Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He was married to author

Janet Morris Janet Ellen Morris (May 25, 1946 – August 10, 2024) was an American author of fiction and nonfiction, best known for her fantasy and science fiction and her authorship of a non-lethal weapons concept for the U.S. military. Background Writing ...

until her death in 2024. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, a shortened form of his name, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.

Background

Chris Morris began writing music in 1966, fiction in 1984, and nonfiction in 1989. Much of his fiction and nonfiction literary work, including all of his book-length science fiction and fantasy, has been written in collaboration with his wife ''

'', with whom he also wrote two novels under the joint pseudonym of Daniel Stryker and one novel under the pseudonym of Casey Prescott. He has contributed short fiction to the

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers (or other artists) independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, charact ...

series ''

Thieves' World Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by science fiction and fantasy authors Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, ...

'', '' Heroes in Hell'', and '' Merovingen Nights''. He also co-authored with Janet Morris five titles in '' The Sacred Band of Stepsons'' saga. Chris Morris has also authored song lyrics and melodies. Notably, Chris served as chief songwriter, singer, and leader of the "Christopher Morris Band", formed in 1976, whose first members were Chris Morris, Janet Morris, Leslie Kuipers and Vince Colaiuta. The first "Christoper Morris Band" album, produced by

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

of Blood, Sweat and Tears fame and featuring the

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted ...

horn section, was titled the ''Christoper Morris Band'' (MCA 2282), and released by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

in 1977. The album's nine songs, all of which are sung by Morris, included eight songs written or co-written by him. The ''Christopher Morris Band'' album was reviewed by Ken Tucker in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. and in GIG Magazine. The ''Christopher Morris Band'' album was also one of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s "Top Album Picks" (7/16/77) and listed by WBCN Boston as among WBCN's "52 Heaviest Records for 1977." The ''Christopher Morris Band'' album was also reviewed in ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'', July 23, 1977. The Christopher Morris Band was reviewed after their first major live performance as a headliner in ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' by Tom Long. Previous to that, Chris Morris was the band leader, and the original Christopher Morris Band was the core back-up band, for Al Kooper's 1976-1977 "Act Like Nothing's Wrong" national tour. In the realm of nonfiction writing, Chris Morris has authored books and articles on military and defense matters in collaboration with Janet Morris and others. Chris Morris served as Research Director and Senior Fellow (1989–1994) at the United States Global Strategy Council, as well as Adjunct Fellow at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

(1993–1995). At USGSC, Morris co-authored the nonlethal weapons concept and the seminal paper, ''Nonlethality: A Global Strategy'', and co-led the USGSC's Nonlethality Policy Review Group. Events surrounding Morris's work in the nonlethal weapons area are chronicled in Chapter 15 of ''War and Anti-War'', by

Alvin Toffler Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on th ...

and Heidi Toffler, (Little, Brown, 1993). In 1998-1999, Chris Morris was a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Technologies and his views are reflected in the associated report, ''Nonlethal Technologies: Progress and Prospects'',

, 1999. He served in 2003-2004 as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Weapons,

Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Weapons, which produced the report ''Nonlethal Weapons and Capabilities'' in 2004.

Fiction Bibliography

Thieves' World shared universe

*"What Women Do Best" (1984) (with Janet Morris) in ''Blood Ties'', Asprin & Abbey, ed. *"Red Light, Love Light" (1988) in ''Uneasy Alliances'', Asprin & Abbey, ed.

The Sacred Band of Stepsons saga

*''City at the Edge of Time'' (1988) (with Janet Morris) *''Tempus Unbound'' (1989) (with Janet Morris) *''Storm Seed'' (1990) (with Janet Morris) *''The Sacred Band'' (2010) (with Janet Morris) *''The Fish the Fighters and the Song-girl'' (2010) (with Janet Morris)

Heroes in Hell

*'' The Little Helliad'' (1988) (with Janet Morris)

Threshold

*''

Threshold Threshold may refer to: Science Biology * Threshold (reference value) * Absolute threshold * Absolute threshold of hearing * Action potential * Aerobic threshold * Anaerobic threshold * Dark adaptation threshold * Epidemic threshold * Flicke ...

