Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of 'Dune World' and 'The Prophet of Dune', amalgamated into the Hugo and Nebula-winning novel DUNE in 1965.
A tight mesmerising fabric, interwoven with a potent element of mysticism ... intensely realised -- Brian W Aldiss A novel of extraordinary complexity ... the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern sf * THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION * Powerful, convincing, and most ingenious -- Robert A. Heinlein One of the monuments of modern science fiction * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * An astonishing science fiction phenomenon * WASHINGTON POST * It is possible that Dune is even more relevant now than when it was first published * NEW YORKER * I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings -- Arthur C Clarke