David F. Bischoff (December 15, 1951 – March 19, 2018) was an American science fiction and television writer.
General background
Born in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, Bischoff wrote science fiction books, short stories, and scripts for television. He began writing during the early 1970s and had more than 80 books published. Bischoff was known best for novelizations of popular movies and television series including ''
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'', ''
Gremlins 2: The New Batch'',
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and ''
WarGames
''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follows Dav ...
''.
Early career
Bischoff began writing science fiction and reviews of the genre while studying at the University of Maryland. His first publications were for ''
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that syst ...
'', a
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
offering science fiction commentary and criticism. The editor,
Doug Fratz, later converted ''Thrust'' to a trade magazine, for which Bischoff was a regular contributor.
His first novel, ''
The Seeker'' (with Christopher Lampton) was published in 1976, and in 1978 Bischoff coauthored "
Tin Woodman
Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book ''The ...
", a short story nominated for a
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
in that year,
[Nebula Nominee's 1978](_blank)
and later adapted into both a novel and television episode for''
Star Trek: The Next Generation''.
Movies and television
Bischoff worked on various television series such as ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation'', where he coauthored the episodes "
Tin Man" (with Dennis Putman Bailey) and "
First Contact" (with Dennis Russell Bailey and Joe Menosky & Ronald D. Moore and Michael Piller) (not to be confused with the movie ''
Star Trek: First Contact''). He also wrote the ''Star Trek'' novel ''Grounded'', which was a bestseller.
Other TV work included ''
Dinosaucers
''Dinosaucers'' is a 1987 animated television series co-produced in the United States and Canada, produced by DIC Animation City and distributed in syndication in the US by Coca-Cola Telecommunications. The show was created by producer Michael ...
'' (with Ted Pedersen) produced by
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
. He also wrote the second of 24 books in the ''
Time Machine
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
'' series, ''Search for Dinosaurs'', which is actually about finding ''
Archaeopteryx'', the first
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
.
In addition to some seventy-five original novels, Bischoff wrote tie-in novels for well-known movies and TV series such as ''
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'', ''
Alien Versus Predator
''Alien vs. Predator'' (also known as ''Aliens versus Predator'' and ''AVP'') is a science-fiction action horror
media franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between, and part of, th ...
'', ''
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...
'', ''
Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', ''
Space Precinct
''Space Precinct'' is a British television series that was first broadcast from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two from 1995 to 1996 in the UK, and in first-run syndication in the United States. Many US stations scheduled the show in ...
'', ''
SeaQuest DSV
''SeaQuest DSV'' (stylized as ''seaQuest DSV'' and also promoted as simply ''seaQuest'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it ...
'', and ''
Jonny Quest
''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...
''. He also wrote show-business related nonfiction using a variety of pseudonyms.
In 2000, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' termed him the "greatest living wrestling writer" for his work as "Winchell Dredge" for ''Wild Rampage Wrestling'' magazine.
Teaching
Bischoff taught creative writing at
Seton Hill University
Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students.
History
The school was founded in 1885 by the Sist ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
Selected bibliography
Novels
* ''The Seeker'' (1976, with Christopher Lampton)
* ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1977)
* ''Forbidden World'' (1978, with
Ted White)
* ''Tin Woodman'' (1979, with
Dennis Russell Bailey
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...
)
* ''Star Fall'' (1980)
* ''The Selkie'' (1982)
* ''Mandala'' (1983)
* ''Wargames'' (1983)
* ''The Crunch Bunch'' (1985)
* ''A Personal Demon'' (1985)
* ''The Manhattan Project'' (1986)
* ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987)
* ''The Blob'' (1989)
* ''The Judas Cross'' (1994, with
Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield (25 June 1935 – 2 November 2002), an English-born mathematician, physicist and science-fiction writer, served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society.
...
)
* ''Hackers'' (1995)
* ''Philip K. Dick High'' (2000)
* ''The Diplomatic Touch'' (2001)
* ''The H. P. Lovecraft Institute'' (2002)
* ''Jack London, Star Warrior'' (2003)
* ''J. R. R. Tolkien University'' (2003)
* ''The Tawdry Yellow Brick Road'' (2004)
Fiction series
*
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
**''Genocide'' (1994), repr. in:
**''Aliens Omnibus Volume 2'' (1996)
*
Aliens vs. Predator
''Alien vs. Predator'' (also known as ''Aliens versus Predator'' and ''AVP'') is a science-fiction action horror
media franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between, and part of, th ...
**''Hunter's Planet'' (1994), repr. in:
**''Aliens vs Predator Omnibus'' (1995)
*
Bill, the Galactic Hero
''Bill, the Galactic Hero'' is a satirical science fiction novel by American writer Harry Harrison, first published in 1965. A novella length version appeared in the magazine '' Galaxy Science Fiction'' in 1964 under the name "The Starsloggers". ...
**''Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Tasteless Pleasure'' (1991)
**''Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars'' (1991)
*
Daniel M. Pinkwater's
Melvinge of the Megaverse
**''Night of the Living Shark!'' (1991)
*
Dr. Dimension
**''Dr. Dimension'' (1993, with John DeChancie)
**''Masters of Spacetime'' (1994)
*
Dragonstar
**''Dragonstar'' (1980) nominated for the
AnLab Award in 1982 for best Serial
**''Day of the Dragonstar'' (1983)
**''Night of the Dragonstar'' (1985)
**''Dragonstar Destiny'' (1989)
*
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...