'' (1990) (with Janet Morris) *'' Trust Territory'' (1992) (with Janet Morris) *'' The Stalk'' (1994) (with Janet Morris)

Merovingen Nights

*''Festival Moon'' (1987) (with Janet Morris) *''Fever Season'' (1987) *''Troubled Waters'' (1988) *''Divine Right'' (1989) *''Flood Tide'' (1990) (with Janet Morris) *''Endgame'' (1991) (with Janet Morris)

Other novels

*''The 40-Minute War'' (1984) (with Janet Morris) *''Medusa'' (1986) (with Janet Morris) *''Outpassage'' (1988) (with Janet Morris) *''Hawkeye'' (1991) (with Janet Morris, as by Daniel Stryker) *''Cobra'' (1991) (with Janet Morris, as by Daniel Stryker) *''Asset In Black'' (1985) (with Janet Morris, as Casey Prescott)

Short stories

*“Cross-Currents“ (1984) *“What Women Do Best“ (1984) (with Janet Morris) *"Undercover Angel" (1986) *“Sanctuary Is for Lovers“ (1986) (with Janet Morris) *"Son of the Morning" (1986) *“The Shattered Sphere“ (1986) *"Snowballs in Hell" (1987) *"The Nature of Hell" (1987) (with Janet Morris) *"Sword Play" (1987) (with Janet Morris) *"Night Action" (1987) *"Hearts and Minds" (1987) *"Handmaids in Hell" (1987) *"The Ransom of Hellcat" (1987) *"Saying Yes to Drugs" (1987) *“Battle for the Plain of Just Desserts“ (1988) (with Janet Morris) *"Sign On" (1988) *"Mystery" (1988) (with Janet Morris) *“Red Light, Love Light“ (1988) *“Eye of a Needle“ (1989) *"Postpartum Blues (1989) *"Rapproachment" (1990) (with Janet Morris) *“The Price of Victory“ (1990) *"Escape from Merovingen: Finale in Two Acts - Act One: The Fool Must Die" (1991) (with Janet Morris) *"Escape from Merovingen: Finale in Two Acts - Act Two: Escape From Merovingen" (1991) (with Janet Morris) *"Escape from Merovingen (Act One Reprised)" (1991) (with Janet Morris) *"Escape from Merovingen (Act One Reprised) (#2)" (1991) (with Janet Morris) *"Interview with ''the'' Devil" (2011) (with Janet Morris) *"Erra and the Seven" (2011) *"Babe in Hell" (2012) (with Janet Morris) *"Battle of Tartaros" (2012) *"Fools in Hell" (2013) *"Alms for Oblivion" (2013) (with Janet Morris) *"Words" (2014) *"Seven Against Hell" (2014) (with Janet Morris) *The Black Sword" (2014) (with Janet Morris)

Select Non-Fiction Bibliography

*Nonlethality: A Global Strategy (1990, 2010) (with Janet Morris) *Weapons of Mass Protection (1995) (with Morris and Baines) *The American Warrior (1992) (Morris and Morris, ed.)

Discography

*Christopher Morris Band, (MCA 2282), 1977
Everybody Knows - Christopher Crosby Morris (Singing Horse), 2016

References

External links

Chris Morris entry at Fantastic Fiction
*

information on Chris Morris

Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force Report on Nonlethal Weapons

Nonlethality: A Global Strategy

Weapons of Mass Protection

Chris Morris interviewed by ''Zauberspiegel-Online Magazine'', 29 June 2011

Chris Morris (with

) interviewed by ''Zauberspiegel-Online Magazine'', 29 June 2011 * ww.youtube.com/watch?v=2EylzKQa4yg"Social Reconstruction through Historic Fiction: The Role of Literature in Envisioning Our Future." Chris Morris and Janet Morris presentation at the US ''Library of Congress'', reading and discussion, 25 June 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Chris 1946 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American science writers American military writers American technology writers American male composers 21st-century American composers American male singer-songwriters American lyricists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American male musicians