John Wyndham
(July 10, 1903 – March 11, 1969)
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, usually known professionally as John Wyndham, was UK SF writer active from the 1930s. Before World War Two, he published work as John Beynon Harris, John Beynon, Wyndham Parkes, Lucas Parkes and Johnson Harris.
He was not a fan per se, but he attended the Second British Convention in London in 1938 and pre-war pro/fan gatherings in the Red Bull pub. He regularly attended the Eastercons in the 1950s and 1960s and was a friend of British fandom. He was the (entirely honorary) President of Loncon.
William Temple wrote of Wyndham after a supper party during the Second British convention:
Woke up to find myself sitting at a table with John Beynon Harris and eyeing him blearily across a glass of brown ale. Apparently we had been discussing everything under the sun: Wells, the F.P.S.I.[1], Prof. Joad[2], the theory of physics and the practice of flat-hunting; music and typewriters, blues, slips, carpet tacks, Gamages[3] and things. John B. said he detested writing (like me – good!) and always sat down at his desk with a sinking feeling, and all through his labours kept trying to think of an excuse to stop and go out and have a cup of coffee. He's a fine conversationalist, full of amusing anecdotes, and a bit of a thinker too. I tried to get him to open up on the 'Wot's-the-use-of-living' philosophy he brought into 'Sleepers of Mars'. But he said it was only a passing mood that everyone gets sometimes. He thought 'The Venus Adventure' (Wonder, April 1932) the best of his yarns, and was rather contemptuous of 'The Secret People'. (I wasn't.) Arthur Clarke's Ego, closely followed by Arthur Clarke, entered the conversation here to agree that 'The Venus Adventure' was John B's best, and tried to tell of a scene in that story that always stuck in his mind. But he couldn't remember it.
He is particularly remembered today for his The Day of the Triffids. In the days before the Hugos, he promoted the International Fantasy Award.
| Person | 1903—1969 |
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- ↑ The Progressive League, founded by Wells and C. E. M. Joad.
- ↑ And thus presumably C. E. M. Joad.
- ↑ A London department store.
