966 science fiction film Fantastic Voyage. His final work, the screenplay for the intellectual science fiction film The Man from Earth, was completed before his death in 1998 and produced posthumously in 2007.
