# Doris Piserchia

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{{Short description|American science fiction writer (1928–2021)}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [:Template:Infobox Writer/doc](/source/%3ATemplate%3AInfobox_Writer%2Fdoc). --> 
| name          = Doris Piserchia
| image         = File:Doris Pischeria USN portrait.webp
| image_size    = 250px
| alt           = 
| caption       = Doris Piserchia around 1951
| pseudonym     = 
| birth_name    = Doris Elaine Summers 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1928|10|11|mf=yes}}
| birth_place   = Fairmont, West Virginia
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2021|09|15|1928|10|11|mf=yes}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.app.com/obituaries/asb269772|title=Doris Piserchia|website=app.com|date=October 11, 2021}}</ref>
| death_place   = Hackensack, New Jersey
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = 
| language      = English
| nationality   = American
| ethnicity     = 
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| education     = 
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| notableworks  = 
| spouse        = Joseph John Piserchia
| partner       = 
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| influences    = 
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| signature     = 
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| website       = {{URL|http://www.digitalmediatree.com/dorispiserchia/}}
| portaldisp    = 
}}
'''Doris Piserchia''' (born '''Doris Summers''',<ref name="interview" /> October 11, 1928 – September 15, 2021) was an American science fiction writer who was born and raised in [Fairmont](/source/Fairmont%2C_West_Virginia), [West Virginia](/source/West_Virginia). She served in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) from 1950 to 1954 and after that took courses toward a Master's degree in [educational psychology](/source/educational_psychology). She did not begin publishing until 1966. Her stories have an interest in aliens and have been termed "darkly comic" by admirers. Despite her military experience, age, and preference for older SF, she is often associated with the [New Wave](/source/New_Wave_(science_fiction)). Related to that she has a story in ''[The Last Dangerous Visions](/source/The_Last_Dangerous_Visions)''. She has also been of interest to those in [Feminist science fiction](/source/Feminist_science_fiction).<ref>{{cite web |last=Henry |first=Liz |title=The Doris Piserchia Page |url=http://feministsf.org/authors/piserchia/index.html |work=Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy & Utopia |date=November 1995 |accessdate=11 October 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929150542/http://feministsf.org/authors/piserchia/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

She did not publish any work after 1983,<ref>Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 934.</ref> shortly before her adult daughter died suddenly, leaving her with a three-year-old granddaughter to raise.<ref name="interview">{{cite web |title=An Interview with Doris Piserchia |last=Pataki |first=Joanna |author2=Tom Moody |url=http://www.digitalmediatree.com/dorispiserchia/interview/ |work=The Doris Piserchia Website |date=Fall 2000 |accessdate=11 October 2011}}</ref> In spite of this, all thirteen of her novels were reissued by Gateway, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gayle |first=Chad |date=2025-09-22 |title=The Rediscovery of Forgotten Science Fiction Author Doris Piserchia |url=https://chadgayle.com/the-rediscovery-of-forgotten-science-fiction-author-doris-piserchia/ |access-date=2025-10-13 |website=Chad Gayle |language=en}}</ref>

Piserchia died September 15, 2021, at the age of 92.

==Bibliography==
*''Mr. Justice'' (1973)  
*''Star Rider'' (1974) 
*''A Billion Days of Earth'' (1976) 
*''Earthchild'' (1977) 
*''Spaceling'' (1978) 
*''The Spinner'' (1980) 
*''The Fluger'' (1980) 
*''Doomtime'' (1981) 
*''Earth in Twilight'' (1981)  
*''Blood County'' (1982) [as by Curt Selby] 
*''I, Zombie'' (1982) [as by Curt Selby] 
*''The Dimensioneers'' (1982) 
*''The Deadly Sky'' (1983)

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* [Clute, John](/source/John_Clute) and [Peter Nicholls](/source/Peter_Nicholls_(writer)) (eds.). ''[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](/source/The_Encyclopedia_of_Science_Fiction)''. New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1995. {{ISBN|0-312-13486-X}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.digitalmediatree.com/dorispiserchia/bio/ Biographical sketch from the Doris Piserchia website]
* {{ISFDB name|id=150|name=Doris Piserchia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piserchia, Doris}}
Category:1928 births
Category:2021 deaths
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:American science fiction writers
Category:Military personnel from Fairmont, West Virginia
Category:Novelists from West Virginia
Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers
Category:20th-century American women novelists
Category:21st-century American women
Category:Writers from Fairmont, West Virginia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Doris Piserchia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Piserchia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Piserchia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.