
Neal Barrett Jr. (November 3, 1929 – January 12, 2014) was an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, mystery/suspense, and historical fiction.
He also worked under the pseudonyms
Victor Appleton, Chad Calhoun,
Franklin W. Dixon (
Stratemeyer Syndicate
The Stratemeyer Syndicate was an American publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children, including Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others. It pu ...
house names), Rebecca Drury, and J. D. Hardin.
Biography
Barrett was born in
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
, but grew up in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
after his family relocated there in his infancy.
His first published science fiction story was "To Tell the Truth" in the August, 1960 issue of ''
Galaxy Science Fiction
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...
''. After that he contributed short work to science fiction magazines with some regularity, but he was better known for his novels. His reputation was made in the late 1980s with the publication of his novel ''Through Darkest America'' and its sequel, ''Dawn's Uncertain Light''. Beginning in the 1990s and continuing into his later years, Barrett focused less on science fiction and more on crime thrillers, though he continued to work in both genres, often in the
screwball comedy
Screwball comedy is a film subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary charact ...
style such as in his short story "Perpetuity Blues". He died in 2014 at the age of 84.
Awards and honors
Barrett's story "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus" was nominated for both the 1988
Nebula Award for Best Novelette
The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,5 ...
and the 1989
Hugo Award for Best Novelette
The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...
. In 1997, he was the
toastmaster
Toastmaster is a general term, prevalent in the United States in the mid-20th century, referring to a person in charge of the proceedings of a public speaking event. The toastmaster is typically charged with organization of the event, arrangi ...
at the
55th World Science Fiction Convention held in San Antonio.
In 2010, he was named
Author Emeritus Author Emeritus was an honorary title annually bestowed by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association upon a living writer "as a way to recognize and appreciate senior writers in the genres of science fiction and fantasy who have made signi ...
by 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 and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...
.
Bibliography
Non-fiction
Long Days and Short Nights, A Century of Texas Ranching on the YO 1880-1980
Novels
*
* ''The Gates of Time''.
Ace Books
Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...
, 1970.
* ''The Leaves of Time''. Lancer Books, 1971.
* ''Highwood''. Ace Books, 1972.
* ''Stress Pattern''.
DAW Books
DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...
, 1974.
* ''Aldair in Albion''. DAW Books, 1976.
* ''Aldair, Master of Ships''. DAW Books, 1977.
* ''Aldair, Across the Misty Sea''. DAW Books, 1980.
* ''Aldair: The Legion of Beasts''. DAW Books, 1982.
* ''Ark Two''. Simon & Schuster, 1982.
Tom Swift book
* ''The Invisible Force''. Simon & Schuster, 1983. Tom Swift book
* ''The Karma Corps''. DAW Books, 1984.
* ''Through Darkest America''.
Congdon & Weed, 1987.
* ''Dawn's Uncertain Light''.
New American Library
The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publi ...
, 1989.
* ''The Hereafter Gang''.
Mark V. Ziesing, 1991.
* ''Pink Vodka Blues''.
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...
, 1992.
* ''Dead Dog Blues''. St. Martin's Press, 1994.
* ''Judge Dredd''. Boxtree, 1995.
* ''Skinny Annie Blues''.
Kensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...
, 1996.
* ''Bad Eye Blues''. Kensington Books, 1997.
* ''Interstate Dreams''.
Mojo Press
Mojo Press was a small press which primarily published science fiction, horror fiction, horror, and Western (genre), western books and graphic novels between 1994 and 1999.
History
Mojo Press was founded in 1994 by publisher Ben Ostrander and man ...
, 1999.
* ''Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie''.
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...
, 2000.
* ''The Prophecy Machine''.
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...
, 2000.
* ''The Treachery of Kings''. Bantam Books, 2001.
* ''PIGGS''.
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily Horror fiction, horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novel ...
, 2001.
* ''Prince Of Christler-Coke''.
Golden Gryphon Press, 2004.
Short fiction
;Collections
* ''Slightly Off Center''. SWAN Press, 1992.
* ''The Day the Decorators Came''. Subterranean Press, 2000.
* ''Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories''. Golden Gryphon Press, 2000.
* ''A Different Vintage''. Subterranean Press, 2001.
* ''Way Out There''. Subterranean Press, 2004.
* ''Other Seasons: The Best of Neal Barrett Jr.''.
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily Horror fiction, horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novel ...
, 2012.
* ''A Pair of Aces'' Co-written with
Joe R. Lansdale Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...
e-book
An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
2014
;Stories
[Short stories unless otherwise noted.]
Critical studies and reviews of Barrett's work
;Other seasons
*
;Perpetuity blues and other stories
*
References
External links
*
Neal Barrett Jr. (1929–2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Neal Jr.
1929 births
2014 deaths
Writers from San Antonio
Writers from Oklahoma City
American male novelists