Thomas Nicholas Scortia (August 29, 1926 – April 29, 1986) was 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 uni ...

author. He collaborated on several works with fellow author

Frank M. Robinson Frank Malcolm Robinson (August 9, 1926 – June 30, 2014) was an American science fiction and techno-thriller writer. He was a speechwriter for gay politician Harvey Milk and Milk's designated successor in the event of his death but decline ...

. He sometimes used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

s "Scott Nichols", "Gerald MacDow", and "Arthur R. Kurtz".

Biography

Scortia was born in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a degree in chemistry in 1949. He worked for a number of aerospace companies during the 1950s and 1960s/early 1970s, and held a patent for the fuel used by one of the

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

fly-by missions. Scortia had been writing in his spare time while still working in the aerospace field. When the industry began to see increased unemployment in the early 1970s, Scortia decided to try his hand at full-time writing. His novel, ''

The Glass Inferno ''The Glass Inferno'' is a 1974 novel by American writer Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. It is one of the two books that was used to create the movie '' The Towering Inferno'', the other being the 1973 novel '' The Tower'' by Richard ...

'' (in collaboration with Frank M. Robinson) was, in combination with the novel '' The Tower'' by Richard Martin Stern, the basis for the 1974 film '' The Towering Inferno''. Scortia also collaborated with Dalton Trumbo on the novel ''The Endangered Species.'' Scortia died in

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

on April 29, 1986 while being treated for

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

credited Scortia with having "literally saved llisonfrom being courtmartialed back in 1958".

Works

Novels

*''Blowout'' (1987) (with

) *''The Gold Crew'' (1980) (with

) *''The Nightmare Factor'' (1978) (with

) *''The Prometheus Crisis'' (1975) (with

) *''

'' (1974) (with

) *''Earthwreck!'' (1974) *''Artery of Fire'' (1972) *''What Mad Oracle?: A Novel of the World As It Is'' (1961)

Collections

*''The best of Thomas N. Scortia'' (1981) edited by

George Zebrowski George Zebrowski (born December 28, 1945) is an American science fiction writer and editor who has written and edited a number of books, and is a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives with author Pamela ...

*''Caution: Inflammable'' (1976) introduction by

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

Short stories

*"The Shores of Night" (1956) *"Sea Change" (1956)
The Bomb in the Bathtub
''Galaxy'', Feb 1957 *"The Icebox Blonde" (1959)

References

External links

*

short Scortia bio

U.S. Patent 3575744 for Nitronium Perchlorate Propellant Composition, at Google Patents * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scortia, Thomas N. 1926 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Washington University in St. Louis alumni American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers