Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels '' The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ''

The Tripods ''The Tripods'' is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Synopsis The story of ''The Tripods'' ...

''. He won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1971 and the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

in 1976. Youd also wrote under variations of his own name and under the pseudonyms Stanley Winchester, Hilary Ford, William Godfrey, William Vine, Peter Graaf, Peter Nichols, and Anthony Rye.

Biography

Sam Youd was born in

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...

, Lancashire (though

Youd Youd is an English surname mostly found in Cheshire and Flintshire. Over 40 variants of the surname were recorded in the 16th and 17th century, some examples are: Yewd, Yeud, Yeoud, Yowd, Yeowed, Yowood, Eude, Eaude, Ewd, Hude, Hewde etc. Today ...

is an old Cheshire surname). Youd was educated at Peter Symonds' School in

Winchester, Hampshire Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Londo ...

, then served in the Royal Corps of Signals from 1941 to 1946. A scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation made it possible for him to pursue a writing career, beginning with ''The Winter Swan'' (Dennis Dobson, 1949), published under the name Christopher Youd. He wrote science fiction short stories as John Christopher from 1951, and his first book under that name was ''The Twenty-Second Century'', a collection of science fiction stories; a few of the stories included had first appeared in magazines under the name Sam Youd. His first science fiction novel, ''Year of the Comet'', was published by Michael Joseph in 1955, also under the name John Christopher. His second novel under the Christopher pseudonym, '' The Death of Grass'' (Michael Joseph, 1956) was Youd's first major success as a writer. It was published in the United States the following year as ''No Blade of Grass'' (Simon & Schuster, 1957). An American magazine published ''Year of the Comet'' later that year and it was issued in 1959 as an Avon paperback entitled ''Planet in Peril''. Youd continued to use the pen name John Christopher for the majority of his writing and all of his science fiction . ''The Death of Grass'' has been reissued many times, most recently in the Penguin Modern Classics (2009). In 1966 Youd started writing science fiction for

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majo ...

, using the name John Christopher in every case.

trilogy (1967–68), ''

The Lotus Caves ''The Lotus Caves'' is a Young adult literature, juvenile science fiction novel by Samuel Youd, John Christopher, first published in 1969. It is clearly inspired by the Lotus-eaters of Greek Mythology. Plot synopsis Two teenage boys, Marty and ...

'' (1969), '' The Guardians'' (1970) and the '' Sword of the Spirits'' trilogy (1971–72) were all well received. He won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for ''The Guardians''. In 1976 he won the

, youth fiction category, for the same novel in its German translation, ''Die Wächter''. In 1946 he married Joyce Fairbairn, with whom he had five children (one son and four daughters). He divorced in 1978, marrying Jessica Ball. Youd lived for many years in

Rye, East Sussex is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederati ...

but died in Bath, Somerset, on 3 February 2012 of complications from bladder cancer.

Film and television adaptations

'' The Death of Grass'' was adapted as a film by

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

under its American title, '' No Blade of Grass'' (1970). ''

'' was partially developed into a British TV series. '' Empty World'' was developed into a 1987 TV movie in Germany, ''Leere Welt''. '' The Guardians'' was made into a 1986 TV series in Germany, '' Die Wächter''. ''

'' was in development in 2007 as a film from Walden Media, to have been directed by Rpin Suwannath. Later, in 2013, a TV pilot based loosely on ''The Lotus Caves'' was developed by Bryan Fuller and titled ''High Moon''. The pilot did not get picked up as a series, but was released on SyFy and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

in 2014.

Bibliography

Except where stated otherwise, all items listed are novels or novellas published as books. Satellite science fiction 195708

John Christopher

* '' The Twenty-Second Century'' (1954) (short story collection) * '' The Year of the Comet'' ( Michael Joseph, 1955); US title, ''Planet in Peril'' (Avon, 1959)"John Christopher – Summary Bibliography"

ISFDB The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

. Retrieved 2 August 2012. * '' The Death of Grass'' (Michael Joseph, 1956); US title, ''No Blade of Grass'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1957) * '' The Caves of Night'' (1958) * '' A Scent of White Poppies'' (1959) * ''

The Long Voyage "The Long Voyage" is a New Year's Eve short story by Charles Dickens. It was originally published in the 31 December 1853 issue of '' Household Words'' magazine. Plot summary The story concerns a man alone on New Year's Eve, who loves to "sit by ...

'' (US title '' The White Voyage'', 1960) * '' The World in Winter'' (US title ''The Long Winter'', 1962) * '' Cloud on Silver'' (US title ''Sweeney's Island'', 1964) * '' The Possessors'' (1964) * '' A Wrinkle in the Skin'' (US title ''The Ragged Edge'', 1965) * '' The Little People'' (1966) * ''

'' trilogy (expanded to tetralogy, 1988) ** '' The White Mountains'' (1967) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK) *** 35th anniversary edition, with revised text and preface by author,

, (2003) ** '' The City of Gold and Lead'' (1967) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK) ** '' The Pool of Fire'' (1968) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK) ** '' When the Tripods Came'' ( prequel) (1988) * ''Pendulum'' (1968) * ''

'' (1969) Macmillan (US); Hamish Hamilton (UK) * '' The Guardians'' (1970) * The '' Sword of the Spirits'' trilogy ** '' The Prince In Waiting'' (1970) ** '' Beyond the Burning Lands'' (1971) ** '' The Sword of the Spirits'' (1972) *''In the Beginning''

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

(1972) * '' Dom and Va'' (1973) * '' Wild Jack'' (1974) * '' Empty World'' (1977) * The ''Fireball'' trilogy ** '' Fireball'' (1981),

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

, ** '' New Found Land'' (1983), Dutton (US), . Gollancz (UK), ** ''

Dragon Dance Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible ...

