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For other uses, see John Williamson. John Williamson can refer to different persons Jack Williamson (1908 - 2006 American science fiction writer John Finley Williamson
Jack Williamson

Jack Williamson
BornApril 29, 1908(1908-04-29)
Bisbee, Arizona
DiedNovember 10, 2006 (aged 98)
Portales, New Mexico, United States
Pen nameWill Stewart
OccupationNovelist, short story author, university professor
NationalityAmerican
GenresScience fiction
Influences
Influenced

John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908–November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson (and occasionally under the pseudonym Will Stewart) was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction". Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Portales is a city in and the County seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Miles John Breuer, (1889 – 1947 a US doctor by trade is better known to Science fiction aficionadoes as a Writer for many Pulp magazines Abraham Merritt ( January 20, 1884 &ndash August 21, 1943) who published under the byline A E E Smith, also Edward Elmer Smith PhD, EE "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, "Skylark" Smith, and (to family Ted Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political Stanley Grauman Weinbaum ( April 4, 1902 - December 14, 1935) was a Jewish American Science fiction author Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22 1920 is an American mainstream, Fantasy, horror, Science fiction and mystery Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms [1]

Contents

Early life

Williamson was born April 29, 1908 in Bisbee, Arizona Territory, and spent his early childhood in western Texas. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The Territory of Arizona was an Organized territory of the United States that existed between 1863 and 1912 In search of better pastures, his family migrated to rural New Mexico in a horse-drawn covered wagon in 1915. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The Conestoga wagon is a heavy broad-wheeled covered freight carrier used extensively during the United States in the late 1700s and 1800s [2] The farming was difficult there and the family turned to ranching, which they continue to this day.

Writing career

Williamson discovered the local library and used it to educate himself. As a young man, he discovered the magazine Amazing Stories, after answering an ad for one free issue. Amazing Stories was an American Science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback 's Experimenter Publishing. He strove to write his own fiction, selling his first story at age 20: "The Metal Man" appeared in the Dec. 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. His work during this early period was heavily influenced by A. Merritt. Abraham Merritt ( January 20, 1884 &ndash August 21, 1943) who published under the byline A [3]

Early on, he became impressed by the works of Miles J. Breuer and struck up a correspondence with him. Miles John Breuer, (1889 – 1947 a US doctor by trade is better known to Science fiction aficionadoes as a Writer for many Pulp magazines A doctor who wrote science fiction in his spare time, Breuer had a strong talent and turned Williamson away from dreamlike fantasies towards more rigorous plotting and stronger narrative. Under Breuer's tutelage, Williamson would send outlines and drafts for review. [2] Their first work together was the novel Birth of a New Republic in which Moon colonies were undergoing something like the American Revolution—a theme later taken up by many other SF writers, particularly in Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 Science fiction Novel by American writer Robert A

Wracked by emotional storms and believing many of his physical ailments to be psychosomatic, Williamson underwent psychiatric evaluation in 1933 at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, in which he began to learn to resolve the conflict between his reason and his emotion. The Menninger Foundation was founded by the Menninger family in Topeka Kansas and consists of a Clinic, a Sanitarium, and a school of Psychiatry Topeka ( Kansa: Tó Ppí Kˀé ˌto ˈpːi ˌkˀeɪ Ioway: Dó Pí Kˀé ˌto ˈpʰi ˌkˀeɪ Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " [2] From this period, his stories take on a grittier, more realistic tone.

By the 1930s he was an established genre author, and the teenaged Isaac Asimov was thrilled to receive a postcard from Williamson, whom he had idolized, congratulating him on his first published story and saying "welcome to the ranks". Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian [2] Williamson remained a regular contributor to the pulp magazines, though not reaching financial success until many years later. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines He published many collaborations with the science fiction author Frederik Pohl. Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career He continued to write as a nonagenarian and won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards during the last decade of his life, by far the oldest writer to win those awards. Ageing or aging (American English is the accumulation of changes in an organism The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA for the best Science fiction / Fantasy fiction [2]

Academic career

Williamson received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English in the 1950s from Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales (near the Texas panhandle), joining the faculty of that university in 1960. A Master of Arts ( Latin: Magister Artium) is a Postgraduate academic Master's degree awarded by universities in a large English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Eastern New Mexico University (abbreviated ENMU) frequently called Eastern, is a state university in Portales, Roosevelt County Portales is a city in and the County seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. He remained affiliated with the school for the rest of his life. In the late 1990s, he established a permanent trust to fund the publication of El Portal, ENMU's journal of literature and art. In the 1980s, he made a sizable donation of books and original manuscripts to ENMU's library, which resulted in the formation of a Special Collections department; the library now is home to the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library, which ENMU's website describes as "one of the top science fiction collections in the world"[4]. In addition, Williamson hosted the Jack Williamson Lectureship Series, an annual panel discussion in which two science fiction authors were invited to speak to attendees on a set topic. The Jack Williamson Liberal Arts building houses the Mathematics, Art, and Languages & Literature Departments of the university.

