RAPHAEL, Rick

(1919-1994)

   US writer and journalist who began publishing sf with "A Filbert is a Nut" for ASF in 1959 and established a considerable reputation in the field with a comparatively small output of about 10 stories, most of them assembled in The Thirst Quenchers (coll 1965 UK) and Code Three (fixup 1966). The first contains 4 good stories, the best ofwhich is the title story about professionals in a world where water is scarce, their job being its proper allocation. Code Three describes the way of life of the police who patrol the superhighways of the future in enormously complex vehicles made to cope with the huge speeds and corresponding irresponsibility on the roads. RR was at his best when describing, in positive terms, the life of those who must deal professionally with a technological world.

   JC

   Other work: The President Must Die (1981), non-sf near-future thriller.

   See also: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.