Convention NotebookInformation about Jack L. Chalker Jack L.Chalker is the internationally known author of over fifty science fiction and fantasy novels. Much of his work is now in over 25 languages. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 17, 1944. While still in high school, he began writing for the amateur science fiction press and in 1960 he launched the Hugo-nominated amateur magazine, Mirage. A year later he founded Mirage Press, which grew into a major specialty publisher of nonfiction and reference books on science fiction and fantasy. His first novel, A Jungle of Stars was published in 1976 and he became a full-time novelist two years later with the major popular success of Midnight at the Well of Souls. He was a Special Forces Air Commando during the Vietnam War period but never served west of Amarillo. He is the first to note that no Viet Cong penetrated east of Albuquerque while he was stationed there. He was, however, in the war—his TDY duty tour in Vietnam lasted a bit over 4 hours, but he received the ribbon and combat pay. Although he has a strong science background, his degrees are in history and English. With a graduate specialty in the "History of Ideas", he states that he is a certified expert in isms and ologies. He has taught history on the high school and college levels and is or has been a lecturer at The Smithsonian, the National Institutes of Health and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on Science Fiction and technology subjects. Aside from the usual kid occupations, he’s been a professional typesetter, a sound engineer for outdoor rock concerts, an audio and computer reviewer, a free-lance editor, a publisher, a book packager, an Air National Guard Information Director, a new and used book dealer and a teacher. He is a passionate lover of steamboats, in particular ferryboats and has ridden more than three hundred ferries in the United States and elsewhere. Other interests include travel, national parks and monuments, consumer electronics, politics, history, the space program, printing and publishing, boo collecting (probably a typo on his website, but who knows? Interesting, ask him.) OddCon Home | 2001 Con Report| 2001 Program List | 2001 Survey | GOH Chalker Bio | GOH Vinge Bio Last Updated 10/17/2001 All contents, Copyright 2001 Odyssey Convention. Odyssey Con (Odd Con) is the trademark of non-profit Odyssey Convention. |