Old Missoula

“Though little remembered today, Robert Park Mills (1920–1986) played a quiet but prominent part in shaping science fiction and fantasy from the 1950s through the ’80s. He was no flamboyant character, but as an editor and, especially, as a literary agent, Mills put into print some of the best-known works of the era.”

HISTORY of the Robert Mills Literary Agency

Robert Park Mills was born in 1920 in Missoula, Montana, to William P. Mills and Alice Wicklund. Mills received his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1942. He served in World War II, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. Mills was married twice, to Anne Hale in 1945, and later to Patricia Bain. He and Patricia had two children, Frederic and Alison. In 1949, Mills served as managing editor of Mercury Press’ “The Magazine of Fantasy”. He also served as the managing editor to “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine” from 1948–1959. Mills became the sole editor of what became “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” in 1954. In 1959, Mills founded the Robert Mills Literary Agency. As a full time literary agent, Mills represented a wide variety of science fiction writers. In 1984, Robert Mills retired and sold the agency to Richard Curtis Associates. Richard Curtis, president of Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., is both a literary agent and author. Robert Park Mills died of a coronary at age 65 in 1986.

http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/remembering-robert-p-mills/