Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the
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
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his
long-running novel series set in the
fictional realm
A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...
of
Xanth
Xanth ( ) is a series of novels by author Piers Anthony, also known as ''The Magic of Xanth''.
Anthony originally intended for Xanth to be a trilogy, but a devoted fan base persuaded the author to continue writing the series, which is now open-en ...
.
Many of his books have appeared on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, and he claims one of his greatest achievements has been to publish a book beginning with every letter of the alphabet, from ''
Anthonology
''Anthonology'' is a collection by Piers Anthony published in 1985.
Plot summary
''Anthonology'' is a collection of 21 short science-fiction and fantasy stories.
Reception
Dave Langford reviewed ''Anthonology'' for ''White Dwarf'' #86, and state ...
'' to ''
Zombie Lover
''Zombie Lover'' is the twenty-second book of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Pier ...
''.
Early life
Anthony's parents, Alfred and Norma Jacob, were
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
pacifists studying at Oxford University who interrupted their studies in 1936 to undertake relief work on behalf of the Quakers during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, establishing a food kitchen for children in Barcelona.
Piers and his sister were left in England in the care of their maternal grandparents and a nanny. Alfred Jacob, although a British citizen, had been born in America near
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, and in 1940, after being forced out of Spain and with the situation in Britain deteriorating, the family sailed to the United States. In 1941 the family settled in a rustic "back to the land"
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
community near
Winhall, Vermont
Winhall is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,182 at the 2020 census. In the southeastern corner of the town is the unincorporated village of Bondville. Half of the community of Stratton Mountain, part of S ...
, where a young Piers made the acquaintance of radical author
Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living.
Biography
Early years
Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga Coun ...
, a neighbor. Both parents resumed their academic studies, and Alfred eventually became a professor of Romance languages, teaching at a number of colleges in the Philadelphia area.
Piers was moved around to a number of schools, eventually enrolling in
Goddard College
Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...
in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
where he graduated in 1956. On ''
This American Life
''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...
'' on 27 July 2012, Anthony revealed that his parents had divorced, he was bullied, and he had poor grades in school. Anthony referred to his high school as a "very fancy private school", and refuses to donate money to it. He recalls being part of "the lower crust", and that no one paid attention to, or cared about him. He said, "I didn't like being a member of the underclass, of the peons like that".
Marriage and early career
Anthony met his future wife, Carol Marble, while both were attending college. They were married in 1956, the same year he graduated from
Goddard College
Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and gra ...
, and he worked in a series of
odd job
Odd job or Oddjob may refer to:
Entertainment
* Oddjob, a James Bond villain
* ''Oddjob'' (comics), a comic book series
* Oddjobs, a music group
* ''Odd Jobs'' (1986 film), an American comedy film
* ''Odd Jobs'' (1997 film), an American TV movie
...
s. In 1957, Anthony decided to join the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, as his wife was now pregnant, and they needed both medical coverage and a steady source of income. During his two-year enlistment, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1958 and became an editor and cartoonist for his battalion's newspaper.
After completing military service, he briefly taught school at
Admiral Farragut Academy
Admiral Farragut Academy, established in 1933, is a private, college-prep school serving students in grades K-12. Farragut is located in St. Petersburg, Florida in Pinellas County and is surrounded by the communities of Treasure Island, Gulf ...
in
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
before deciding to try to become a full-time writer.
Anthony and his wife made a deal: if he could sell a piece of writing within one year, she would continue to work to support him. But if he could not sell anything in that year, then he would forever give up his dream of being a writer. At the end of the year, he managed to get a short story published. He credits his wife as the person who made his writing career possible, and he advises aspiring writers that they need to have a source of income other than their writing in order to get through the early years of a writing career.
Writing
On multiple occasions Anthony has moved from one publisher to another (taking a profitable hit series with him) when he says he felt the editors were unduly tampering with his work. He has sued publishers for accounting malfeasance and won judgments in his favor. Anthony maintains an Internet Publishers Survey in the interest of helping aspiring writers. For this service, he won the 2003 "Friend of EPIC" award for service to the electronic publishing community. His website won the ''Special Recognition for Service to Writers'' award from Preditors and Editors, an author's guide to publishers and writing services.
His popular novel series Xanth has been optioned for movies. It inspired the
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
video game ''
Companions of Xanth
''Companions of Xanth'' is an adventure game published in 1993 by Legend Entertainment.
Gameplay
The game is based on Piers Anthony's ''Xanth'' novels and loosely follows the plot of his 1993 novel '' Demons Don't Dream'', in which a young man u ...
'', by
Legend Entertainment
Legend Entertainment Company was an American developer and publisher of computer games, best known for creating adventure titles throughout the 1990s. The company was founded by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, both veterans of the interactive ficti ...
. The same series also spawned the board game ''Xanth'' by
Mayfair Games.
Anthony's novels usually end with a chapter-long Author's Note, in which he talks about himself, his life, and his experiences as they related to the process of writing the novel. He often discusses correspondence with readers and any real-world issues that influenced the novel.
