John Brian Francis "Jack" Gaughan, pronounced like 'gone' (September 24, 1930 – July 21, 1985), was an American science fiction artist and illustrator and multiple winner of the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

in the category of Best Professional Artist.

Career

John Brian Francis Gaughan was born September 24, 1930, in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, to James J. and Elizabeth Gaughan. Working primarily with Donald A. Wollheim at

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

, and

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

from 1971, his simple linear style brought to life images of such works as

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

's '' Witch World'' novels and E. E. Smith's '' Lensmen'' and ''Skylark'' novels (for which he did two related sets of Pyramid Books covers). His broad visual vocabulary enabled him to render the objects, spaceships and scenes in whatever was presented to him as they were described in the books and stories he illustrated. That was especially an accomplishment as many of these authors drew on their knowledge of esoteric subjects for their imagery. This ability made him very popular among people with an engineering background. During most of Ejler Jakobsson's tenure as editor of ''

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 Edi ...

'' from 1969 to 1974, Gaughan produced all of the illustration and much of the design that went on in the magazine. In addition, many of the books he did for Ace featured hand-lettered titled pages, frontispieces, or maps with Gaughan's distinctive calligraphy. One example is its 1966 edition of

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

's '' The Weirdstone of Brisingamen''. (Ace replaced the Gaughan cover illustration in its second printing, 1978.)

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

's 1967 anthology, '' The Fantastic Swordsmen'', included a Gaughan map before each of the eight collected stories. His maps also grace the Ace first editions of some ''Witch World'' novels – including the 1963 first edition of the first one – and Mark S. Geston's '' Lords of the Starship'' (title page and map). Gaughan illustrated the covers and hand-lettered title pages for the unauthorized first paperback edition of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', which Ace released in 1965. A illustration Gaughan did of

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

was also used at the cover art for Delany's 1988 autobiography '' The Motion of Light in Water''. Beside his professional work, he was a frequent contributor to SF fan magazines. In his heyday he was often nominated for

s for best professional artist and best fan artist. In 1967, he won both awards in the same year. '' Locus'' ran a column by him for a while. Gaughan died on July 21, 1985, in Springfield, Ohio. In his memory, the New England Science Fiction Association presents the annual Jack Gaughan Award for best emerging science fiction illustrator. Gaughan was posthumously inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2015.

References

External links

"Jack Gaughan"
by Ginger Kaderabek, article from ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

''
A piece of fan writing by Gaughan for the fanzine ''Alphecca''

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061113145912/http://users.telerama.com/~taliesen/tolkien/oop-lotr.html His work for the unauthorized Ace Books paperback volumes of ''The Lord of the Rings''
A gallery of Gaughan's illustrations for Fred Saberhagen's "Berserker" science fiction series
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaughan, Jack 1930 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American illustrators Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Hugo Award–winning artists American science fiction artists Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees Tolkien artists