George R.R. Martin: The Song Sung

Born

Sep 20, 1948

Born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was a longshoreman (a dock worker who loads and unloads boats) and he had 2 sisters.

First Professional Sale

Jan 1, 1970

A comic entitled 'The Hero' and sold to Galaxy publishing.

Bachelor's in Journalism

Jul 1, 1970

Received his B.S. in Journalism in 1970 from Northwestern University in Illinois. He also graduated "summa cum laude" which means "with highest honour"; a very prestigious award. It usually requires a GPA of around 3.9 or higher.

Master's in Journalism

Jan 1, 1971

Received his M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.

Volunteered with VISTA

Period: Jan 1, 1972 to Jan 1, 1974

Volunteered with AmeriCorps Vista, which is a group focused specifically on fighting poverty

Directed Chess

Period: Jan 1, 1973 to Jan 1, 1976

Directed Chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association.

Married

Jan 1, 1975

Married Gale Burnick.

Journalism Instructor

Period: Jan 1, 1976 to Jan 1, 1978

Instructed Journalism at Clark College, Iowa.

SFWA

Period: Feb 21, 1977 to Feb 21, 1998

Became a member of the SFWA or Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. From 1977 to 1979 he was South-Central Regional Director and from 1996 to 1998 he was Vice President. http://www.sfwa.org/

Divorced

Jan 1, 1979

Divorced Gale Burnick. They had no children.

On to Hollywood

Jan 1, 1986

Became an editor for The Twilight Zone at CBS.

A Game of Thrones

Feb 23, 1986

A Game of Thrones published.This is the first book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Beauty and the Beast

Period: Feb 21, 1987 to Feb 21, 1989

Worked with Beauty and the Beast at CBS. He started out as an Executive Story Consultant, but in 1988 moved up to Producer and in 1989 Co-Supervising Producer.

A Clash of Kings

Feb 23, 1999

A Clash of Kings published, book 2 of A Song of Ice and Fire.

A Storm of Swords

Feb 23, 2000

Publishes the 3rd book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords.

A Feast for Crows

Feb 23, 2005

The latest installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast for Crows is published.

A Dance with Dragons

Feb 23, 2025

Hopefully the 5th book in this 7book series will be published before 2025. A Dance with Dragons is the next one due, followed by The Winds of Winter and finally A Dream of Spring.