Tag Archives: William F. Nolan

William F. Nolan

Today is March 6, and that means 1) it’s the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo, and 2) it’s the birthday of William F. Nolan (1928-2021).

Nolan was a member of the California school, which included such luminaries as Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, and Charles Beaumont. There were others who drifted in and out, either because of geographic relocation, such as Chad Oliver, or who simply didn’t write as much, like chrles E. Fritch.

Nolan’s best known works isn’t dark fantasy. It’s dystopian science fiction, Logan’s Run, which he wrote in collaboration with George Clayton Johnson. Nolan wrote two sequels alone. I heard somewhere that Johnson had written his own sequel, but the ISFDB doesn’t list it. I saw the movie on television when I was a kid, although I suspect it had been edited for content a little. I also watched the television series that followed. I won’t say how many years ago that was.

There was a short-lived Twilight Zone type anthology show in the early eighthies called Darkroom. I remember an adaptation of one of Nolan’s stories, “the Partnership”. It was a good story, and a good episode.

Nolan’s strengths were at shorter lenghts, though. (None of the Logan novels are very long. They might be considred novellas today.) It’s been a while since I read any of his short fiction. I will try to work a few stories in here and there over the next few month.

I’ve looked at some of Nolan’s short fiction here before. He was part of a group that excelled at shorter lengths. Bradbury. Matheson. Beaumont. Harlan Ellison came into that group as ti was beginning to splinter and the members go their separate ways. I’m not aware of any group today that is writing short fiction as consistently as the California school did.

I’ll raise a glass in their honor tonight, especially Nolan’s.

Rest in Peace, William F. Nolan

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Locus Online is reporting that William F. Nolan (1928-2021) passed away on July 15. He was 93.

Nolan is probably best remembered as the author of Logan’s Run, co-written with George Clayton Johnson, and several sequels, written solo. Nolan was primarily a short story writer. He was a member of the California school. While he might not have received the critical acclaim other members of the group did, such as Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson, he was able to produce a body of work that was quite consistent in quality. I’ve always enjoyed his work and bought any book with his name on it. I’ll raise a glass in his memory tonight.

Rest well, sir. You showed us that life is only getting started at the age of 30.

Revisiting William F. Nolan

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Today, March 6, is the birthday of William F. Nolan (b. 1928), best known as the coauthor of Logan’s Run and two sequels.

Nolan is primarily a short story writer, and when I picked up the volume shown on the right last week at the Friends of the Library sale, I thought it would be time to revisit some of his works. It’s been a few years since I ready much by him. That’s a photo of the actual book I bought. It was the library’s copy that was taken out of circulation. You can see the edge of the sticker that says “Fiction” on it down on the lower left.

But I digress.

This isn’t going to be a review. I’ve not had much chance to read the book. I’m probably going dip into it from time to time rather than try to read it straight through. But I did want to acknowledge Nolan’s birthday. He’ s 93, and that in itself is an accomplishment.

William F. Nolan at 91

Happy Birthday, Charles Beaumont

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Charles Beaumont was born this day in 1929. He passed away in 1967. Beaumont was a protege of Ray Bradbury and a central figure in what’s come to be called the California School. Other members were Richard Matheson, William F. Nolan, Chad Oliver, and the late George Clayton Johnson. Johnson’s story “Your Three Minutes Are Up” is a tribute to his friend.

Beaumont is best remembered today for penning a number of scripts for Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. He also wrote the novel The Intruder which was filmed by Roger Corman and starred William Shatner.

Beaumont’s strengths lay in short stories. I came across a slim volume when I was a sophomore in high school; I bought it on the strength of Ray Bradbury’s introduction and read it during a move across the state. Not all of the stories worked for me. Some of them were aimed for a more mature reader. I don’t mean “mature” in terms of sexual content (although that was part of it) but that the themes weren’t something a young teen could relate to.

On the other hand, the stories that did resonate with me blew me away. I was hooked and spent years haunting used book stores trying to find all of his collections. In addition to being the epitome of a professional working writer, Beaumont was an avid race fan. He and Nolan often raced.

Beaumont’s death is usually attributed to some type of early-onset Alzheimer’s. He began to age swifty at the age of 34. His loss was deeply felt.

Centipede Press recently published The Intruder, crime thriller Run From the Hunter (written collaboratively with John Tomerlin), and a massive collection of short fiction, Mass for Mixed Voices (which sold out almost immediately, and no, I won’t loan you my copy.) This past year penguin published Perchance to Dream: Selected Stories. Also available is the collection A Touch of the Creature, which contains all the stories in the limited edition published by Subterranean Press (2000) along with three more. These stories weren’t collected during Beaumont’s lifetime.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going reread some Beaumont short stories. Please turn out the light when you leave…on second thought, better not.

RIP, George Clayton Johnson (1929-2015)

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George Clayton Johnson passed away yesterday, Christmas Day, of cancer at the age of 86. While Mr. Johnson’s name may not be familiar to some of you, his work almost certainly is. He wrote eight episodes of The Twilight Zone (plus one unproduced episode) and the first episode of the original Star Trek series to air, “The Man Trap”. He also coauthored Logan’s Run with William F. Nolan. His other credits include scripts for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Honey West, and Kung Fu.

Johnson was a member of the group of writers known as the California school which included (in addition to Nolan) such writers as Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and Charles Beaumont. He was known for his openness and willingness to assist authors trying to break into the field.

Rest well, sir.

More Bookstore Closing Acquisitions

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I posted recently about one of the local used bookstores (currently there are 4: 2 good, 1 decent, 1 not worth bothering with) closing and some of the titles I picked up.

You know I went back. The store will be open for a little while yet. Here’s what I picked up this time.

I couldn’t resist the cover of the Howard pastiche by Offutt, even though I doubt I’ll read it. The People of the Mist is an upgrade of my existing copy. The Starfollowers of Coramonde is a later edition, but the Darrell K. Sweet cover matches the one on the first novel in the series.

I loved Sean Stewart’s Galveston some years back, but I haven’t read any of his other books. The Tanith Lee speaks for itself. The third row contains the first 3 of 4 in Lawrence Watt-Evans Lords of Dus series.

The last row is a reading copy of one of Evangeline Walton’s books that was part of the BAF series. The Zahn is part of a series that looks like a lot of fun. And the Paul Preuss because I wanted some solid science fiction in the old style.

But the gem of this little collection is the volume in the upper left of the picture. It’s Whispers, edited by Stuart David Schiff. It’s a collection of stories published in his groundbreaking small press magazine of the same title. I’ve got a copy of this already, but I couldn’t pass this one up. The contents include “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner, “The Barrow Troll” by David Drake, “The Dakwa” by Manly Wade Wellman, plus stories by Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, William F. Nolan, Hugh B. Cave, Dennis Etchison, Joseph Payne Brennan, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Christian Matheson, Brian Lumley, and many others.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go reread “Sticks”.

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