{"id":582,"date":"2005-12-10T15:18:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-10T15:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/j-n-williamson-biography-and-appreciation\/"},"modified":"2005-12-10T15:18:00","modified_gmt":"2005-12-10T15:18:00","slug":"j-n-williamson-biography-and-appreciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/j-n-williamson-biography-and-appreciation\/","title":{"rendered":"J.N. Williamson Biography and Appreciation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Author\/editor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=external-search%3Fsearch-type=ss%26index=books%26keyword=J.N.%20Williamson\">J.N. &#8220;Jerry&#8221; Williamson<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1\" alt=\"\" style=\"border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/> died this past Thursday. He was a friend of mine, a kind man and an excellent writer whose work has largely fallen out of print. If you find the following  books, I encourage you to look past the garish 80s horror covers and titles that he so often got stuck with and read them:<br \/><\/span> <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=external-search%3Fsearch-type=ss%26index=books%26keyword=J.N.%20Williamson%20Ghost\">Ghost<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1\" alt=\"\" style=\"border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;tag=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=external-search%3Fsearch-type=ss%26index=books%26keyword=Don%27t%20Take%20Away%20The%20Light\">Don&#8217;t Take Away The Light<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=lookwhatifoun-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1\" alt=\"\" style=\"border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>The Black School<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Frights of Fancy<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>The following biography and appreciation were written by <b>John Maclay<\/b>; they may be freely reprinted\/reposted.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:130%;\"><br \/>J.N. Williamson Biographical Facts<\/span><\/p>\n<p>J.N. Williamson was born April 17, 1932, Indianapolis,  IN<\/p>\n<p>Graduated Shortridge High School, where he co-edited the school&#8217;s daily paper with later writer Dan Simmons and later U.S. Senator Richard Lugar. Studied journalism at Butler University and served in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n<p>Sang in the style of Frank Sinatra professionally with his parents&#8217; band and for Broadway-style musicals at Starlight Musicals in Indianapolis, where he met his wife of many years, Mary<\/p>\n<p>The father of two sons, Scott and John, stepfather of four children, and grandfather of many.<\/p>\n<p>An avid I.U. and Indiana Pacers basketball and Indiana Colts&#8217; football fan<\/p>\n<p>A precocious Sherlockian, he published his first book, The Illustrious Client&#8217;s Case Book, while still in his teens<\/p>\n<p>Worked in sales management and as an astrologer, and sold short stories intermittently<\/p>\n<p>Published his first novel, The Ritual, in 1979 at the age of 47, and went on to sell 31 more in the next 15 years<\/p>\n<p>Editor of the acclaimed Masques horror anthology series and other books<\/p>\n<p>Recipient of the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003<\/p>\n<p>Died December 8, 2005, Noblesville,  IN<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:130%;\"><br \/>J. N. Williamson: An Appreciation<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I first met Jerry Williamson in the fall of 1982. At that time, just since 1979, he&#8217;d sold 16 horror novels, and was to go on in the decade to double that total. He and Stephen King were the most prolific and excellent horror novelists of the 1980s, so it was only fitting that they received the Horror Writers Association&#8217;s Lifetime Achievement Award together in 2003.<\/p>\n<p>As a short story and nonfiction writer, and as an editor, Jerry also excelled. He edited and I published the first Masques horror anthology in 1984, to be followed by three more volumes (two of which I published) in 1987, 1989, and 1991. And Williamson&#8217;s encouragement of new writers in the genre is well known. In fact, he arranged my own first short story publication in 1983.<\/p>\n<p>Jerry never let financial and physical ills deter him, and was still working on new projects when he passed on. He remained bright, and a writer&#8217;s writer, to the end. He was an inspiration to so many, including myself, not to mention a warm and dear friend.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s much more to say, of course, but I&#8217;ll conclude by quoting from Stephen Vincent Benet&#8217;s reaction to the career of F. Scott Fitzgerald (a writer Williamson loved): &#8220;You can take off your hats now, gentlemen, and I think perhaps you had better. This . . . may well be one of the most secure reputations of our time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So it is with you, Jerry.  We love you, we honor you, and your presence on this earth will be sorely missed.  Rest in the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Author\/editor J.N. &#8220;Jerry&#8221; Williamson died this past Thursday. He was a friend of mine, a kind man and an excellent writer whose work has largely <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/j-n-williamson-biography-and-appreciation\/\" title=\"J.N. Williamson Biography and Appreciation\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[34,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biography","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8qT6f-9o","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/s-morgenstern\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":0},"title":"S. Morgenstern","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"S. Morgenstern (the \"S\" stands for Simon) is author William Goldman's whimsical narrator of The Princess Bride and The Silent Gondoliers. Morgenstern's is a sweetly cantankerous authorial voice, prone to all manner of entertaining tangents. According to his fictional biography in the books, he lives in Florin City where he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;biography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"biography","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/biography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/the-dystopian-states-of-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":1},"title":"The Dystopian States of America","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"March 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My story \"Abandonment Option\" was just published in The Dystopian States of America, a charity anthology benefiting the ACLU Foundation. Edited by Matt Bechtel, the book includes an introduction from Christopher Golden and work from Bracken MacLeod, Linda D. Addison, Hillary Monahan, James A. Moore, Wrath James White, Nadia Bulkin,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Books","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dystopian States of America","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/dystopianstates.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/what-october-brings\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":2},"title":"What October Brings: A Lovecraftian Celebration of Halloween","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"September 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Celeano Press just released\u00a0What October Brings: A Lovecraftian Celebration of Halloween. The anthology features fiction by me,\u00a0Storm Constantine, Arinn Dembo, Cody Goodfellow, Nancy Holder, Brian M. Sammons, Ann K. Schwader, John Shirley, Chet Williamson, and more. Here's the first part of my story, \"Cosmic Cola\": Millie leaned her forehead against\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;horror&quot;","block_context":{"text":"horror","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/horror\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/WhatOctober2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/WhatOctober2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/WhatOctober2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/WhatOctober2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/miroslav-holub\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":3},"title":"Miroslav Holub","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Miroslav Holub was a scientist\/physician and one of Czechoslovakia's most important (and prolific) poets. He was born on September 13, 1923 in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia and died on July 14, 1998. After surviving both the Nazis and Stalin's reign of terror in his homeland, he studied science and medicine, first at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;biography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"biography","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/biography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":568,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/william-peter-blatty\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":4},"title":"William Peter Blatty","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"William Peter Blatty was born in 1928 in New York City. His parents were Lebanese and his very religious mother sent him to Catholic schools. He got his first degree at Georgetown University and his M.A. in English literature at George Washington University. Afterward, he went into the Air Force;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;biography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"biography","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/biography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/William-Peter-Blatty-2009.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/ellen-datlow\/","url_meta":{"origin":582,"position":5},"title":"Ellen Datlow","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Ellen S(ue) Datlow was born in 1949 and currently lives in New York City. She has been one of the most influential editors in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres for over 20 years. She has been awarded with the World Fantasy Award many times and has won other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;biography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"biography","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/biography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}