Born Henry Maxwell Dempsy, his father changed his name soon after Harry's birth. After many years of travelling, Harry settled down in Ireland.
His career started in 1946 as a commercial illustrator, chiefly in comics but also supplying illustrations to the chief SF magazines. As a member of the Hydra Club in New York he got to know Damon Knight who published his first story in Worlds Beyond in 1951. He has appeared regularly in short story form, sometimes as Felix Boyd or Hank Dempsey. In later years, Harry has acted as editor for a number of Science Fiction magazines.
Way back in 1957, Harry sold his first story to JW Campbell for Astounding Science-Fiction. This was the beginning of a long association between author, publisher and magazine and of one of his most enduring (and endearing, IMHO) characters - Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat. These are often comic stories. Slippery Jim was conceived while he was living in Mexico.
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