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Born in , Dorothy Kantrowitz in 1921 , and Mary Hancher in 1951 . In 1925 , Hugo founded radio station WRNY and was involved in the first television broadcasts. He is also considered a pioneer in amateur radio. He died in New York City . Gernsback started the modern genre of Science Fiction by founding the first magazine dedicated to it, '' Amazing Stories '', in 1926 . He said he became interested in the concept after reading a translation of the work of Percival Lowell as a child. He also played a key role in starting Science Fiction Fandom , by publishing the addresses of people who wrote letters to his magazines. In 1929 , he lost ownership of his first magazines after a bankruptcy lawsuit. There is some debate about whether this process was genuine, manipulated by publisher Bernarr Macfadden , or was a Gernsback scheme to begin another company. Gernsback wrote some fiction, including the novel '' Ralph 124C 41+ '' in 1911 . Though hugely influential at the time, and filled with numerous science fiction ideas, the plot, characters, and writing strike most modern readers as shallow and old-fashioned. The Science Fiction Achievement award, given to various works each year by vote of the members of the World Science Fiction Society , is named the " Hugo " after him. He was one of 1996 's inaugural inductees into the Science Fiction And Fantasy Hall Of Fame . Before creating a literary genre, Gernsback was an entrepreneur in the electronics industry, importing radio parts from Europe to the United States and helping to popularize amateur "wireless". In 1909, he founded the Wireless Association Of America , which had 10,000 members within a year. The same year he also founded '' Modern Electrics '', the world's first magazine about electronics. In 1912, Gernsback said that he estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. were involved in Amateur Radio . He held 80 patents by the time he died. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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