Harry Turtledove was born on June 14, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, United States, and grew up in Gardena, California. His paternal grandparents, who were Romanian Jews, had first emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, before moving to the United States and California.
Education
Harry was educated in local public schools in early life. After dropping out during his freshman year at Caltech, Turtledove attended UCLA, completing his undergraduate degree and receiving a Doctor of Philisophy in Byzantine history in 1977.
Career
In 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, "Wereblood" and "Werenight", under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson." Another early pseudonym was "Mark Gordian."
That year he published "Herbig-Haro" and "And So to Bed" under his real name. Turtledove has recently begun publishing historical novels under the pseudonym "H.N. Turteltaub." He published three books as Dan Chernenko.
Harry has written several works in collaboration, including "The Two Georges" with Richard Dreyfuss, "Death in Vesunna" with his first wife, Betty Turtledove; "Household Gods" with Judith Tarr; and others with Susan Shwartz, S.M. Stirling, and Kevin R. Sandes.
Turtledove served as the toastmaster for Chicon 2000, the 58th World Science Fiction Convention.
Achievements
Turtledove won the Homer Award for Short Story in 1990 for "Designated Hitter," the John Esten Cooke Award for Southern Fiction in 1993 for "The Guns of the South", and the Hugo Award for Novella in 1994 for "Down in the Bottomlands." "Must and Shall" was nominated for the 1996 Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novelette; it received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. "The Two Georges" also received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.
His "Worldwar" series received a Sidewise Award for Alternate History Honorable Mention in 1996. In 1998, his novel, "How Few Remain", won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He won his second Sidewise Award in 2003 for his novel "Ruled Britannia."
On August 1, 1998, Turtledove was named honorary Kentucky Colonel while Guest of Honor at Rivercon XXIII in Louisville, Kentucky. His "The Gladiator" was the co-winner of the 2008 Prometheus Award.