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Linebarger was the son of an American diplomat, and spent a considerable part of his childhood in the Far East. ( Sun Yat-sen was his godfather.) This was the origin for another pen-name that he used for some stories, "Felix. C. Forrest" - the ideograms in Chinese for "Linebarger" translate roughly as "Forest of Incandescent Bliss". As a child, he was blinded in his left eye; his vision in the remaining eye was impaired by infection.
His stories are strange even by the standards of science fiction, sometimes written in narrative styles closer to traditional Chinese stories than to most English-language fiction. His work is mostly incomplete due to his time-consuming profession (he worked in the intelligence community, and as a college professor) and early death. Rather than a full fledged cycle like Dune, Smith's writings consist of only one novel, originally published in two volumes in edited form as The Planet Buyer, a. k. a. The Boy Who Bought Old Earth ( 1964) and The Underpeople ( 1968), later restored to its original form as Norstrilia ( 1975); and numerous short stories (gathered in The Rediscovery of Man and other collections), together suggesting a rich universe, but leaving much to be guessed by the reader.
He worked at Duke UniversityDuke University is a prestigious private university located in Durham, North Carolina. It is named for the Duke family, which made its money in the tobacco and energy businesses (see American Tobacco Company and Duke Power). Although it is a young univers from 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, to 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar. During World War II, he worked in the psychological warfare department as a Second Lieutenant. He eventually rose to the rank of Colonel in the reserves. In 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na, he moved to Johns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University is a prestigious private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland. Hopkins holds many "firsts" in American education: it was the first university in the United States to put an emphasis on research, founde, serving as Professor of Asiatic Studies.
The bulk of his stories are set some 14,000 years in the future, starting on Earth. The Instrumentality of MankindIn the fictional works of Cordwainer Smith, the Instrumentality of Mankind is the central government of the human race. Its members, the Lords of the Instrumentality are callous and all-powerful. Although their motives are genuinely benign, they act with is then set to rule the planet and, later, any planet inhabited by men. The Instrumentality attempts to revive old cultures and languages. This bid to revitalize society is called the Rediscovery of Man. This rediscovery can be seen either as the initial period when man comes out of slavery and the Instrumentality rises, or as a continuing process begun by the Instrumentality, encompassing the whole cycle, where mankind is constant at risk of falling back in its bad, old ways.
Stories feature strange and vivid creations such as:
Linebarger is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.