Jack L. Chalker

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Jack Laurence Chalker (December 17, 1944 - February 11, 2005) was an American science fiction author. Chalker is also a former history teacher in Baltimore City, Maryland Schools. He also was a former member of the Washington Science Fiction Association and founded the Baltimore Science Fiction Society with other groups of people.

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Contents

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Career and family life

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a graduate degree in history from Johns Hopkins University, and taught history at the high school level. He was also a lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Institutes of Health, and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on science fiction and technology subjects. In 1963 Chalker and two friends founded the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Chalker married Eva C. Whitley<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in 1978; they had two sons, David W. Chalker<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (born December 19th, 1981) and Steven L. Chalker<ref name="steven chalker">Template:Cite web</ref> (born September 4th, 1991).

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Chalker and Science Fiction

The writers he liked to read included Eric Frank Russell, James White, some Philip José Farmer, the early work of Raymond F. Jones and Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Vance, and others too numerous to mention. From January 1965 to November 2004, he missed only one World Science Fiction Convention.

Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005. In 1967 Chalker founded the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and he was a 3-term treasurer of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Chalker was also the co-author (with Mark Owings) of The Science Fantasy Publishers (1991, updated annually), published by Mirage Press, Ltd,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was a Hugo Award nominee in 1992. The Maryland young writers contest sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society was renamed "'The Jack L. Chalker Young Writers Contest" effective April 8, 2006.

He is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, but he also wrote many other novels (most, but not all, part of series), and at least nine short stories. Many of his works involve some physical transformation of the main characters. For instance, in the Well World novels, immigrants to the Well World are transformed from their original form to become a member of one of the thousands of sentient species that inhabit that artificial planet. Another example would be that the Wonderland Gambit series resembles traditional Buddhist jataka-type reincarnation stories set in an SF environment. There are rumors that Wonderland Gambit might become a movie in a few years, because of an announcement made by Steven Chalker about a script being made.<ref name="steven chalker"/> At the time of his death, Chalker left behind one unfinished novel, Chameleon, and was planning to write Ripsaw right after Chameleon.

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Death

On September 18 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but this weakened him so severely that when one year later, on December 6 2004, when rushed to the hospital again with breathing problems and disorientation, and Chalker was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. He was hospitalized in critical condition, upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deterioriating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.

Some of his remains are interred in the family plot at Louden Park Cemetery, with the remainder distributed off several ferryboats and on H.P. Lovecraft's grave (on December 17, 2005).

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Bibliography

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The Well of Souls series

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The Watchers of the Well series

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The Four Lords of the Diamond series

  • Lilith: A Snake in the Grass, Del Rey, 1981
  • Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold, Del Rey, 1982
  • Charon: A Dragon at the Gate, Del Rey, 1982
  • Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail, Del Rey, 1983
  • The Four Lords of the Diamond, The Science Fiction Book Club (omnibus edition), 1983
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The Dancing Gods series

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The Soul Rider series

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The Rings of the Master series

  • Lords of the Middle Dark Del Rey Books, May, 1986 (ISBN 0345325605)
  • Pirates of the Thunder, Del Rey Books, March, 1987
  • Warriors of the Storm, Del Rey Books, August, 1987
  • Masks of the Martyrs, Del Rey, February, 1988
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The G.O.D. Inc series

  • The Labyrinth of Dreams. Tor Books, March, 1987
  • The Shadow Dancers, Tor Books, July, 1987
  • The Maze in the Mirror, Tor Books, January, 1989
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The Changewinds series

  • When the Changewinds Blow, Ace - Putnams, September, 1987
  • Riders of the Winds, Ace Books, May, 1988
  • War of the Maelstrom, Ace - Putnams, October, 1988
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The Quintara Marathon series

  • The Demons at Rainbow Bridge, Ace-Putnam's, hardcover, September, 1989
  • The Run to Chaos Keep, Ace - Putnams, May, 1991
  • The Ninety Trillion Fausts (a.k.a. 90 Trillion Fausts), Ace - Putnams, October 1991
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The Wonderland Gambit series

  • The Cybernetic Walrus, Del Rey, trade pb in November, 1995
  • The March Hare Network, 1996
  • The Hot-Wired Dodo, Del Rey, Feb. 1997
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The Three Kings series

  • Balshazzar's Serpent, Baen Books 1999
  • Melchior's Fire, Baen Books, 2001.
  • Kaspar's Box, 2003
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Stand-alone novels

  • A Jungle of Stars, Ballantine, Del Rey, 1976 (ISBN 0345289609)
  • The Web of the Chozen, Del Rey, 1978
  • And the Devil Will Drag You Under, Del Rey, 1979
  • A War of Shadows, Ace: An Analog Book, 1979
  • Dancers in the Afterglow, Del Rey, 1979, 1982
  • The Devil's Voyage, Doubleday, 1980
  • The Identity Matrix, Timescape: Pocket Books, 1982
  • Downtiming the Night Side, Tor Books, May, 1985
  • The Messiah Choice, St. Martins - Blue Jay, May, 1985
  • The Red Tape War (with Mike Resnick and George Alec Effinger). Tor hardcover, April, 1991
  • Priam's Lens, Del Rey 1997
  • The Moreau Factor, Del Rey Feb., 2000
  • Chameleon (partially completed at time of death)
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Collection and anthology

  • Dance Band on the Titanic, Del Rey Books, July, 1988 (short stories)
  • Hotel Andromeda [edited by], Ace, 1994

Besides the short stories included in Dance Band on the Titanic, Chalker wrote at least one other short story:

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Omnibus collections of novels

  • The Watchers at the Well, Science Fiction Book Club, 1994
  • Changewinds, Baen, August, 1996
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References

<references/>

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External links

{{Persondata |NAME=Chalker, Jack L. |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Chalker, Jack |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American science-fiction author |DATE OF BIRTH=December 17, 1944 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Baltimore, Maryland |DATE OF DEATH=February 11, 2005 |PLACE OF DEATH=Baltimore, Maryland }}bg:Джак Чокър de:Jack L. Chalker pl:Jack L. Chalker

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