Richard Purtill (1931-2016) was an American philosopher and writer, and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

, US. He was a writer of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, critical non-fiction on the same genres, and various works on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. He is best known for his novels of the "Kaphtu" universe. He wrote as both Richard Purtill and Richard L. Purtill, a variant form of his name. He was active in professional writing circles, being a member of the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

, the

Authors Guild The Authors Guild is America's oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has counted among ...

and the

National Writers Union National Writers Union (NWU), founded on 19 November 1981, is the trade union in the United States for freelance and contract writers: journalists, book and short fiction authors, business and technical writers, web content providers and poets. ...

. His book '' J.R.R.Tolkien: Myth, Morality and Religion'' won the 1987 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies.Mythopoeic Award winners

Bibliography

Kaphtu Universe

The Kaphtu Trilogy *''The Golden Gryphon Feather'' (1979) *''The Stolen Goddess'' (1980) *''The Mirror of Helen'' (1983) Lost Tales Of Kaphtu *''The Gryphon Seal'' (2005) *''The Eleusinian Gate'' (2006) *''Letter to Nausicaa'' (2008)

Other novels

*''Murdercon'' (1982) *''The Parallel Man'' (1984) *''Enchantment At Delphi'' (1986)

Short stories

*"Others' Eyes" (1980) *"By the Dragon's Cave" (1984) *"Gorgonissa" (1985) *"Something in the Blood" (as by Richard L. Purtill) (1986) *"The Counterfeit Maiden" (1996) *"Grey Wolf's Tale" (1999) *"The Firebird's Feather, the King Horse, and Baba Yaga's Grandniece" (1999)

Non-fiction

*''Logic for Philosophers'' (1971) *''Solutions to Odd-numbered Exercises to Accompany Logic for Philosophers'' (1971) *''Lord of the Elves and Eldils: Fantasy and Philosophy in C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien'' (1974) *''Reason to Believe'' (1974) *''Philosophically Speaking'' (1975) *''Thinking About Ethics'' (1976) *''Thinking About Religion: A Philosophical Introduction to Religion'' (1978) *''Logic: Argument, Refutation, and Proof'' (1979) *''C S Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith'' (as by Richard L. Purtill) (1981, rev. 2004) *''J.R.R.Tolkien: Myth, Morality and Religion'' (1984) *''Philosophical Questions: An Introductory Anthology'' (1984) (with

Peter Kreeft Peter John Kreeft (; born March 16, 1937) is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he is the author of over eighty books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics. He also f ...

and Michael H. MacDonald) (1984) *''Moral Dilemmas'' (1985) *''A Logical Introduction to Philosophy'' (1988) *''Logical Thinking'' (1992)

References

External links

Richard Purtill's official home pageFantastic Fiction entryFile770 obituary
* 1931 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American Christian writers American fantasy writers American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American philosophers American science fiction writers Novelists from Illinois Novelists from Washington (state) Philosophers of religion Western Washington University faculty Writers from Chicago {{US-sf-writer-stub