Hayford Peirce (January 7, 1942 – November 19, 2020) was an

American writer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry ...

of science fiction, mysteries, and a

spy thriller Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...

. He wrote numerous short stories for the science-fiction magazines ''

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 ...

'', '' Galaxy'', and '' Omni'', as well as mystery shorts for ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (AHMM) is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AHM ...

'' and ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

''. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

'' states that "he established a name for lightly written tales whose backgrounds were unusually well conceived."

Biography

Peirce was born in 1942 in Bangor, Maine. His father, also named Hayford, a recognized authority on Byzantine art, wrote several books on the subject in French. Peirce began writing in 1974, with the sale of "Unlimited Warfare", a science fiction short story to ''

'' magazine.John Clute
"Peirce, Hayford"
''

'' edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls and Graham Sleight. London: Gollancz, last updated 31 August 2018. Accessed 22 November 2020. In 2017, ''

The Motley Fool The Motley Fool is a private financial and investing advice company based in Alexandria, Virginia. It was founded in July 1993 by co-chairmen and brothers David Gardner and Tom Gardner, and Erik Rydholm, who has since left the company. The compa ...

'' published a financial article describing how Peirce became a "dividend millionaire" by investing in high-dividend stocks over a 22-year period.

Writing career

Peirce wrote a number of science fiction and mystery novels, some of which were published by

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 sci ...

, and the others by

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both tra ...

. They have been translated into several languages. Typical of them are '' Napoleon Disentimed'' and ''Blood on the Hibiscus''. His one spy thriller, written in London in 1968 at the height of the fictional spy mania, was ''The Bel Air Blitz''. Many of his short stories concern on-going protagonists. In the science fiction field there have been collections of his ''Chap Foey Rider, Capitalist to the Stars'' stories, of his ''Jonathan White, Stockbroker in Orbit'' stories, and of his ''Sam Fearon, Time Scanner'' stories. In the mystery field, he has had two collections about protagonists living in Tahiti, ''Commissaire Tama'', a chief of police, and ''Joe Caneili'', a private eye. Peirce also collaborated with David M. Alexander on stories that have appeared in ''Analog''.

Death

On November 19, 2020, Peirce was found in critical condition at his home in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound; his wife, Wanda Zhang Peirce, was found dead at the scene in "a possible murder suicide", according to police. Peirce was hospitalized, and subsequently died. His wife was the former owner of Wanda Z's Chinese, a restaurant in

Oro Valley Oro Valley, incorporated in 1974, is a suburban town located north of Tucson, Arizona, United States, in Pima County. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town is 47,070, an increase from 29,700 in 2000. Dubbed the "Upscale Te ...

which had closed in 2015.

Bibliography

Science fiction

* '' Napoleon Disentimed'', Tor Books (1987) * ''The Thirteenth Majestral'' (1989), reissued as ''

Dinosaur Park Dinosaur Park is a tourist attraction in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to s ...

'' (1994) (both editions) * ''Phylum Monsters'', Tor Books (1989) * ''Chap Foey Rider, Capitalist to the Stars'' (2000) (short story collection) * ''Jonathan White, Stockbroker in Orbit'' (2001) (short story collection) * ''The Burr in the Garden of Eden'', Wildside Press (2001) (first published in Germany as ''Ein Paradies mit Tücken'', (1998), Heyne) * ''Sam Fearon: Time Scanner'' (2001) (short story collection) * ''Flickerman'', Wildside Press (2001) * ''The Spark of Life'',

(2001) * ''Black Hole Planet'', Betancourt & Company (2003) * ''Aliens'', Betancourt & Company (2003) (short story collection) * ''With a Bang, and Other Forbidden Delights'' (2005) (short story collection) * ''The 13th Death of Yuri Gellaski'', Wildside Press (2005) * ''In the Flames of the Flickerman '', Wildside Press (2011)

Mysteries and spy thriller

* ''Trouble in Tahiti: Blood on the Hibiscus'' (2000) * ''Trouble in Tahiti: P.I. Joe Caneili, Discrétion Assurée'' (2000) * ''Trouble in Tahiti: Commissaire Tama, Chief of Police'' (2000) * ''Trouble in Tahiti: The Gauguin Murders'' (2001) * ''The Bel Air Blitz'' (2002)

References

External links

*
Hayford Peirce SF Encyclopedia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Hayford 1942 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male novelists American male short story writers American mystery writers American science fiction writers American spy fiction writers American thriller writers Novelists from Maine 2020 suicides Suicides by firearm in Arizona Writers from Bangor, Maine 2020 deaths Murder–suicides in the United States