Steven L. Thompson
Steven L. Thompson | |
---|---|
UC Berkeley | |
Genre | Motorcycling; Cold War fiction |
Notable works | The Wild Blue |
Notable awards | Maggie Award, 1986[1] |
Spouse |
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Steven Lynn Thompson (born 1948) is an author, magazine journalist, historian of technology and former motorcycle racer.
Early life and education
Thompson was born May 27, 1948, at Ft. Sam Houston,
Writing
As an author, Thompson wrote five Cold War thrillers during the 1980s (Recovery, Countdown to China, Bismarck Cross, Airburst and Top End), in which he explored such themes as the role of the US Military Liaison Mission in Potsdam, East Germany, in both clandestine intelligence gathering and in resolving East-West tensions, as well as the reunification of East and West Germany, the coming of the Islamic Jihad to the United States via general aviation aircraft used for terror, and the consequences of contracting to private companies the role of coastal surveillance. The 1988 movie Honor Bound, directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Tom Skerritt, was based on Recovery, but not released in the United States after audience previews.[citation needed] In 1985, Thompson invited Walter J. Boyne, then Director of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum and a columnist for AOPA Pilot at Thompson’s request, to join him in co-authoring a social history of the United States Air Force. Boyne had completed a career in the Air Force and Thompson had been born and bred in the service, as well as serving in it during the Viet Nam war. Boyne subsequently agreed to co-author the book but argued that it should be fiction, and it was sold to Crown Publishers in 1985 by Thompson’s literary agent, Jacques de Spoelberch, who represented both authors. Published in 1986 in hardback, the resulting novel, The Wild Blue: The Novel of the U.S. Air Force, became a national best-seller.[4] The Aviation/Space Writers Association awarded Boyne and Thompson its 1986 Journalism Award for fiction in aviation books for the novel.
Thompson's 2008 book Bodies in Motion: Evolution and Experience in Motorcycling, published by
During Thompson's career in magazines, he helped set circulation records at every publication he directed as editor-in-chief, editorial director, or executive editor,[citation needed] and as a consultant, he redesigned both Autoweek in 1986 and Cycle Guide in 1978.[10] He wrote hundreds of editorial columns and features for the magazines he edited, including a monthly column for AutoWeek called "At Large" from 1994 to 2008,[11] and a monthly column also called "At Large" for Cycle World from 1986 to 1991; his 1986 "At Large" column entitled "Talking Tees" was awarded a "Maggie Award for Excellence" by the Western Publications Association.[1] Also, his "At Large" column "Silver Wing for a Silver Eagle", from the April, 1989 Cycle World, was selected for inclusion in The Devil Can Ride: The World's Best Motorcycle Writing, (Lee Klancher, ed.), p. 260.[12] At the publisher's request, Thompson also authorized Urban Moto Magazine to reprint some of his Cycle World "At Large" columns.[13]
As a historian, Thompson wrote essay reviews[14] and reviewed books for the Society for the History of Technology's journal, Technology & Culture,[15] and was named an Advisory Editor for the journal. He also published historical-analysis articles in Air & Space/Smithsonian, for which he was a consulting, and later a contributing editor, as well as in American Heritage of Invention & Technology,[16] and in automotive, aviation and motorcycle special-interest publications.
