American writer John Tomerlin died of a heart attack on November 25, aged 84. A close friend of the late Charles Beaumont and a core member of “The Group” in the 1950s (which also included Richard Matheson, William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson), he wrote several novels, including Run from the Hunter (with Beaumont, 1957) and The High Tower (1980). Tomerlin also scripted the classic Twilight Zone episode ‘Number 12 Looks Just Like You’, even though it is credited solely to Beaumont, whose story it is based on.
British author and parapsychologist Peter Underwood died on November 26, aged 91. A leading authority on Borley Rectory (“the most haunted house in England”), he published more than fifty books about ghost-hunting and the paranormal, along with The Vampire’s Bedside Companion: The Amazing World of Vampires in Fact and Fiction, Jack the Ripper—100 Years of Mystery, Favourite Tales of the Fantastical and Horror Man: The Life of Boris Karloff (aka Karloff: The Life of Boris Karloff, 1972), the first hardcover biography of the actor. Underwood was life president of the Ghost Club Society (founded in 1862) and president of the Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies, where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s daughter Jean would introduce him as “the Sherlock Holmes of psychical research”. His autobiography, No Common Task: The Autobiography of a Ghost Hunter, was published in 1983.
Hugo Award-winning fan artist Stu (Stuart) Shiffman died the same day, aged 60. Following various medical problems over the years, he had suffered a fall the previous month, from which he never regained consciousness after an operation. Shiffman was nominated for a Hugo in the Best Fan Artist category fourteen times, appearing on the ballot every year from 1979-86 and 1989-94. In the late 1970s he published the fanzine Raffles with Larry Carmody.
British crime and mystery writer P. (Phyllis) D. (Dorothy) James OBE (aka Baroness James of Holland Park) died on November 27, aged 94. Best known for her character of Scotland Yard Inspector “Adam Dalgliesh” in fifteen novels (1966-2008), she introduced murder to the sedate world of Jane Austen with Death Comes to Pemberley, while her 1992 SF novel Children of Men was filmed in 2006 starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen.
New Zealand-born Horror Writers Association president (2010-14) and Stephen King expert Rocky Wood died of complications from amyotophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in Melbourne, Australia, on December 1. He was 55. His non-fiction books include The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King, Stephen King: Uncollected Unpublished, The Stephen King Collector’s Guide, Stephen King: The Non-Fiction and the Bram Stoker Award-winning Stephen King: A Literary Companion. Wood assisted King with research on Doctor Sleep, the author’s sequel to The Shining, and he also wrote the Stoker Award-winning non-fiction graphic novel Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times. The HWA announced the formation of the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writers.
Commercial space artist Roy G. Scarfo, who was creative art director at the General Electric Space Technology Center and illustrator/consultant for NASA, Voice of America, the U.S. Senate and others, died of pancreatic cancer on December 8, aged 88. He collaborated with such scientists and authors as Wernher von Braun, Isaac Asimov and Willy Ley, and his illustrations appeared in more than forty books, most notably Dandridge M. Cole’s Beyond Tomorrow: The Next Fifty Years in Space (1964). Scarfo was a fellow and trustee of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.
American author Donald Moffitt died on December 10, aged 83. He made his SF debut in 1960 in Fantastic, and his novels include The Jupiter Theft, The Genesis Quest, Crescent in the Sky, A Gathering of Stars and Jovian. Under the pen name “Paul Kenyon” he also wrote the Modesty Blaise-inspired “Baroness” series of eight spy novels (1974-75).
American attorney and literary agent Sidney Kramer died the same day, aged 99. The co-founder of Bantam Books and, later, New American Library, he famously refused to publish Richard Nixon’s biography “because we thought he was a rascal”.
American animation inker and painter Martha [Goldman] Sigall died on December 13, aged 97. During her fifty-three year career, she worked on many classic “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons before moving over to MGM studios. Her autobiography, Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation, was published in 2005.
French journalist Michel Caen, co-founder and editor-in-chief (with Alain Le Bris) of the influential magazine Midi-Minuit Fantastique, died on December 15, aged 72. Midi-Minuit Fantastique ran for only twenty-four issues from 1962-71, but it influenced many publications that came after it, including Cinefantastique and Video Watchdog. Caen also wrote for Cahiers du Cinema.
Spanish publisher, editor and translator Francisco Porrú a died on December 18, aged 92. His genre imprint Ediciones Minotauro published his own translations (under various pseudonyms) of The Lord of the Rings, The Martian Chronicles, The Left Hand of Darkness and many other titles. Between 1964-68, Porrúa published and edited ten issues of Minotauro (Minotaur), which took its contents from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
68-year-old American children’s author Robert [Daniel] San Souci died on December 19 after suffering a head injury due to a fall in San Francisco earlier in the week. His retellings of supernatural folktales included Short & Shivery: Thirty Chilling Tales, More Short & Shivery: Thirty Terrifying Tales, Even More Short & Shivery: Thirty Spine-Tingling Tales, A Terrifying Taste of Short & Shivery: Thirty Creepy Tales, Dare to be Scared: Thirteen Stories to Chill and Thrill and Haunted Houses (Are You Scared Yet?). San Souci also wrote picture books (often illustrated by his brother Daniel), including Young Merlin, N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims and Cinderella Skeleton, and he created the original story for Walt Disney’s Mulan, for which he also acted as consultant.
American writer, film historian and teacher Mark A. (Andrew) Miller died of cancer on December 24, aged 58. His special interest in post-war British cinema led to articles in Filmfax and Shivers magazines and the reference works Christopher Lee and Peter Cusing and Horror Cinema: A Filmography of Their 22 Collaborations and The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948-2003 (with Tom Johnson). Miller also wrote “The Druid Legacy” fantasy fiction trilogy.
American alternate history author [Joseph] Robert Conroy died of cancer on December 30, aged 76. His novels include the Sidewise Award-winning 1942.