Nat Schachner (1895–1955)

Nat Schachner was the pen name of Nathaniel Schachner, born in New York City. He graduated from City College and began his professional life as a chemist, working at the NYC Department of Health. He served in the U.S. military during World War I, in the Chemical Warfare Service, Gas and Flame Division. He trained as a lawyer after the war and was called to the New York Bar in 1919. During the Great Depression, he started writing fiction in collaboration with fellow lawyer Arthur Leo Zagat. Together they published their first story, "Tower of Evil" in Wonder Stories Quarterly in 1930. They wrote together for about a year. After their partnership dissolved, Schachner published more than 50 short stories in periodicals such as Amazing and Astounding, using the byline Nat Schachner or the pseudonyms Chan Corbett and Walter Glamis. He published one science fiction novel, Space Lawyer (1953), which was originally serialized in Astounding in 1941. He was an early advocate of the development of rockets for space flight, and was a founder and officer of the American Interplanetary Society. This was a group made up mostly of science fiction writers who helped pioneer liquid fuel rocketry in the USA in the early 1930s. Later known as the American Rocket Society, the organization eventually became part of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. However, Schachner went on to achieve his greatest success as the author of biographies of early American historical figures and a number of well researched historical novels. Following World War II, he worked as a consultant for the American Jewish Committee, and in 1954, he became a director of public relations for the National Council of Jewish Women.