Joseph Schlossel (1902 – 1977) was a proto-sf author who contributed to the emergent space opera subgenre. Mike Ashley states that "Schlossel's writing was basic but his imagination and vision made him one of the more significant contributors to the early SF magazines." Schlossel's first published story, "Invaders from Outside", was the cover story for the January 1926 Weird Tales Schlossel's fifth published story, "To the Moon By Proxy", was cover-featured on the October 1928 Amazing Stories Schlossel was born in New York in 1902. He was raised in Toronto and became a tailor, his father's line of work. His first story was published in Weird Tales in 1925, where his next two stories appeared. Beginning in 1926, his remaining work was sold to Amazing Stories. After the Great Depression set in, he left his trade, took employment in metal plating, and stopped writing. He died in 1977.[4] His work usually carried the byline "J. Schlossel". None of his stories have appeared in book form, although two were reprinted in later sf magazines