Donald Allen Wollheim was born in New York City on October 1, 1914, to Jacob Lewis Wollheim, a doctor, and Rose Grinnell Wollheim. Scientific fantasies caught hold of Wollheim's imagination as a young man, and he helped found the Futurians, a club of New York science-fiction fans that included such important writers-to-be as Damon Knight and Frederik Pohl. Wollheim's energetic passion for science fiction made him an important force in the club. Later, he would also become an important force in the publication and development of science fiction.

His first short story, "The Man from Ariel," was published in 1934 in Wonder Stories. In 1935 Wollheim graduated from New York University, and in 1941 he founded two magazines, Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories, neither of which was successful. From 1942 to 1947, he edited magazines for Ace Publishing. During the 1940s, Wollheim edited two pioneering collections of science-fiction stories, The...