'' (1986) Dutton (US) ; Viking Kestrel (UK), * '' A Dusk of Demons'' (1993) * '' Bad Dream'' (2003)

Christopher Youd

* ''The Winter Swan'' (1949)

Samuel Youd

* ''Babel Itself'' (1951) * ''Brave Conquerors'' (1952) * ''Crown and Anchor'' (1953) * ''A Palace of Strangers'' (1954) * ''Holly Ash'' (US title ''The Opportunist'', 1955) * ''Giant's Arrow'' (1956); as Anthony Rye in the UK, Samuel Youd in the US * ''The Choice'' (UK title ''The Burning Bird'', 1961) * ''Messages of Love'' (1961) * ''The Summers at Accorn'' (1963)

William Godfrey

* ''Malleson at Melbourne'' (1956) - a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

novel, volume 1 of an unfinished trilogy * ''The Friendly Game'' (1957) - volume 2 of the trilogy

William Vine

* "Death Sentence" (short story), ''Imagination Science Fiction'', June 1953 * "Explosion Delayed" (short story), ''Space Science Fiction'', July 1953

Peter Graaf

* ''Dust and the Curious Boy'' (1957); US title, ''Give the Devil His Due'' - volume 1 in the Joe Dust series * ''Daughter Fair'' (1958) - volume 2 in the Joe Dust series * ''The Sapphire Conference'' (1959) - volume 3 in the Joe Dust series * ''The Gull's Kiss'' (1962)

Hilary Ford

* ''Felix Walking'' (1958) * ''Felix Running'' (1959) * ''Bella on the Roof'' (1965) * ''A Figure in Grey'' (1973) * ''Sarnia'' (1974) * ''Castle Malindine'' (1975) * ''A Bride for Bedivere'' (1976)

Peter Nichols

* ''Patchwork of Death'' (1965)

Stanley Winchester

* ''The Practice'' (1968) * ''Men With Knives'' (1968); US title, ''A Man With a Knife'' * ''The Helpers'' (1970) * ''Ten Per Cent of Your Life'' (1973)

Short stories

Youd's first published story was "Dreamer" in the March 1941 ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

'', as C.S. Youd. He has had stories published in the magazines '' Astounding Science Fiction'', '' Science Fantasy'', '' Worlds Beyond Science-Fantasy Fiction'', '' New Worlds'', ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'', '' SF Digest'', ''

Future Science Fiction ''Future Science Fiction'' and ''Science Fiction Stories'' were two American science fiction magazines that were published under various names between 1939 and 1943 and again from 1950 to 1960. Both publications were edited by Charles Hornig fo ...

'', '' Space SF Digest'', '' Thrilling Wonder Stories'', '' Authentic Science Fiction'', '' Space Science Fiction'', '' Nebula Science Fiction'', '' Fantastic Universe'', '' Saturn Science Fiction'', ''

Orbit Science Fiction ''Orbit Science Fiction'' was an American science fiction magazine anthology published in 1953 and 1954 by the Hanro Corporation. Only 5 issues were published, each of which were edited by Donald A. Wollheim, although Jules Saltman was credite ...

'', '' Fantastic Story Magazine'', '' If: Worlds of Science Fiction'', '' Worlds of Science Fiction'' (UK), '' Argosy'' (UK), ''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'', '' Beyond Infinity''

Serializations

''No Blade of Grass'' was serialized in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' in 1957. ''Caves of Night'' was serialized in '' John Bull Magazine'' in 1958. ''The Little People'' was serialized in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'' in 1967.

Anthologies

*''The Best SF Stories'' 3rd Series by Grayson & Grayson (1953) *''Avon Science fiction and Fantasy Reader #1'' (1953) *''The Twenty-Second Century'' Grayson & Grayson (1954) *''Gateway To Tomorrow'' edited by

John Carnell Edward John Carnell (8 April 1912 – 23 March 1972) was a British science fiction editor known for editing '' New Worlds'' in 1946 then from 1949 to 1963. He also edited ''Science Fantasy'' from the 1950s. After the magazines were sold to anoth ...

, published by

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

(1963) *''Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader No. 2'' *''The Best Science Fiction Stories Third Series'' edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty *''The Tenth Pan Book of Horror Stories'', edited by Herbert Van Thal (1969) *''Young Winter’s Tales'' No. 2, ed. M. R. Hodgkin, London: Macmillan (1971) *''In Time to Come'', Topliner (1973) *''The Best of British SF 1''

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, its parent ...

(1977) *''The Random House Book of Science Fiction Stories''

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(1997) () *''The Young Oxford Book of Nasty Endings'', (1997), edited by Dennis Pepper,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

References

External links

* *
The SYLE Press
publishing the novels of Sam Youd

Sam Youd family history

John Christopher
at ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

''
Obituary
at '' Locus Magazine''
John Christopher obituary
by

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian era novel ...

John Christopher Obituary
by Christopher Priest, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''
Obituary
by Paul Vitello, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Interview with John Christopher
Colin Brockhurst, 1999 * of works by John Christopher, linked to records under six other names {{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, John 1922 births 2012 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British children's writers British science fiction writers Deaths from cancer in England Cricket historians and writers Deaths from bladder cancer Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners Royal Corps of Signals soldiers 20th-century British novelists English male novelists