GLASBY, John S(tephen)

(1928-)

   UK writer, chemist and astronomer, Fellow of the Royal Society of Astronomy, author of popularizing texts in that field and of a large number of stories and novels in various genres for pulp publishers of the 1950s and 1960s. Like R.L. FANTHORPE - alongside whom he supplied BADGERBOOKS with most of their sf and fantasy titles - and Dennis HUGHES, he severely curtailed his production when market conditions changed, publishing only one sf novel, Project Jove (1971 US), after 1970, although in about 1990 he began to publish short stories once again. Like his colleagues, JSG wrote mainly under a range of pseudonyms and house names, beginning with Satellite B.C. (1952), Time and Space (1952) and Zero Point (1952), all these titles being collaborations with Arthur ROBERTS, sharingthe house name Rand LE PAGE; JSG's most frequently used personal pseudonym was A.J. Merak. Though much of his work, either solo or in collaboration, was hasty and unremarkable, JSG was entirely capable of more memorable work, especially perhaps in some early stories which showed the influence of A.E. VAN VOGT.

   JC

   Other works: As John Adams: When the Gods Came (1960).

   As R.L. Bowers: This Second Earth (1967). As Berl CAMERON(house name): Cosmic Echelon (1952) with Arthur Roberts; Sphero Nova (1952) with Roberts.As J.B. Dexter: The Time Kings 1958). As Victor LA SALLE (housename): Dawn of the Half-Gods (1953); Twilight Zone (1954).As Rand Le Page: See above.As Paul LORRAINE (house name): Zenith-D (1952) with ArthurRoberts.As John C. Maxwell: The Time Kings (1958).As A.J. Merak: Dark Andromeda (1954); Dark Conflict (1959); The Dark Millennium (1959); No Dawn and No Horizon (1959; vt The Frozen Planet 1969 US); Barrier Unknown (1960); Hydrosphere (1960).As John E. MULLER (house name): Alien (1961); Day of the Beasts (1961); The Unpossessed (1961).As J.L. Powers: Black Abyss (1960).As Karl ZEIGFREID (house name): The Uranium Seekers (1953); Dark Centauri (1954).