Williamson completed his Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Colorado in Boulder, focused on H.G. Wells' earlier works, demonstrating that Wells was not the naive optimist that many believed him to be. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. The University of Colorado at Boulder ( CU-Boulder, UCB officially Colorado and CU colloquially is the Flagship University Boulder is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and most populous city of Boulder County, Colorado, in the United States Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political In the field of science, Jack Williamson coined the word terraforming in a science-fiction story published in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction. The terraforming (literally "Earth-shaping" of a Planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. [5]

Later years

In the mid 1970s, Williamson was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America. The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is an Award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (ˈsɪfwə or /ˈsɛfwə/ was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. He was only the second person to receive this honor. The first was Robert A. Heinlein. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer.

After retiring from teaching full-time in 1977, Williamson spent some time concentrating on his writing, but after being named Professor Emeritus by ENMU, he was coaxed back to co-teach two evening classes, "Creative Writing" and "Fantasy and Science Fiction" (he pioneered the latter at ENMU during his full-time professorship days). Williamson continued to co-teach these two classes into the 21st century.

In November 2006, Williamson died at his home in Portales, New Mexico at age 98. Portales is a city in and the County seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. [6] Despite his age, he had made an appearance at the Spring 2006 Jack Williamson Lectureship and published a 320-page novel, The Stonehenge Gate, in 2005.

Notable works

The Legion of Space

While attending a Great Books course, Williamson learned that Henryk Sienkiewicz had created one of his works by taking the Three Musketeers of Alexandre Dumas and pairing them with John Falstaff of William Shakespeare. Great Books refers to a curriculum and a book list Mortimer Adler lists three criteria for including a book on the list the book has contemporary significance The Three Musketeers ( Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a Novel by Alexandre Dumas père. Sir John Falstaff is a Fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare as a companion to Prince Hal the future King Henry V. William Shakespeare ( baptised Williamson took this idea into science fiction with The Legion of Space. For the fictional military force which is part of the Interplanetary Alliance see Space Legion The Legion of Space is a Space opera science fiction

Desperate for money, he searched for a quick source of income. While most pulps of the time were slow to pay, the recently re-started Astounding was an exception. However, they did not accept novels, so Williamson submitted three short stories and a novelette. Learning that they were also accepting novels for serialization, he sent in The Legion of Space, which was published in six parts. The Legion of Space is a Science-fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson. It quickly became a genre favorite, and was quickly collected into a hardcover. A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth

The story takes place in an era when humans have colonized the Solar System but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. Barnard's Star ( is a very low-mass Red dwarf Star approximately 6 Light-years away in the Constellation of Ophiuchus (the They spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals and the single city left of the evil "Medusae. " The Medusae bear a vague resembance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot speak and communicate with one another via a microwave code.

The Falstaff character is named Giles Habibula. He was once a criminal, and can open any lock ever made. In his youth he was called Giles The Ghost. Jay Kalam (Commander of The Legion) and Hal Samdu are the names of the other two warriors. In this story these warriors of the 30th Century battle the Medusae, the alien race from the lone planet of Barnard's Star. The Legion itself is the military and police force of the Solar System after the overthrow of an empire called the Purple Hall that once ruled all humans.

In this novel, renegade Purple pretenders ally themselves with the Medusae as a means to regain their empire. But the Medusae, who are totally unlike humans in all ways, turn on the Purples, seeking to destroy all humans and move to the Solar System, as their own world, far older than Earth, is finally spiraling back into Barnard's Star. One of the Purples, John Ulnar, supports the Legion from the start, and he is the fourth great warrior. His enemy is the Purple pretender Eric Ulnar, who sought the Medusae out in the first place, seeking to become the next Emperor of The Sun.

The Medusae conquered the Moon, set up their bases there, and went on to attempt conquest of the Solar System. The Medusae had for eons used a greenish, artificial greenhouse gas to keep their dying world from freezing. Greenhouse gases are gaseous constituents of the atmosphere bothnatural and anthropogenic that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared The Medusae learned from the first human expedition to their world that the gas rots human flesh, and the Medusae use it as a potent chemical weapon, attempting ecological destruction by means of projectiles fired from the Moon. Their vast spaceships also have very effective plasma weapons, very similar to those the Romulans had in a Star Trek episode called Balance of Terror. Romulans are an alien species in the Star Trek universe that are related to the Vulcans and are at war or in an uneasy truce with the United Federation of The phrase " balance of terror " is usually used in reference to the nuclear Arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union

The Legion works also featured a force field called AKKA which can erase from the Universe any matter, of any size, anywhere, even a star or a planet. AKKA was a weapon of mass destruction and the secret of it was entrusted to a series of women. AKKA was used in the past to overthrow the Purple tyranny. It was also used to wipe out most of the Medusae, though they had tried to steal the secret. When they were wiped out, the Moon where they had established their base was erased out of existence. At the end of the story, John Ulnar falls in love with the keeper of AKKA, Aladoree Anthar, and marries her. Aladoree Anthar is described as a young, blonde woman, beautiful as a goddess. A goddess is a Female Deity. Many Cultures have goddesses Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities

Williamson next wrote The Cometeers which takes place twenty years after The Legion of Space in which the same characters battle another alien race, this one of different origin. The Cometeers is a collection of two Science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. The Legion of Space is a Science-fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson.

