From 1950 to 1966, stories appeared in mainstream science fiction magazines by an
author named "Cordwainer Smith". From the first to the last, these stories were acclaimed
as among the most inventive and striking ever written, and that in a field specializing in the
inventive and the striking. Their author was a very private man who did not want
his real name to be known because he did not want to be pursued by SF fans.
It was only after his death in 1966 that more than a handful of people knew
that "Cordwainer Smith" was in real life Paul M. L. Linebarger.