Hugh Walters (15 June 1910 – 13 January 1993) was a British writer of juvenile

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s from

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

in the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists ...

of the United Kingdom.

Biography

Born Walter Llewelyn Hughes, he was educated at

Dudley Grammar School This article details a number of defunct schools that were once located in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. For details of currently operating schools in the area, please see: ''List of schools in Dudley''. The Blue Coat School Cradley High ...

and Wolverhampton College and lived most of his life in

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

. He managed his own furniture store, Walter Hughes Ltd in Bradley and became Managing Director of Brasteds Ltd (a contraction of Bradley Bedsteads). In 1931 he married Doris Higgins; they had two children. He was a member of the

British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration. Str ...

and

British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...

, and became president of Bilston

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

, and High Chief Ranger of the

Ancient Order of Foresters The Foresters Friendly Society is a British friendly society which was formed in 1834 as the Ancient Order of Foresters. As of 31 December 2016, the society had approximately 75,000 members. Its head office is located in Southampton, England. ...

. He was also a member of Bilston Tennis Club, was elected a member of Bilston Borough Council and in due course was appointed a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Writings

In 1955 he was asked to talk at Bilston Rotary Club when the scheduled speaker cancelled. He spoke about space and astronomy, and as a result was asked to speak at nearby

Coseley Coseley ( ) is a village in the north of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it is situated approximately north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of ...

library during Science Fiction week. In preparation he read a large number of science fiction books, was not impressed, and thought he could do better. At the age of 47 he wrote his first book using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Hugh Walters. He later said: "As I was also a magistrate and a local councillor, I felt hat writing science fictionleft me open to ridicule. People tend to treat science fiction as a bit of a joke, so I juggled with my name and came up with Hugh Walters." Of his writing Walters said: "I believe a good SF story should (1) entertain, (2) educate painlessly, and (3) inspire the young people of today to be the scientists and technicians of tomorrow". His first novels mostly dealt with the exploration of other planets in our solar system. Written for a juvenile audience, they had a scientific foundation, anticipating such advances as

ion engines An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. It creates thrust by accelerating ions using electricity. An ion thruster ionizes a neutral gas by extracting some electrons out of ...

. Walters began writing novels concerning alien visits after all the planets had been explored. The main characters of his novels were two British astronauts, an American, and a Russian. Their names were Chris Godfrey, Tony Hale, Morrey Kant and Serge Smyslov, respectively. Later missions used a pair of telepathic twins, Gill and Gail Patrick, for communication. The covers of the first 14 books had illustrations by the

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

illustrator Leslie Wood. His books are still present on the

Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc., or LASFS, is a science fiction and fantasy fan society that meets in the Los Angeles area. The current meeting place can be found on thLASFS website LASFS is the oldest continuously operating scienc ...

recommended reading list for children and young adults.

Bibliography

Hughes published 25 novels during a 40-year literary career. Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. (United Nations Exploration Agency) series: # ''

Blast Off at Woomera ''Blast Off at Woomera'' is a children's science fiction novel, the first in the ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series by British author Hugh Walters. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1957, in the USA by Criterion Books in 1958 (under ...

'' (1957) a.k.a. ''Blast Off at 0300'' # ''

The Domes of Pico ''The Domes of Pico'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the second in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1958, in the US by Criterion Books in 1959 under the title ''Menace from t ...

'' (1958) a.k.a. ''Menace from the Moon'' # ''

Operation Columbus ''Operation Columbus'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the third in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1959, in the US by Criterion Books in 1960 under the title ''First on the Mo ...

'' (1959) a.k.a. ''First on the Moon'' () # ''

Moon Base One ''Moon Base One'' is a young adult science fiction novel, the fourth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1960, in the US by Criterion Books in 1962 under the title ''Outpost on the ...

'' (1960) a.k.a. ''Outpost on the Moon'' ¹ () # ''

Expedition Venus ''Expedition Venus'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the fifth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1962 and in the US by Criterion Books in 1963. Plot summary A probe returnin ...

'' (1962) () # ''

Destination Mars ''Destination Mars'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the sixth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1963 and in the US by Criterion Books in 1964. Also published in German by S ...

'' (1963) () # ''

Terror by Satellite ''Terror by Satellite'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the seventh in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in 1964, in the UK by Faber and in the US by Criterion Books. It was later published in Portuga ...

'' (1964) () # ''

Journey to Jupiter ''Journey to Jupiter'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the eighth in Hugh Walters (author), Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber and Faber, Faber in 1965 and in the US by Criterion Book ...

'' (1965) # ''

Mission to Mercury ''Mission to Mercury'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the ninth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in 1965 in the UK by Faber and in the US by Criterion Books. Also published under the name Miss ...

'' (1965) # ''

Spaceship to Saturn ''Spaceship to Saturn'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the tenth in Hugh Walters' "Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A." series. It was published in 1967 in the UK by Faber and in the US by Criterion Books and in Portugal under the title Voo p ...

'' (1967) () # ''

The Mohole Mystery ''The Mohole Mystery'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the eleventh in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1968, in the US by Criterion Books in 1969 under the title ''The Mohole ...

'' (1968) a.k.a. ''The Mohole Menace'' # ''

Nearly Neptune ''Nearly Neptune'' is a juvenile science fiction novel by British writer Hugh Walters, the twelfth in his ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1969 and in the US by Washburn Books under the title ''N ...

'' (1968) a.k.a. ''Neptune One is Missing'' # ''

First Contact? ''First Contact?'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the thirteenth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1971, in the US by T.Nelson Books in 1973. Plot summary Radio signals beg ...

'' (1971) () # ''

Passage to Pluto ''Passage to Pluto'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the fourteenth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1973, in the US by T.Nelson Books in 1975. It was the last of the serie ...

'' (1973) () # ''

Tony Hale, Space Detective ''Tony Hale, Space Detective'' is a juvenile science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced scien ...

'' (1973) () # ''

Murder on Mars ''Murder on Mars'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the sixteenth in Hugh Walters (author), Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber and Faber, Faber in 1975. It was the second in the serie ...

'' (1975) () # ''

The Caves of Drach ''The Caves of Drach'' is a juvenile science fiction novel written by Hugh Walters and published in 1977. It is the seventeenth book in the ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. The book was originally published in the UK by Faber. Plot s ...

'' (1977) () # ''

The Last Disaster ''The Last Disaster'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the eighteenth in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1978 Plot summary The Moon's orbit suddenly starts to decay for reasons ...

'' (1978) () # ''

The Blue Aura ''The Blue Aura'' is a juvenile science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and tec ...

'' (1979) () # '' The Dark Triangle'' (1979) () # ''The Glass Men'' (unpublished) Boy Astronaut series: # ''Boy Astronaut'' (1977) # ''First Family on the Moon'' (1979) () (hardback), () (paperback) # ''School on the Moon'' (1981) () Other Books: # ''P-K'' (

Psychokinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

London : Severn House, 1986. ¹ ''Outpost On The Moon'' is the US title of the USA edition, published in 1962 by Criterion Books, Inc. Its jacket included the note, "A somewhat different version of this story was published in England by Faber and Faber under the title ''Moon Base One''."

References

External links

Hugh Walters website
*

ISBN numbers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Hugh 1910 births 1993 deaths People from Bilston Councillors in the West Midlands (county) English science fiction writers 20th-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers

Biography

Writings

Bibliography

See also

References

External links