In this second tale, they fight The Cometeers who are an alien race of energy beings controlling a "comet" which is really a giant force field containing a swarm of planets populated by their slaves. The Cometeers is a collection of two Science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. The slave races are of flesh and blood, but none are remotely similar to humans. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The Cometeers cannot be destroyed by AKKA, as they are incorporeal from the Universe's point of view and exist for the most part in an alternate reality. The ruling Cometeers feed on their slaves and literally absorb their souls, leaving disgusting, dying hulks in their wake. It is said that they do so, as they were once fleshly entities themselves of various species. Hence, the ruling Cometeers keep other intelligent beings as slaves and "cattle. " They fear AKKA, though, as it can erase all their possessions.

They are defeated by the skills of Giles Habibula. Giles broke into a secret chamber guarded by complex locks and force fields that the incorporeal Cometeers could not penetrate. In it the ruler of the Cometeers had kept its own weapon of mass destruction, one that would cause the Cometeers to disintegrate. The ruling Cometeer kept this weapon to enforce its rule over the others of its kind. Once the Cometeers were destroyed, their slaves were ordered by the Legion to take the comet and leave the Solar System, and never return.

Another novel, One Against the Legion, tells of a Purple pretender who sets up a robotic base on a world over seventy light years from Earth, and tries to conquer the Solar System via matter transporter technology he has stolen. In this story robots are outlawed, as they are in Dune. A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements The Dune universe, or Duniverse, is the political, scientific, and social fictional setting of author Frank The story also features Jay Kalam, lobbying to allow the New Cometeers to leave the Solar System in peace, as many people were demanding that AKKA be used to obliterate the departing swarm of planets once and for all.

In 1982, Williamson published a final Legion novel, The Queen of the Legion. Giles Habibula reappears in this final novel, which is set after the disbanding of the Legion.

Contraterrene

An editor suggested that Williamson combine the ideas of contraterrene matter (antimatter) and asteroid mining. In Particle physics and Quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the Antiparticle to Matter, where antimatter is composed This brought about the Seetee (C-T) series of short stories.

Other media

An unfavorable review of one of his books, which compared his writing to that of a comic strip, brought Williamson to the attention of The New York Sunday News, which needed a science fiction writer for a new comic strip. Williamson wrote the strip Beyond Mars, loosely based on his novel Seetee Ship for several years (1952-55), until the paper dropped all comics. Beyond Mars is a Sunday Comic strip written by Jack Williamson and drawn by Lee Elias. Seetee Ship is a collection of Science fiction stories by author Jack Williamson under his pseudonym Will Stewart

Bibliography

Series

Legion of Space Series
  1. The Legion of Space, 1934
  2. The Cometeers, 1936
  3. One Against the Legion, 1939
    • Three from the Legion, (Omnibus) 1980
  4. The Queen of the Legion, 1982
Humanoids Series
  1. With Folded Hands, 1947
  2. The Humanoids, 1949
    • The Humanoids / With Folded Hands (Omnibus) (2002)
  3. The Humanoid Touch, 1980
Undersea Trilogy (with Frederik Pohl)
  1. Undersea Quest (1954)
  2. Undersea Fleet (1956)
  3. Undersea City (1958)
Saga of Cuckoo (with Frederik Pohl)
  1. Farthest Star (1975)
  2. Wall Around A Star (1983)
Starchild Trilogy (with Frederik Pohl)
  1. The Reefs of Space (1964)
  2. Starchild (1965)
  3. Rogue Star (1969)

Novels

Collections

Short stories

Autobiography

Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction. Bluejay Books, New York, 1984. (Hardcover)
Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction. Benbella Books, Dallas, 2005. (Paperback, updated with new photographs and epilogue)

See also

Listen to

External links

References

  1. ^ SFWA Pressbook. Genetic engineering, Recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct The terraforming (literally "Earth-shaping" of a Planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its Psionics is the study and/or practice of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena Space opera is a subgenre of Speculative fiction or Science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often Melodramatic adventure set mainly or entirely In Particle physics and Quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the Antiparticle to Matter, where antimatter is composed Seetee Ship is a collection of Science fiction stories by author Jack Williamson under his pseudonym Will Stewart Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career An android is a Robot designed to resemble a human usually both in appearance and behavior "Jack Williamson, Greg Bear: Two SFWA pillars honored with 2006 Heinlein Award. " [1]
  2. ^ a b c d e Williamson, Jack. Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction (Benbella Books, 2005)
  3. ^ Moskowitz, Sam. "Jack Williamson: Four-Way Pioneer. " Amazing Stories October, 1964
  4. ^ Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library. ENMU Golden Library website [2]
  5. ^ Science Fiction Citations: terraforming (html). Retrieved on 2006-06-16. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
  6. ^ Terry, Karl. "Sci-fi legend Williamson dies. " Portales News-Tribune November 11, 2006 [3]
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