Gene Wolfe (born May 7, 1931) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusion-rich prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, which he adopted after marrying a Catholic. He is a prolific short story writer as well as a novelist, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award multiple times. Wolfe fought in the Korean War, and after returning to the United States became an industrial engineer, receiving his degree from Texas A&M University. For many years he edited the engineering review Plant Engineering, before retiring to write full-time. One little-known engineering achievement of Wolfe's is a contribution to the development of the mass production machine used to make Pringles potato chips, specifically the part which cooks the chips. He now lives in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
