Francis Marion Busby (March 11, 1921 – February 17, 2005) was an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer and

science fiction fan Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

. In 1960 he was a co-winner of the

Hugo Award for Best Fanzine The Hugo Award for Best Fanzine is given each year for non professionally edited magazines, or "fanzines", related to science fiction or fantasy which has published four or more issues with at least one issue appearing in the previous calendar y ...

Early life

Francis Busby was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, the son of Francis Marion Busby and Clara Nye Busby. The family settled in Colfax, in the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

during 1931 and Busby attended high school there. He subsequently attended

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

until he joined the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

. He was subsequently discharged and returned to college. He did not remain long, however, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 23, 1943, at

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

Career

Busby served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as part of the Alaska Communication System, assigned to the island of Amchitka. At the end of the war he was discharged from the Army and returned to college to graduate as an engineer. He subsequently returned to the Alaska Communication System to work in a civilian role based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In 1954 Busby married Elinor Doub, who was also a science fiction author. He had one daughter, Michele. Together with his wife and others he published a

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fan (aficionado), fans of the popular culture subject matter that it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one h ...

named '' Cry of the Nameless'' which won the

in 1960, making Elinor the first woman to win a Hugo. Busby continued to work for the Alaska Communication System until 1971, when the organization was sold to private industry and renamed RCA Alascom and he took early retirement from the company. From 1974 to 1976 Busby was Vice President of

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

. At the age of 50 he became a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

science-fiction author. He wrote 19 published novels and numerous short stories between 1973 and 1996.

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

in part dedicated his 1985 novel ''

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters. Plot summary A write ...

'' to Busby, and in part dedicated his 1982 novel ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

'' to Elinor. Busby ceased writing fiction some time after 1996, claiming in an email: How real the influence of the ''Thor Power Tool'' decision was on Busby's writing career is uncertain, considering a great many of his novels were written and published after it.

Illness and death

In November 2004 Busby was diagnosed with severe intestinal problems. He went into the Swedish Medical Center, Ballard Campus, for surgery and suffered complications. He underwent further surgery before being moved to Health and Rehabilitation of

, where he died on February 17, 2005.

Bibliography

Series

Demu

* 1. ''Cage a Man'' (1973) * "The Learning of Eeshta" (1973) - short story; also appeared in collection ''Getting Home'' (1987) * 2. ''The Proud Enemy'' (1975) * 3. ''End of the Line'' (1980) - not published separately, but only in ''The Demu Trilogy'' * ''The Demu Trilogy'' (omnibus) (1980) - includes all four titles (including first appearance of ''End of the Line'')

Rissa Kerguelen and Bran Tregare

=Rissa Kerguelen

= * ''Rissa Kerguelen'' (1976, later reissued as ''Young Rissa'' and ''Rissa and Tregare'') * ''Young Rissa'' * ''Rissa and Tregare'' * ''The Long View'' (1976) * ''Zelde M'Tana'' (1980) * ''Renalle Kerguelen'' (2015, Kindle only)

=Hulzein

= * ''The Star Rebel'' (1984) * ''Rebel's Quest'' (1984) * ''The Alien Debt'' (1984) * ''Rebel's Seed'' (1986) * ''The Rebel Dynasty - Volume I'' (omnibus) (1987) - Contains ''Star Rebel'' and ''Rebel's Quest'' * ''The Rebel Dynasty - Volume II'' (omnibus) (1988) - Contains ''The Alien Debt'' and ''Rebel's Seed''

Slow Freight

* ''Slow Freight'' (1991) * ''Arrow from Earth'' (1995) * ''The Triad Worlds'' (1996)

Non-series novels

* ''All These Earths'' (1978); book version of the following linked stories: ** "Pearsall's Return", ''If'', July/Aug. 1973 ** "Search", ''Amazing'', Dec. 1976 ** "Nobody Home", ''Amazing'', July 1977 ** "Never So Lost…", ''Amazing'', Oct. 1977 * ''The Breeds of Man'' (1988) * ''The Singularity Project'' (1993) * ''Islands of Tomorrow'' (1994)

Short-story collection

* ''Getting Home'' (1987) (for some stories, year of first appearance anywhere noted) :: "A Gun for Grandfather" :: "Of Mice and Otis" :: "The Puiss of Krrlik" :: "The Absence of Tom Leone" :: "Proof" :: "The Real World" :: "Tell Me All About Yourself" (1973) :: "Once Upon a Unicorn" (1973) :: "Road Map" :: "If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy" (1974) :: "Three Tinks on the House" :: "The Learning of Eeshta" - Part of the Demu series, and also included in ''The Demu Trilogy'' (1980) :: "I'm Going to Get You" (1974) :: "2000½: A Spaced Oddity" :: "Time of Need" :: "Retroflex" :: "Misconception" :: "The Signing of Tulip" :: "Advantage" :: "Getting Home"

Anthologies containing stories by Busby

His work appeared in the following anthologies: * ''Clarion III'' (1973) — "Road Map" * ''The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3'' (1974) – "Tell Me All About Yourself" * ''Universe 5'' (1975) – "If This Is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy" * ''100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories'' (1978) * ''The Best of New Dimensions'' (1979) * ''Universe 10'' (1980) – "First Person Plural" * ''Heroic Visions'' (1983) – "Before the Seas Came" * ''100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories'' (1984)

References

External links

*
F.M. Busby
in ''

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 Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

''
F. M. Busby on the Spacelight science fiction author database

on

fmbusby.com

(7.5 linear feet) housed at th
Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy
of the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, F.M. 1921 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers United States Army personnel of World War II Writers from Indianapolis People from Colfax, Washington Novelists from Indiana Novelists from Washington (state)