Jack L. Chalker

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.

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 in 1978; they had two sons, David W. Chalker (born December 19th, 1981) and Steven L. Chalker (born September 4th, 1991).

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, 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. At the time of his death, Chalker left behind one unfinished novel, Chameleon, and was planning to write Ripsaw right after Chameleon.

Illness and 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 was severely weakened. On December 6 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then 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).

Bibliography

The Well of Souls series

Midnight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1977 (ISBN 0743435222)
Exiles at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978 (ISBN 0743436032)
Quest for the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1978 (ISBN 0743471539)
The Return of Nathan Brazil, Del Rey, 1980 (ISBN 0345283678)
Twilight at the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1980 (ISBN 0345283686)
The Sea is Full of Stars, December, 1999 (ISBN 0345394860)
Ghost of the Well of Souls, 2000 (ISBN 0345394852)

The Watchers of the Well series

Echoes of the Well of Souls, Del Rey, trade paperback, May, 1993 (ISBN 0345386868)
Shadow of the Well of Souls, Del Rey Feb. 1994 (ISBN 0345362020)
Gods of the Well of Souls, Del Rey, 1994 (ISBN 034538850X)

The Four Lords of the Diamond series

Lilith: A Snake in the Grass, Del Rey, 1981 (ISBN 034529369X)
Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold, Del Rey, 1982 (ISBN 0345311221)
Charon: A Dragon at the Gate, Del Rey, 1982 (ISBN 0345293703)
Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail, Del Rey, 1983 (ISBN 034529372X)
The Four Lords of the Diamond, The Science Fiction Book Club (omnibus edition), 1983

The Dancing Gods series

The River of Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984 (ISBN 0345308921)
Demons of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, 1984 (ISBN 034530893X)
Vengeance of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, July, 1985 (ISBN 0345315499)
Songs of the Dancing Gods, Del Rey, August, 1990 (ISBN 0345347994)
Horrors of the Dancing Gods, 1994 (ISBN 0345376927)
The Dancing Gods: Part One, Del Rey, November, 1995 (ISBN 0345402464)
The Dancing Gods II, Del Rey, September, 1996 (ISBN 0345407717)

The Soul Rider series

Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984 (ISBN 0812533208)
Empires of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1984 (ISBN 0812533291)
Masters of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, January, 1985 (ISBN 0812532813)
The Birth of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, 1985 (ISBN 0812522923)
Children of Flux and Anchor, Tor Books, September, 1986 (ISBN 0812523407)

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 (ISBN 0345325613)
Warriors of the Storm, Del Rey Books, August, 1987 (ISBN 0345325621)
Masks of the Martyrs, Del Rey, February, 1988 (ISBN 0345343093)

The G.O.D. Inc series

The Labyrinth of Dreams. Tor Books, March, 1987 (ISBN 0812533062)
The Shadow Dancers, Tor Books, July, 1987
The Maze in the Mirror, Tor Books, January, 1989 (ISBN 0812520696)

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 (ISBN 0441102689)

The Quintara Marathon series

The Demons at Rainbow Bridge, Ace-Putnam's, hardcover, September, 1989 (ISBN 0441699928)
The Run to Chaos Keep, Ace - Putnams, May, 1991 (ISBN 0441693482)
The Ninety Trillion Fausts (a.k.a. 90 Trillion Fausts), Ace - Putnams, October 1991 (ISBN 044158103X)

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

The Three Kings series

Balshazzar's Serpent, Baen Books 1999
Melchior's Fire, Baen Books, 2001.
Kaspar's Box, 2003

Stand-alone novels

A Jungle of Stars, Ballantine, Del Rey, 1976 (ISBN 0345289609)
The Web of the Chozen, Del Rey, 1978 (ISBN 0345273761)
And the Devil Will Drag You Under, Del Rey, 1979 (ISBN 0345305043)
A War of Shadows, Ace: An Analog Book, 1979
Dancers in the Afterglow, Del Rey, 1979, 1982 (ISBN 0345304934)
The Devil's Voyage, Doubleday, 1980
The Identity Matrix, Timescape: Pocket Books, 1982 (ISBN 0671655477)
Downtiming the Night Side, Tor Books, May, 1985 (ISBN 0812532880)
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 (ISBN 0345402944)
The Moreau Factor, Del Rey Feb., 2000
Chameleon (partially completed at time of death)

Collection and anthology

Dance Band on the Titanic, Del Rey Books, July, 1988 (short stories)
Hotel Andromeda by, Ace, 1994 (ISBN 044100010X)

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

"And Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night". Alternate Presidents, ed. Mike Resnick, Tor 1992.

Omnibus collections of novels

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

The Four Lords of the Diamond (Book Club Edition - 1983)

References

External links

1944 births | 2005 deaths | American fantasy writers | American science fiction writers | Shapeshifting

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