Zenna Chlarson Henderson was a prominent science fiction author, born on November 1, 1917, in the Tucson, Arizona area. She completed her Bachelor's degree in education from Arizona State in 1940 and spent her life working as a teacher in Arizona. Henderson passed away on May 11, 1983, in Tucson at the age of 65. Although she was a teacher by profession, Henderson gained fame for her "People" collection of stories, which became her most notable work.
Henderson's "People" stories revolve around a race of sensitive, human-looking aliens with psychic abilities who crash-land on Earth. The aliens, known as "The People," get separated and spend many years trying to find each other. Henderson's work gained popularity in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s when she published her "People" stories in leading science fiction magazines. She was a pioneer in many ways, being one of the first female science fiction writers who wrote openly as a woman, without the use of male-sounding pseudonyms or initials. Henderson was also one of the first to take young people seriously in her writing, crafting expressive and mature stories from their perspective.
Henderson's youthful protagonists are not adult figures in young bodies or frivolous caricatures. Instead, they are fully developed, complete souls with authentic signs of youth and innocence. Her contribution to science fiction literature is significant, as she paved the way for other successful chroniclers of young people, such as Lois McMaster Bujold and Orson Scott Card. Both Bujold and Card have cited Henderson as an important early influence, with novels like Falling Free and Ender's Game earning Hugo and Nebula awards. Henderson's books and stories about The People were also adapted into the movie The People, starring William Shatner and Kim Darby. Despite similarities, Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain were based on books by Alexander Key, not Henderson.