My mailman just brought me the 1000th issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. That’s right, the June 2015 issue is # 1000. Not very many fiction magazines, be they dedicated to science fiction or other genres, can say they’ve celebrated similar milestones. Analog started out as Astounding in January, 1930. It had already been publishing for decades before other esteemed magazines in our field, such as Galaxy, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Interzone, Omni,and Asimov’s Science Fiction, got their starts. In 1960, Astounding changed its name to Analog. And no, despite the jokes, I sincerely doubt that the magazine will ever change its name to Digital.

I’m thrilled to have had a few stories published in Analog and to share its pages with so many terrific writers and thinkers. More about them below. But first, I wanted to note that my next appearance in Analog will be something a bit different for me—a guest editorial! I hope you’ll look for it in the forthcoming July/August 2015 issue.

Getting back to Issue 1000, the June 2015 magazine has a gorgeous cover illustrated by the supremely talented Vincent Di Fate, who has created the cover art for over 59 other issues of Analog, and has interior work in numerous issues. How cool is that?

As a writer, I have come to admire and appreciate the necessity for persistence. I do subscribe to the bon mot that 80 per cent of success is just showing up. Writers know it’s a tough business. So do editors and publishers. That just makes Analog’s 1000th issue all the more impressive. This latest issue didn’t just happen; it could only have come about via the years of diligence and excellence of its publishers and editors and writers. Hence, I want to take a moment to salute Astounding/Analog’s four most recent editors, whose combined tenure at the magazine’s helm reaches back to 1938. They are:

John W. Campbell, Jr.

Ben Bova

Stanley Schmidt

Trevor Quachri

And what of the writers who’ve filled the pages of Astounding/Analog for these many years? There are milestones aplenty, including nominations and wins of the field’s most important awards. But more than that, it is these writers, and their editors, who have gifted us with some true classics, some masterful works. Here’s a partial list of those who have graced the magazine’s pages these last 85 years, although I have this sinking feeling that I’ve accidentally left off some terrific writers.

Jack Williamson – almost 70 years of stories in Astounding/Analog

Murray Leinster

H. P. Lovecraft

L Sprague de Camp

Clifford Simak

C.L. Moore

Henry Kuttner

Theodore Sturgeon

Isaac Asimov

Robert A. Heinlein

A. E. van Vogt

E.E. Smith

Hal Clement

Lester del Rey

Fritz Lieber

Arthur C. Clarke

Jack Vance

Alfred Bester

H. Beam Piper

Tom Godwin

Ray Bradbury

Ben Bova

Fred Pohl

Frank Herbert

Harlan Ellison

Damon Knight

Mack Reynolds

James H. Schmitz

Poul Anderson

Greg Bear

Anne McCaffrey

Larry Niven

Jerry Pournell

Alfred Bester

Robert Silverberg

Philip K. Dick

Edward Bryant

Bob Shaw

Steven Gould

Roger Zelazny

Timothy Zahn

David Brin

Gene Wolfe

James Gunn

Marc Stiegler

Orson Scott Card

Robert J. Sawyer

Joe Haldeman

Harry Turtledove

Joan D. Vinge

James Tiptree, Jr.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Spider Robinson

Randall Garrett

Edward Bryant

Gordon R. Dickson

Allen M. Steele

Vernor Vinge

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Gregory Benford

Paul Levinson

James White

Catherine Asaro

Michael Burstein

Charles Sheffield

Geoffrey Landis

Michael Swanwick

George R. R. Martin

All in all, these 1000 issues of Astounding/Analog contain more than 5600 stories and serials, as well as more than 2800 non-fiction pieces (articles, editorials, features), plus some gorgeous, iconic covers by top artists in the field.

For all of this, I must say, Well done. Here’s to the next thousand issues. For I do believe that there will always be writers and artists and editors and other visionaries busy imagining the people and the science in our future.