Ray Nelson (author)

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Ray Nelson
Born
Radell Faraday Nelson

(1931-10-03)October 3, 1931
Schenectady, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 2022(2022-11-30) (aged 91)
Napa, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Author, cartoonist
Known for"Eight O'Clock in the Morning"
Spouse(s)Perdita Lilly, Lisa Mulligan, Kirsten Enge, Helene Knox
Websiteraynelson.com

Radell Faraday Nelson (October 3, 1931 – November 30, 2022) was an American science fiction author and cartoonist most famous for his 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning",[1] which was later used by John Carpenter as the basis for his 1988 film They Live.

Personal life

Nelson was born October 3, 1931, in

Fulbright scholar.[8]

Nelson died on November 30, 2022, in Napa, California,[2] at the age of 91.[9][10]

Career

Nelson began his career writing and creating

comic book anthology Alien Encounters (No. 6, April 1986), and director John Carpenter adapted it as his film They Live (1988).[13]

Nelson collaborated with Philip K. Dick on the 1967 alien invasion novel The Ganymede Takeover. Nelson was friends with Dick starting in childhood, and in a documentary about Dick, Nelson says that the only times that Dick tried LSD were the two times that he gave it to him.[14] That biographical documentary about Dick, in which Nelson is a featured interviewee, is The Penultimate Truth About Philip K. Dick produced in 2007.

In the early 1970s, Nelson ran a writers' workshop at the First Unitarian Church in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of his students was Anne Rice.[15] He was a lifetime member of the California Writers Club.

His 1975 book Blake's Progress, in which the poet William Blake is a time traveler, was described by John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as "Nelson's best work".[16] Richard A. Lupoff called it "a revelation," saying "Nelson's style is sharply focused and carefully colored... His plotting is exactly as complex as it ought to be [and] his characters are nicely drawn."[17] It was rewritten and republished as 1985's Timequest.[18]

At the 1982 Philip K. Dick Awards, Nelson's novel The Prometheus Man gained a special citation (runner-up).[19]

Nelson was added to the

First Fandom Hall of Fame in 2019 for "his life-long genuine love of science fiction and his enthusiastic service to that community for decades."[20]

Propeller beanie

A propeller beanie hat

Ray Nelson has professed that his greatest claim to fame is to be the creator of the iconic propeller

New York Times bestseller list."[21]

Publications

References

Citations

  1. ^ SCIFI.radio (December 1, 2022). "SF Writer Ray Nelson Passes Away". SCIFI.radio. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Ray Nelson's Biography". raynelson.com. n.d. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "Cartoonism by Ray Nelson".
  4. ^ "1951 cover of fanzine Fanvariety #9 by "Perdita Nelson"". Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  5. ^ "Vegas Fandom Weekly #103, with 1952 photo of Nelson and Lilly on p. 11" (PDF). Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  6. OCLC 17174676
    . Retrieved May 19, 2021 – via Open WorldCat.
  7. ^ "Fanzine Index". fanac.org. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  8. ^ SCIFI.radio (December 1, 2022). "SF Writer Ray Nelson Passes Away". SCIFI.radio. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  9. ^ "FJ Writer Ray Nelson Passes Away". SciFi.radio. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  10. ^ SCIFI.radio (December 1, 2022). "SF Writer Ray Nelson Passes Away". SCIFI.radio. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  11. ^ "Cartoonism by Ray Nelson". raynelson.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  12. ^ "Short Stories by Ray Nelson".
  13. ^ Steve Swires, "John Carpenter and the Invasion of the Yuppie Snatchers", Starlog, Nov 1988, pp.37-40 and 43
  14. user-generated source
    ]
  15. Richard Lupoff
    's Book Week," Algol 17, 1977, p.29
  16. ^ "Authors : Nelson, Ray Faraday : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". www.sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  17. ^ "Lupoff's Book Week", Algol 28, 1977, p.48.
  18. ^ "Books by Ray Nelson". raynelson.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  19. ^ "Philip K. Dick Award". Philip K. Dick Award. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  20. ^ "First Fandom Awards at Dublin 2019," File 770, Mike Glyer. August 16, 2019. Accessed April 3, 2023.
  21. ^ Killingbeck, Dale. "Local spin on propellor beanie"[permanent dead link], Cadillac News, October 13, 2005.
  22. ISBN 9780380781850
    .

General and cited sources

External links

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