Will Mohler was or is a US writer who wrote under the pseudonym of Will Worthington, leaving a legacy of only about a dozen short stories published in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Not much has been written about Worthington; indeed, not much is known about him other than he burst into the field in the late 1950s after working for the government for many years; his first three stories were published in 1959, including “Plenitude.” His last published short story was in 1963 and nothing more has been heard from him since. Both Mohler’s birth date and possible date of death are unknown.
A few author notes from his appearances in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction provide rather contradictory information: “Mr. Will Mohler, who knows his adventurous bachelor hero quite well, describes himself as a ‘hermit without a cave.’ ‘Confirmation of the existence of the author,’ he continues, ’is still pending.’ ” In another note, the author “warns that he ‘has met the protagonist of this story on many docks, in railroad stations and at airfields, but just as often on ships at sea, on overseas flights, exploring the precincts of Buddhist temples, climbing mountains with snow on them.’ ”
Yet another note indicates the author “lives in Washington, DC, and is a gargoyle.” But perhaps it is best to move on from investigating Worthington’s life with the following note: “As of this writing, Will Worthington is living on a wild island off the coast of Maine, where he is leading a Thoreau-like existence which will inspire him, it is to be hoped, to more stories like the following.”
“Plenitude” is a rather unique postapocalyptic tale that splits humanity into two groups with different views of the world. In its peculiar imagery, trippy feel, and unique structure it presages the feel of 1970s classics like Logan’s Run. “Plenitude” was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and reprinted in several best-of anthologies. Judith Merril included the story in her fifth annual The Year’s Best S-F (1960) and praised Worthington’s “freshness of language and vigor of thought.”