**''Ship of Ghosts'' (2001)
*Gaming Magi
**''The Destiny Dice'' (1985)
**''Wraith Board'' (1985)
**''The Unicorn Gambit'' (1986)
*
Gremlins
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice ...
**''The New Batch'' (1988)
*Mutants Amok
**''Mutants Amok'' (1991)
**''Mutant Hell'' (1991)
**''Rebel Attack'' (1991)
**''Holocaust Horror'' (1991)
*Nightworld
**''Nightworld'' (1979)
**''
Vampires of Nightworld'' (1981)
*
SeaQuest DSV
''SeaQuest DSV'' (stylized as ''seaQuest DSV'' and also promoted as simply ''seaQuest'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it ...
**''SeaQuest DSV: The Ancient'' (1994)
*
Space Precinct
''Space Precinct'' is a British television series that was first broadcast from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two from 1995 to 1996 in the UK, and in first-run syndication in the United States. Many US stations scheduled the show in ...
**''The Deity-Father'' (1995)
**''Demon Wing'' (1995)
**''Alien Island'' (1996)
*Star Fall
**''Star Fall'' (1980)
**''Star Spring'' (1982)
*Star Hounds
**''The Infinite Battle'' (1985)
**''Galactic Warriors'' (1985)
**''The Macrocosmic Conflict'' (1986)
*
Star Trek: The Next Generation
**''Grounded'' (1993)
*
The Crow
The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...
**''A Murder of Crows'' (1998)
**''Quoth the Crow'' (1998)
*The UFO Conspiracy
**''Abduction'' (1990)
**''Deception '' (1991)
**''Revelation'' (1991)
*
Time Machine
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
**''Search for Dinosaurs'' (1984)
Short story collections
*''Tripping the Dark Fantastic'' (2000)
Anthologies edited by David Bischoff
*''Quest'' (1977)
*''Strange Encounters'' (1977)
Short fiction
*"The Most Dangerous Man in the World" (1974)
*"The Sky's An Oyster; The Stars Are Pearls" (1975)
*"Feeding Time" (1976)
*"Heavy Metal" (1976)
*"Tin Woodman" (1976) nominated for a
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
in 1978
*"The Apprentice" (1977)
*"Top Hat" (1977)
*"In Medias Res" (1978)
*"Alone and Palely Loitering" (1978)
*"All the Stage, A World" (1979)
*"Outside" (1980)
*"Waterloo Sunset" (1982)
*"The Warmth of the Stars" (1983)
*"Wired" (1983)
*"Copyright Infringement" (1984)
*"Cooking with Children" (1989)
*"(Excerpt) Mutant Hell" (1991)
*"Spare Change" (1991)
*"High Concept" (1993)
*"The Big Nap" (1993)
*"Dr. Dimension" (1993)
*"Santa Ritual Abuse" (1995)
*"Be Still My Heart: The Bartender's Tale" (1995)
*"Cam Shaft" (1996)
*"Brigbuffoon" (1996)
*"Vicious Wishes" (1996)
*"Fade" (1996)
*"The Xaxrkling of J. Arnold Boysenberry" (1997)
*"In the Bleak Mid-Solstice" (1997)
*"The S-Files" (1998)
*"Tooth or Consequences" (1998)
*"Tooth or Consequence" (1998)
*"Bongoid" (1998)
*"Mushroom Tea" (1999)
*"Sittin' on the Dock" (1999)
*"Joy to the World" (1999)
*"A Ghost of a Chance" (1999)
*"I Have No Blimp and I Must Dream" (2000)
*"Love After Death" (2000)
*"Fat Farm" (2000)
*"Side Effects" (2000)
*"May Oysters Have Legs" (2000)
*"CD OM" (2000)
*"Rounded by a Sleep" (2000)
*"The Last Full Measure" (2000)
*"A Game of Swords" (2000)
*"The Whiteviper Scrolls" (2001)
*"Mutant Mother from Hell: A "Fizz Smith" Story" (2001)
*"The Tenth Wonder of the World" (2001)
*"Books" (2002)
*"The Sorcerer's Apprentice's Apprentice" (2002)
*"Die, Christmas, Die!" (2004)
*"Lonesome Diesel" (2004)
*"Heathcliff's Notes" (2004)
*"Enter All Abandon, Ye Who Hope Here" (2005)
*"Quoth the Screaming Chicken" (2006)
*"Further" (2006)
*"The Man Who Would Be Overlord" (2007)
*"Young Sun Ra and the Strange Celestial Roads" (2012)
*"Hi Ted" (2012)
Death
Bischoff died on March 19, 2018. The cause was complications from liver disease, according to his former wife, Martha Bayless.
pressreader.com
/ref>
References
External links
*
Bibliography
at SciFan
Search David Bischoff manuscript holdings
at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoff, David
1951 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
American fantasy writers
American male novelists
American science fiction writers
Novelists from Oregon
Science fiction editors
Seton Hill University
University System of Maryland alumni
Writers from Eugene, Oregon
Writers from Washington, D.C.