Since about 2000, Anthony has written his novels in a
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
environment.
Anthony's ''Xanth'' series was ranked No. 99 in a 2011
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
readers' poll of best science fiction and fantasy books.
In other media
Act One of episode 470 of the radio program ''
This American Life
''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...
'' is an account of boyhood obsessions with Piers Anthony. The act is written and narrated by writer Logan Hill who, as a 12-year-old, was consumed with reading Anthony's novels. For a decade he felt he must have been Anthony's number one fan, until, when he was 22, he met "Andy" at a wedding and discovered their mutual interest in the writer. Andy is interviewed for the story and explains that, as a teenager, he had used escapist novels in order to cope with his alienating school and home life in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
. In 1987, at age 15, he decided to run away to Florida in order to try to live with Piers Anthony. The story includes Anthony's reflections on these events.
[
]Naomi King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high st ...
, the daughter of writer Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
, enjoyed reading books by Piers Anthony, which included things like pixies, imps and fairies. After she told her father, "Dad, I just don't like those to be scared. Would you write something with dragons in it?", he wrote ''The Eyes of the Dragon
''The Eyes of the Dragon'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King, first published as a limited edition slipcased hardcover by Philtrum Press in 1984, illustrated by Kenneth R. Linkhauser. The novel would later be published for th ...
'' which was originally published in 1984 and later in 1987 by Viking Press
Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...
.
''But What of Earth?''
Early in Anthony's literary career, there was a dispute surrounding the original publication (1976) of ''But What of Earth?''. Editor Roger Elwood
Roger Elwood (January 13, 1943 – February 2, 2007) was an American science fiction writer and editor, who edited a large number of anthologies and collections for a variety of publishers in the early to mid-1970s.
Biography
Born and rais ...
commissioned the novel for his nascent science-fiction line Laser Books Laser Books was a line of 58 paperback science fiction (SF) novels published from 1975 to 1977 by Canadian romance powerhouse Harlequin Books. Laser published three titles per month, available by subscription as well as in stores. The books were li ...
. According to Anthony, he completed ''But What of Earth?'', and Elwood accepted and purchased it. Elwood then told Anthony that he wished to make several minor changes, and in order not to waste Anthony's time, he had hired copy editor (and author) Robert Coulson
Robert Stratton "Buck" Coulson (May 12, 1928 – February 19, 1999) was an American science fiction writer, well-known fan, filk songwriter, fanzine editor and bookseller from Indiana.
Biography
He served as Secretary of the Science Fic ...
to retype the manuscript with the changes. Anthony described Coulson as a friend and was initially open to his contribution.
However, Elwood told Coulson he was to be a full collaborator, free to make revisions to Anthony's text in line with suggestions made by other copy editors. Elwood promised Coulson a 50–50 split with Anthony on all future royalties. According to Anthony, the published novel was very different from his version, with changes to characters and dialog, and with scenes added and removed. Anthony felt the changes worsened the novel. Laser's ultimate publication of ''But What of Earth?'' listed Anthony and Coulson together as collaborators. Publication rights were reverted to Anthony under threat of legal action. In 1989, Anthony (re)published his original ''But What of Earth?'' in an annotated edition through Tor Books
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...
. This edition contains an introduction and conclusion setting out the story of the novel's permutations and roughly 60 pages of notes by Anthony giving examples of changes to plot and characters, and describing some of the comments made by copy editors on his manuscript.
Criticism
Some critics have described Anthony's portrayal of women characters as stereotypical and misogynist, particularly in the early parts of the Xanth series, and have taken issue with themes of underage sexuality and eroticism within Anthony's work. Anthony has argued in interviews that these critiques do not accurately reflect his work, and states that he receives more fan mail from female readers than male readers.
Personal life
Anthony lives on his tree farm
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...
in Florida.
He and his first wife, Carol Ann Marble Jacob, had two daughters, Penelope "Penny" Carolyn and Cheryl. Penny died in 2009, due to complications from skin cancer, and Cheryl has one child named Logan. Carol Ann died at home 3 October 2019 due to what is suspected to be heart related complications due to a 15 year long battle with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is an acquired autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms. The disorder is sometimes called c ...
(CIDP).
On 22 April 2020, he married MaryLee Boyance.
Religious beliefs
Regarding his religious beliefs, Anthony wrote in the October 2004 entry of his personal website, "I'm agnostic, which means I regard the case as unproven, but I'm much closer to the atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
position than to the theist
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
one." In 2017 he stated, "I am more certain about God and the Afterlife: they don't exist."
Bibliography
References
External links
*
Piers Anthony's page at Macmillan.com
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Piers
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
American fantasy writers
American male novelists
American science fiction writers
Novelists from Florida
Admiral Farragut Academy alumni
British emigrants to the United States
American agnostics
1934 births
Living people
Goddard College alumni
Science fiction fans
United States Army soldiers
People from Oxford
English agnostics
English fantasy writers
English science fiction writers
American male short story writers
Westtown School alumni
20th-century American short story writers
21st-century American short story writers
21st-century American male writers
Naturalized citizens of the United States