Motorcycle racing
As a motorcycle racer, Thompson competed in the US, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.[17] He also competed three times in the Isle of Man; in the 1970 and 1971 Manx Grands Prix, he was unable to start the Junior (350cc) race on his Shepherd-Kawasaki because of machine failures in practice and qualifying. In 1987, racing as the sole rider for Team Cycle World,[18] he entered the Formula One[19] and 750 Production TT[20] races in May–June, and completed both races, lapping in the 750 Production race at 101.2 mph, making him the first American journalist and fourth American professional racer to have lapped the TT course at over "the ton"—100 mph.[17]
Thompson also was a member of Team Cycle World's successful attempts in 1985 to set new World Speed Records on standard US-specification Suzuki GSX-R750s at the
Two motorcycles were used, and Thompson rode both in the shorter-duration classification and the 24-hour event, in the process being awarded, with the rest of the team, 6, 12, and 24-hour FIM World Speed Records.Professional timeline
- August 1972–March 1973: Freelance commercial artist
- March 1973–Oct. 1974: Art Director and Senior Editor,
- Oct. 1974–Dec. 1976: Editor-in-Chief, Road Test magazine, Compton, CA[23]
- Jan 1977–May 1978; Executive Editor, Car and Driver magazine, New York City, NY[24]
- July 1978–Jan. 1980; Editorial Director, Cycle Guide magazine[25]
- Jan 1980–Dec. 1981; Director of Editorial Development, Cycle Guide Publications[26]
- April 1982–Oct 1984, Executive Editor, AOPA Pilot magazine[27]
- 1982–1985, Editor-at-Large, Cycle Guide magazine
- Jan 1983–Oct 1984, Vice President, Publications Division, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association[28]
- 1985–1992, Editor-at-Large, Cycle World magazine
- 1993–2007, Senior Contributing Editor, AutoWeek magazine
- Since 2005, Outside Editor, Range magazine
- December 2011–December 2017, Contributing Editor, Cycle World[29]
Books
- Recovery, fiction, ISBN 0446512079; softcover, 1981; with foreign editions in Italy, Holland, and Japan
- Countdown to China, fiction, Warner Books, softcover, 1982, ISBN 0450055477; foreign editions
- Bismarck Cross, fiction, Tor Books, softcover, 1983, ISBN 0812509447; foreign editions
- ISBN 0517562855; softcover 1987; foreign editors
- Airburst, fiction, Worldwide, softcover, 1987, ISBN 0373970560; foreign editions
- Top End, fiction, Worldwide, softcover, 1989, ISBN 0373970919; foreign editions
- Bodies in Motion: Evolution and Experience in Motorcycling, non-fiction, ISBN 0981900119
- Steven L. Thompson (contributor) (2010). The Devil Can Ride: The World's Best Motorcycle Writing. Motorbooks. )
References
- ^ a b 29th Annual Western Publications Association Awards of Excellence, May 2, 1986, Los Angeles; Maggie Certificate is presented to Cycle World: Talking Tees for Excellence in the Category of Best Signed Editorial or Essay
- ^ a b c "Steven Lynn Thompson", Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, September 27, 2017, retrieved November 13, 2018
- ^ Verified through National Student Clearinghouse documents, retrieved 9/18/2013
- ^ # New York Times, November 2, 1986, Hardback Fiction Best-seller list
- ISBN 9780393083262
- )
- ^ Bodies in Motion: Evolution and Experience in Motorycling, "Why to Ask Why," p. 36
- S2CID 110628131
- ^ Alford, Steven (Spring 2009), "Book review: Bodies in motion", International Journal of Motorcycle Studies, 5 (1)
- ^ Larry Lawrence (January 27, 2011), "20 Years of Cycle Guide Magazine", riderfiles.com blog, retrieved 2013-09-15
- ^ "At Large" column, AutoWeek
- ISBN 978-0-7603-3477-5
- ^ Thompson, Steven L. (June 24, 2010), Sunday Rider: No Apologies, archived from the original on September 10, 2013
- ^ E.g., "The Arts of the Motorcycle: Biology, Culture and Aesthetics in Technological Choice" in Technology & Culture, Jan., 2000, Vol. 41, No. 1., pp 99-113
- ^ Technology & Culture
- ^ American Heritage of Invention & Technology Archived 2013-09-07 at archive.today
- ^ a b Competitor profile: Steven Thompson, Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, IOM TT Team, retrieved 2013-09-15
- ^ Thompson, Steven L. (June 8, 2012), Magnificent Obsession Revisting [sic] The Long and Winding Road
- ^ [1] iomtt.com Official Race Results, 1987 F1 TT Steven Thompson, 50th place finish. Retrieved 2013-09-24
- ^ [2] iomtt.com Official Race Results, 1987 Production Class B TT Steven Thompson, 38th place finish. Retrieved 2013-09-24
- ^ Dean, Paul (August 24, 2012), CW's 1985 24-Hour World Speed Record Wild boars, disintegrating tires and the 3000-mile left turn
- ^ Mastheads, beginning March, 1973 issues
- ^ Masthead, and "From the Editor," p.4, December, 1974 issue
- ^ Mastheads, beginning with April, 1977 issue, and "Driver's Seat," p.8, April, 1977
- ^ Mastheads, beginning with November, 1978 issue
- ^ Mastheads, beginning with April, 1980 issue
- ^ Mastheads, beginning with July, 1982 issue
- ^ Association Mastheads, beginning with July, 1983 issue, p.6
- ^ Thompson first appears in CW Contributing Editors list in December 2011, verified as of April 2014[update]
- "Masthead", Cycle World, p. 9, November 2011
- "Masthead", Cycle World, p. 9, December 2011
- "Masthead", Cycle World, p. 8, April 2014
- Last appeared on masthead in December 2017 issue.