Vonda N. McIntyre
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Vonda Neel McIntyre () was an American science fiction writer and biologist.


Early life and education

Vonda N. McIntyre was born in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, the daughter of H. Neel and Vonda B. Keith McIntyre, who were born in
Poland, Ohio Poland is a village in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. A suburb about southeast of Youngstown, the population was 2,463 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History In 1796, Poland To ...
. She spent her early childhood on the east coast of the United States and in
The Hague, Netherlands The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, and Poland, before her family settled in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
in the early 1960s. In 1970, she earned a Bachelor of Science, with honors, in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
from the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
. That same year, she attended the
Clarion Writers Workshop Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded i ...
. McIntyre went on to do graduate work at
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
in
genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
.


Career

In 1971, McIntyre founded the
Clarion West Writers Workshop Clarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive six-week program for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. It runs annually from late June through the end of July. The workshop is limited to 18 students per year. ...
in
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, with the support of Clarion founder
Robin Scott Wilson Robin Scott Wilson (September 19, 1928September 2013) was an American science fiction author and editor, and former President of California State University, Chico. Life and career Wilson was born in Columbus, Ohio and earned a Bachelor of Arts, ...
. She contributed to the workshop until 1973. McIntyre won her first
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 1973, for the novelette '"
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. First published in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' in October 1973, it was anthologized multiple times, and also formed the first chapter o ...
". This later became part of the novel ''
Dreamsnake ''Dreamsnake'' is a 1978 science fiction novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. It is an expansion of her 1973 novelette " Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", for which she won her first Nebula Award. The story is set on Earth after a nuclear h ...
'' (1978), which was rejected by the first editor who saw it, but went on to win both the
Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...
and Nebula Awards. McIntyre became the third woman to receive the
Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
(1979). McIntyre's debut novel, ''The Exile Waiting'', was published in 1975. In 1976, McIntyre co-edited '' Aurora: Beyond Equality'', a feminist/humanist science fiction anthology, with Susan Janice Anderson. She also wrote a number of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' and ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' novels, including ''Enterprise: The First Adventure'' and ''
The Entropy Effect ''The Entropy Effect'' is a novel by Vonda N. McIntyre set in the fictional ''Star Trek'' Universe. It was originally published in 1981 and is the first original story in Pocket Books' long-running series of Star Trek novels (and the second publ ...
''. ''The Entropy Effect'' was the first original story published in the
Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
' series of ''Star Trek'' novels, and was developed by McIntyre from a screenplay that she wrote at age 18. It convinced Pocket Books to assign McIntyre the
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
s of the next three films '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'', and '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''. McIntyre created given names of several ''Star Trek'' characters that later became canon, including
Hikaru Sulu Hikaru Kato Sulu is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. A member of the crew in the original ''Star Trek'' series, Sulu also appears in the animated ''Star Trek'' series, the first six ''Star Trek'' movies, one episode ...
,
Nyota Uhura Nyota Uhura () is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In the Star Trek: The Original Series, original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six List of Star Trek ...
, and Kirk's mother Winona. Sulu's given name became canon after
Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...
, author of the comic book adaptation, visited the set of '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'', and convinced director
Nicholas Meyer Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American writer and director, known for his best-selling novel ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', and for directing the films ''Time After Time (1979 film), Time After Time'', two of the ''Star Trek'' ...
to insert the name into the film's script. While taking part in a science fiction convention panel on sci-fi in TV, McIntyre became exasperated at a fellow panelist's extreme negativity toward existing science fiction TV shows. She asked the panel and audience if they had managed to see ''Starfarers'', which she claimed was an amazing SF miniseries that had almost no viewers due to bad scheduling on the part of the network. No such show existed, but after reflecting on the plot she described, McIntyre felt it would make a good novel, and went on to write ''Starfarers'' as well as its three sequels, later referring to it as "my Best SF TV Series Never Made". McIntyre's novel ''
The Moon and the Sun ''The Moon and the Sun'' is a novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre, published in 1997. The book combines two major genres: science fiction (specifically the alternate history subgenre) and historical romance. It won the Nebula Award for B ...
'', set in the court of
Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...
, was rejected initially. In 1997, Pocket Books picked up the novel, and in 2013 Pandemonium Pictures began to produce ''
The King's Daughter ''The King's Daughter'' (french: Jeanne, fille du Roy) is a historical novel for young adult readers by Suzanne Martel, first published in 1974. It follows the life of Jeanne Chatel, one of the King's Daughters of New France in the seventeent ...
'', featuring
Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...
as the Sun King. In October 2021, it was announced that
Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it f ...
acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a January 21, 2022, release. She was able to complete a final novel, ''Curve of the World,'' shortly before her death in 2019.


Personal life

She enjoyed crafting
crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...
ed marine creatures to contribute to the ''Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef'' project of the
Institute For Figuring The Institute For Figuring (IFF) is an organization based in Los Angeles, California that promotes the public understanding of the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts. Founded by Margaret Wertheim and Chris ...
. McIntyre died on April 1, 2019, at her home in Seattle, Washington, of metastatic
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
, which was diagnosed in February.


Legacy

In 2019, Clarion West established the Vonda N. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship, to enable women writers and writers of color to attend the Clarion West Writers Workshop and Writing the Other established the Vonda N. McIntyre Sentient Squid Memorial Scholarship, to help authors at any point in their career path and from every background, including those who don't have the money to pay for writing workshops.


Awards and tributes

* "
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. First published in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' in October 1973, it was anthologized multiple times, and also formed the first chapter o ...
": 1974 Nebula Award, nominated for the 1974 Hugo Award and the 1974 Locus Poll Award * ''
Dreamsnake ''Dreamsnake'' is a 1978 science fiction novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. It is an expansion of her 1973 novelette " Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", for which she won her first Nebula Award. The story is set on Earth after a nuclear h ...
'': 1979 Hugo Award, 1979 Nebula Award *
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
dedicated his 1982 novel ''
Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...
,'' "to Vonda" (among many others). * ''
The Moon and the Sun ''The Moon and the Sun'' is a novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre, published in 1997. The book combines two major genres: science fiction (specifically the alternate history subgenre) and historical romance. It won the Nebula Award for B ...
'': 1998 Nebula Award, nominated for the 1998 Locus Poll Award and the 1997 James Tiptree, Jr. Award * "Little Faces": Nominated for the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, 2006 Sturgeon Award, and the 2007 Nebula Award * McIntyre was a Guest of Honor at Sasquan, the
73rd World Science Fiction Convention The 73rd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Sasquan, was held on 19–23 August 2015 at the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Washington, United States. The convention was chaired by Sally Woehrle. Participants ...
.


Bibliography


References


External links


Vonda N. McIntyre
– Memorial website * {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Vonda N. 1948 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers American science fiction writers Hugo Award-winning writers Star Trek fiction writers Nebula Award winners Women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Seattle American women novelists Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Novelists from Washington (state) Novelists from Kentucky Kentucky women writers University of Washington alumni Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Deaths from pancreatic cancer People from Poland, Ohio