JANIFER, Laurence M(ark)

(1933-) US writer - in several genres - and performing musician. Born Larry Mark Harris - a name used on his fiction until 1963 - he reverted to the old family name, which had been discarded by an immigration officer when LMJ's grandfather had gained entry to the USA from Poland. Some of his non-sf books - mostly erotica - appeared under the pseudonyms Alfred Blake and Barbara Wilson. His first sf publication was "Expatriate" forCosmos in 1953. Much of his sf has been written in collaboration, including early works with Randall GARRETT and some later ones with S.J. TREIBICH. With Garrett he wrote a bawdy mythological fantasy, PaganPassions (1959), as by Randall Garrett and Larry M. Harris, for the Beacon Books series of GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS and 3 novels as Mark PHILLIPS featuring confrontations between a secret-service agent and various PSI-POWERED individuals: Brain Twister (1959 ASF as "That Sweet Little Old Lady"; 1962), The Impossibles (1960 ASF as "Out Like a Light";1963) and Supermind (1960-61 ASF as "Occasion for Disaster"; 1963).LMJ's first solo novel was Slave Planet (1963). The Wonder War (1964), though credited to Janifer alone, appears from the dedication to have been written in collaboration with Michael KURLAND. You Sane Men (1965; vt Bloodworld 1968) describes a world where sadism is the aristocratic way oflife. A Piece of Martin Cann (1968) features psi-assisted psychotherapy. LMJ's most ambitious novel is Power (1974), a study of the POLITICS ofrebellion; similar themes are tackled in Reel (1983). The lively Knave series - Survivor (1977) and its sequels Knave in Hand (1979) and Knave and the Game (coll of linked stories 1987) - feature an interplanetary troubleshooter, Knave, who is somewhat in the mould of Keith LAUMER's Retief. LMJ's 3 novels with Treibich, the Angelo di Stefano series, arecomedies: Target: Terra (1968), The High Hex (1969) and The Wagered World (1969). A collection of his short fiction is Impossible? (coll 1968). LMJedited the anthology Masters' Choice (anth 1966; vt in 2 vols SF: Master's Choice 1968 UK; vt 18 Greatest Science Fiction Stories 1971 US).

   BS

   See also: MUSIC.