Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Walter Michael Miller Jr. (1923-1996), an American science fiction author born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, served as a radioman and tail gunner in WWII, bombing the Monte Cassino abbey, which influenced his Catholic conversion and writing. Between 1951-1957, he published dozens of short stories, winning a 1955 Hugo for "The Darfsteller," and assembled his masterpiece A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959), a post-apocalyptic novel that won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel.