Wikipedia

John M. Ford

This article is about the American science fiction and fantasy writer also known as Dr. Mike. For the Soviet-born American celebrity doctor, seeDoctor Mike.For other uses, seeDoctor Mike (disambiguation).For the Lord Mayor of Georgetown, Guyana, seeJohn Meredith Ford.

John Milo "Mike" Ford(April 10, 1957 – September 25, 2006) was an American science fiction andfantasywriter,game designer,and poet.

John Milo Ford
John M. Ford portrait 2000
John M. Ford portrait 2000
Born(1957-04-10)April 10, 1957
East Chicago, Indiana,US
DiedSeptember 25, 2006(2006-09-25)(aged 49)[1]
Minneapolis, Minnesota,US
Occupation
GenreScience fiction,fantasy,cyberpunk
PartnerElise Matthesen
Dr. Mike atMinicon38 in 2003

A contributor to severalonline discussions,[2]Ford composed poems, often improvised, in both complicated forms andblank verse;he also wrote pastiches andparodiesof many other authors and styles. AtMiniconand otherscience fiction conventionshe would perform "Ask Dr. Mike", giving humorous answers to scientific and other questions in a lab coat before a whiteboard.[3]

Life

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Ford was born inEast Chicago, Indiana,and raised inWhiting, Indiana.[4]In the mid-1970s he attendedIndiana University Bloomington,where he was active in the IUscience fiction clubandSociety for Creative Anachronism(using the name Miles Atherton de Grey); while there, he published his first short story "This, Too, We Reconcile" in the May 1976Analog.[5]

Ford left IU and moved to New York to work on the newly foundedIsaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,[4]where, starting in mid-1978, he published poetry, fiction, articles, and game reviews. Although his last non-fiction appeared there in September 1981, he was tenth most frequent contributor for the 1977–2002 period.[6]About 1990, he moved toMinneapolis.[4]In addition to writing, he worked at various times as a hospital orderly, computer consultant,slush pilereader, andcopy editor.[7]

Ford suffered from complications related todiabetessince childhood and also hadrenaldysfunction which requireddialysisand, in 2000, akidney transplant,which improved his quality of life considerably. He was found dead from natural causes in his Minneapolis home on September 25, 2006,[2]by his partner since the mid-1990s,Elise Matthesen.[4]He was a prominent member of theFriends of theMinneapolis Public Library,which established aJohn M. Ford Book Endowmentafter his death with the donations to be used asinterest-generating capital for yearly purchase of new books.[8]

Work

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Ford's works were varied in setting and style.[9]Several were of theBildungsroman(coming-of-age) type: inWeb of Angels,The Final Reflection,Princes of the Air,Growing Up Weightless,andThe Last Hot Time,Ford wrote variations on the theme of growing up, learning about one's world and one's place in it, and taking responsibility for it – which involves taking on the power and wisdom to influence events, to help make the world a better place.

Ford spent part of his career working in other people's universes. His 1983 bookThe KlingonsforFASA'sStar Trek: The Role Playing Gamehad an influence on subsequent productions from Paramount.[10]: 121 He also wrote a comedic novel set in the Star Trek universe calledHow Much for Just the Planet?,where theEnterprisecrew compete with a Klingon crew for control of a planet whose unhappy colonists defend their peace in inventive and farcial ways. The book includes song lyrics that satirize many 20th century stagemusicals.[9]

Ford authored the award-winning adventureThe Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues(1985) forWest End Games'Paranoiarole-playing game.[10]: 189 

Ford used a variety of styles to suit the world, characters, and situations he chose to write about. Author and criticJohn Clutewrote in the 1993Encyclopedia of Science Fictionthat "two decades into his career, there remains some sense that JMF remains unwilling or unable to create a definitive style or mode; but his originality is evident, a shifting feisty energy informs almost everything he writes, and that career is still young."[11][page needed]

Ford was much respected by his fellow writers, editors, critics and fans.[9]Robert Jordan,Ford's lifelong close friend, called Ford "the best writer in America – bar none."Neil Gaimancalled Ford "my best critic... the best writer I knew. "Patrick Nielsen Haydensaid, "Most normal people had the slight sense that something large and super-intelligent and trans-human had sort of flown over... There would be a point where basically the plot would become so knotted and complex he would lose all of us. "[4]

After his death, almost all of Ford's work was out of print. The rights to his work had reverted to his legal heirs, but no one had managed to get in touch with them. After an investigation by a journalist, Isaac Butler, Ford's editors atTor Bookswere able to reconnect with his family, and in November 2019 an agreement was reached to reissue all his published works, starting in 2020 withThe Dragon Waiting.[12]

Bibliography

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Books

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WithDarrell SchweitzerandGeorge H. Scithers,Ford co-authoredOn Writing Science Fiction (The Editors Strike Back!)(1981, Owlswick Press,ISBN0-913896-19-5;Wildside Press2000,ISBN1-880448-78-5), a writers' manual with advice illustrated by short stories that were first sales toIASFM.[15]

Short works and poetry

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  • "A Cup of Worrynot Tea" inLiavek: The Players of Luck(1986, edited byEmma BullandWill Shetterly)
  • "Green Is the Color", "Eel Island Shoals" (song), "Pot-Boil Blues" (song) inLiavek: Wizard's Row(1987, edited byEmma BullandWill Shetterly)
  • "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station" (inInvitation to Camelot,edited byParke Godwin)
  • "Riding the Hammer" inLiavek: Spells of Binding(1988, edited byEmma BullandWill Shetterly)
  • "The Grand Festival: Sestina" (poem), "Divination Day: Invocation" (poem), "Birth Day: Sonnet" (poem), "Procession Day/Remembrance Night: Processional/Recessional" (poem), "Bazaar Day: Ballad" (poem), "Festival Day: Catechism" (poem), "Restoration Day: Plainsong" inLiavek: Festival Week(1990, edited byEmma BullandWill Shetterly)
  • "Scrabble with God", IASFM October 1985, reprinted inFrom the End of the Twentieth Century

Other published works

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Games

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Awards

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Nominations

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References

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  1. ^"John Milo Ford, September 25, 2006".United States Social Security Death Index.RetrievedFebruary 16,2013– viaFamilySearch.
  2. ^abMatthesen, Elise (September 25, 2006)."John M. Ford, 1957–2006".Making Light.
  3. ^Shetterly, Will(February 2005)."An Introduction to John M. Ford".player.org.Archived fromthe originalon October 4, 2006.
  4. ^abcdeVezner, Tad (October 28, 2006)."Crafters of sci-fi attend obscure writer's eulogy: Peers laud Minneapolis author for his unpredictable works".St. Paul Pioneer Press.Archived fromthe originalon September 29, 2007.(Discussion by fansof the article and a few factual errors in it.)
  5. ^Ashley, Mike(2000).Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980.Liverpool University Press.p. 21.ISBN9781846310034.RetrievedMay 2,2019.
  6. ^Kelly, James Patrick(April 2003)."On the Net: Frequent Fliers".Asimov's.Archived fromthe originalon August 6, 2006.(See alsoFord's entriesArchivedApril 30, 2007, at theWayback Machinein theAsimov'sindex.)
  7. ^"Ford's comment at a" four things "meme blogpost".Making Light.December 25, 2005.
  8. ^Matthesen, Elise(October 2, 2006)."The John M. Ford Book Endowment".Honour Your Inner Magpie.Archived fromthe originalon April 25, 2015.RetrievedApril 29,2015.
  9. ^abcSleight, Graham (April 15, 2012)."Graham Sleight's Yesterday's Tomorrows: John M. Ford".Locus Online.
  10. ^abShannon Appelcline (2011).Designers & Dragons.Mongoose Publishing.ISBN978-1-907702-58-7.
  11. ^Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1993).The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.London: Orbit Books.
  12. ^Butler, Isaac (November 15, 2019)."The Disappearance of John M. Ford".Slate.RetrievedJanuary 27,2020.
  13. ^"From the End of the Twentieth Century".NESFA Press.August 5, 2006.RetrievedApril 5,2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^"Aspects".Macmillan.RetrievedSeptember 7,2021.
  15. ^On Writing Science Fiction (The Editors Strike Back!).WorldCat.1981.OCLC7885690.
  16. ^"Against Entropy".January 20, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon January 5, 2011.
  17. ^Cazaux, Jean-Louis (November 24, 2001)."Klin Zha".chessvariants.
  18. ^"1998 Minnesota Book Awards Nominees and Winners".St. Paul, MN:The Minnesota Humanities Commission. Archived fromthe originalon August 19, 2002.

Further reading

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Texts by Ford online

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About Ford

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