John E. Stith (born 1947 in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

) is an American

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 ...

and

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

author, known for the scientific rigor he brings to adventure and mystery stories. ''Redshift Rendezvous'', 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 ...

nominee, is a murder

set aboard a space ship traveling through hyperspace, where the speed of light is ten meters per second, so relativistic effects occur at running speed. The solution respects the laws of physics. ''Manhattan Transfer'', a novel about an

alien abduction Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting their experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subjected to physical and psychological ...

of the entire borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, was a

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fict ...

nominee in Japan. Stith's Nick Naught is a detective with a sense of humor in a

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

future. He first appeared in ''

Analog Magazine ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' and his exploits (''Naught for Hire'' and ''Naught Again'') have been reprinted in the collection, ''All For Naught''. Stith's other short fiction has appeared in ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'', ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'', and ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

''. His work has been translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian. His novels have been bestsellers on Locus and Amazon. He has lived in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

since the 1970s. Stith lived in Alamogordo, New Mexico from second grade through high school, with the exception of one year at Sunspot, New Mexico (when his father worked at Sacramento Peak Solar Observatory) and one year in Tucson, Arizona (when his father worked at Kitt Peak National Observatory). His father also worked at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range on projects including the rocket sled. In the 1950s, the neighbors a few houses down were Jim and Coral Lorenzen, who headed the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Scapescope'' (1984) * ''Memory Blank'' (1986) * ''Death Tolls'' (1987) * ''Deep Quarry'' (1989) * ''Redshift Rendezvous'' (1990) * ''Manhattan Transfer'' (1993) * ''Reunion on Neverend'' (1994) * ''Reckoning Infinity'' (1997) * ''Pushback'' (2018)

Novellas

* ''Naught for Hire'' (published in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', July, 1990) * ''Tiny Time Machine'' (published by ''

'', January, 2021
Amazing Stories
notice of ''Tiny Time Machine'' publication.

Collections

* ''All for Naught'' (2005)

Major Awards

* 1988 Colorado Authors' League Top Hand Award Winner, best adult fiction original paperback, for ''Death Tolls'' * 1989 Colorado Authors' League Top Hand Award Winner, best adult fiction original paperback, for ''Deep Quarry'' * 1990

Nominee for Best Novel, for ''Redshift Rendezvous'' * 1990 Analog Analytical Laboratory 3rd Place winner for the novella ''Naught for Hire'' * 1990 HOMer Award winner for the novella ''Naught for Hire'' * 1990 HOMer Award winner for the novel ''Redshift Rendezvous'' * 1992 HOMer Award winner for the novelette ''Naught Again'' * 1993 Rockies Award Winner for best SF novel of 1993, for ''Manhattan Transfer'' * 1994 HOMer Award winner for the novel ''Reunion on Neverend'' * 1994 Seiun Award Nominee for best foreign novel, for ''Manhattan Transfer'' (translated into Japanese by

Takumi Shibano was a Japanese science-fiction translator and author. He was a major figure in fandom in Japan and contributed to establishing the Japanese science fiction genre. A native of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, in 1957 Takumi started Japan's first successful sc ...

, who wrote under the name Rei Kozumi) * 1997 Colorado Authors' League Top Hand Award Winner, best genre novel, for ''Reckoning Infinity'' * 1997 New York Public Library—List of Best Books for Young Adult, for ''Reckoning Infinity'' * 1997 La Tour Eiffel/Eiffel Tower Science Fiction Book Prize Nominee for ''Manhattan Transfer'' (translated into French by Maryvonne Ssossé) * 2019 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense Nominee for ''Pushback'' in Mainstream Mystery/Suspense

Television Appearances

* 1987 Science Fiction * Science Fact (SF2), National PBS one-hour, live special with Ben Bova, Arthur C. Clarke, Charles Sheffield, John E. Stith, G. Harry Stine and NASA planner Jesco von Puttkammer. * 1993

Prisoners of Gravity ''Prisoners of Gravity'' was a Canadian television news magazine program. Produced by TVOntario, the show was created by Mark Askwith and Daniel Richler, and was hosted by Rick Green. The series aired 139 episodes over five seasons from 1989 to 19 ...

Season 4 episode 16, Mystery/SF. Episode description: a look at the cross-over between mystery and science fiction, with guests P. D. James, John E. Stith, Sean Stewart, Vernor Vinge, Martin H. Greenberg, Maxim Jakubowski, Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, Sharyn McCrumb, Mike Resnick, Beth Meacham, and Jane Yolen.

Video Appearances

Super Relaxed Fantasy Club
featuring an excerpt from ''Tiny Time Machine'' and brief descriptions of a few favorite science-fiction books (2020)

Selected Short Stories

* * * *

References

External links

The John E. Stith web site
*
John E. Stith at Fantastic Fiction

The Official Naught for Hire web site

Naught for Hire on IMDB

Selected Interviews

Interview
conducted by Roger Deforest (2006)
Interview
conducted by Kalkion (2009)
Interview
conducted by Mysteristas (2018)
Interview
conducted by John Dwaine McKenna for Mysterious Book Report (2018)
Interview
conducted by K L Romo for The Big Thrill—the magazine of International Thriller Writers (2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stith, John E. 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers American science fiction writers Living people 1947 births American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers