John D. Clark
Encyclopedia
John Drury Clark, Ph.D. (August 15, 1907-July 6, 1988) was a noted American
rocket fuel developer, chemist
, and science fiction
writer and fan. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's
Conan
stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp
, Fletcher Pratt
, and other authors.
, Alaska
. He attended the University of Alaska, and then received a B.S. at the California Institute of Technology
at Pasadena
, California
in the 1920s, where he was the college roommate of L. Sprague de Camp
. He received an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, and, in 1934, a PhD from Stanford University
. He moved to upstate New York
in the early 1930s, and was living in Philadelphia in 1943. On June 7, 1943, he married operatic soprano Mildred Baldwin. In 1962 he married Inga Pratt
, widow of Fletcher Pratt
, and he dedicated his book Ignition! to her.
In 1933 Clark published a novel spiral chart of the periodic system of the chemical elements. This design was used by Life Magazine for a striking and influential illustration as part of a special number on the elements, 16 May 1949. It inspired the artist Edgar Longman, whose mural was a prominent exhibit in the Festival of Britain
science exhibition, London
, 1951. Clark came up with a new version in 1950, but this has not had the same success.
Clark was working as a research chemist for John Wyeth & Brother of Philadelphia in 1943. From 1949, until his retirement in 1970, Clark developed liquid propellants at the Naval Air Rocket Test Station at Dover
, New Jersey
(after 1960, this became the Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory of Picatinny Arsenal). His title there was chief chemist. He was the author of Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants (1972), which chronicles the development of liquid rocket technology in the United States through both technical explanations of the work scientists performed and also anecdotes about the people involved and the often humorous incidents which took place. Now out of print, copies of this rare book sell for over $400.
In his later years Clark lived in the Green Pond section of Rockaway Township, Morris County
, New Jersey. He died after a long illness at St. Clare's Hospital in Denville
, New Jersey on July 6, 1988. His papers, consisting of four cubic feet of correspondence, drafts of scientific and science fiction publications, notes, an unpublished typescript memoir, diaries (1923–1984), clippings, and photos, are preserved in the Special Collections at Virginia Tech
as part of that repository's Archives of American Aerospace Exploration.
, Clark became friendly with several figures who were or would become authors in both fields, including P. Schuyler Miller
, Fletcher Pratt
, and L. Ron Hubbard
.
fantasies of Kull, Conan
and Solomon Kane
in the magazine Weird Tales
. Together with Miller he worked out an outline of Conan's career and a map of the world in Howard's invented Hyborian Age
in early 1936 from the then-published stories. Miller sent this material to Howard, whose reply confirmed and corrected their findings. Their revised outline, "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career," was published in the fanzine
The Hyborian Age in 1938.
Thus established as an authority on Conan, Clark was invited to provide introductions for the first book editions of Howard's Conan stories, published by Gnome Press
in the 1950s. Expanded versions of his and Miller's essay on Conan, retitled "An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian," appeared in the Gnome volume The Coming of Conan
in 1953 and (revised by de Camp) in the fanzine Amra
, vol. 2, no. 4, in 1959. It was the source of the linking passages between the individual Conan stories in both the Gnome editions and the Lancer
paperback editions of the 1960s.
Clark and Miller's Hyborian Age map, together with Howard's own original, are the basis of those published in the Gnome, Lancer, and later editions of the stories.
Clark furthered de Camp's career in another way by introducing him into Fletcher Pratt's war-gaming circle, and to Pratt himself, in 1939. De Camp and Pratt went on to write some of the most celebrated light fantasy of the 1940s, the Harold Shea and Gavagan's Bar
stories.
Clark also provided L. Ron Hubbard with the germ for his humorous fantasy novella The Case of the Friendly Corpse, published in the August 1941 issue of Unknown. According to de Camp, in the 1930s Clark and a friend named Mark Baldwin had "concocted a prospectus for an imaginary College of the Unholy Names" in the 1930s, which Clark lent to Hubbard in 1941. Hubbard then built his story around the setting.
Clark's marriage in 1944 led to the establishment of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders
, founded in that year by Pratt. As the new Mrs. Clark was reportedly unpopular with Pratt and others of his friends, the club gave them an excuse to spend time with him without her. The Trap Door Spiders later served as the model for Isaac Asimov
's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers
. Clark himself was fictionalized as the James Drake character.
In 1952 Clark apparently provided the scenario for the Twayne Science Fiction Triplet The Petrified Planet, postulating a world whose description was then used as the basis for the three novellas by Pratt, H. Beam Piper
and Judith Merril
forming the body of the work. An excerpt from Clark's introduction ("The Silicone World") was reissued in the December, 1952 issue of Startling Stories
, and the whole was reprinted in the 1983 Ace
edition of Piper's contribution to the book, Uller Uprising. However, the Startling Stories excerpt has also been credited to Pratt, who supposedly utilized Clark's name as a pseudonym
.
Isaac Asimov wrote the foreword to Clark's Ignition! - they had first met in 1942.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rocket fuel developer, chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
, and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer and fan. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
Conan
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
, Fletcher Pratt
Fletcher Pratt
Murray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...
, and other authors.
Life and career
Clark was born in FairbanksFairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. He attended the University of Alaska, and then received a B.S. at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
at Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the 1920s, where he was the college roommate of L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
. He received an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, and, in 1934, a PhD from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He moved to upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the early 1930s, and was living in Philadelphia in 1943. On June 7, 1943, he married operatic soprano Mildred Baldwin. In 1962 he married Inga Pratt
Inga Stephens Pratt Clark
Inga Marie Stephens Pratt Clark was an American artist and book illustrator, who with her husband Fletcher Pratt was at the center of a circle of New York literary figures during the 20th Century....
, widow of Fletcher Pratt
Fletcher Pratt
Murray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...
, and he dedicated his book Ignition! to her.
In 1933 Clark published a novel spiral chart of the periodic system of the chemical elements. This design was used by Life Magazine for a striking and influential illustration as part of a special number on the elements, 16 May 1949. It inspired the artist Edgar Longman, whose mural was a prominent exhibit in the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
science exhibition, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1951. Clark came up with a new version in 1950, but this has not had the same success.
Clark was working as a research chemist for John Wyeth & Brother of Philadelphia in 1943. From 1949, until his retirement in 1970, Clark developed liquid propellants at the Naval Air Rocket Test Station at Dover
Dover, New Jersey
Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey on the Rockaway River. Dover is west of New York City and west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the United States Census, 2000, the town's population was 18,188.-Geography:...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
(after 1960, this became the Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory of Picatinny Arsenal). His title there was chief chemist. He was the author of Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants (1972), which chronicles the development of liquid rocket technology in the United States through both technical explanations of the work scientists performed and also anecdotes about the people involved and the often humorous incidents which took place. Now out of print, copies of this rare book sell for over $400.
In his later years Clark lived in the Green Pond section of Rockaway Township, Morris County
Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the United States 2010 Census, the population was 492,276. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown....
, New Jersey. He died after a long illness at St. Clare's Hospital in Denville
Denville, New Jersey
Denville is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 16,635. Denville is known as the "Hub of Morris County" for its location along major transportation routes at the center of the county...
, New Jersey on July 6, 1988. His papers, consisting of four cubic feet of correspondence, drafts of scientific and science fiction publications, notes, an unpublished typescript memoir, diaries (1923–1984), clippings, and photos, are preserved in the Special Collections at Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
as part of that repository's Archives of American Aerospace Exploration.
Literary career and influence
As a fan of the science fiction and fantasy magazines of the pulp eraPulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
, Clark became friendly with several figures who were or would become authors in both fields, including P. Schuyler Miller
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
, Fletcher Pratt
Fletcher Pratt
Murray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...
, and L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
.
Clark and Conan
Clark first encountered Robert E. Howard'sRobert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
fantasies of Kull, Conan
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
and Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. A late 16th / early 17th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a sombre-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanquish evil in all its forms...
in the magazine Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
. Together with Miller he worked out an outline of Conan's career and a map of the world in Howard's invented Hyborian Age
Hyborian Age
The Hyborian Age is a fictional period within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, in which the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian are set....
in early 1936 from the then-published stories. Miller sent this material to Howard, whose reply confirmed and corrected their findings. Their revised outline, "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career," was published in the fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
The Hyborian Age in 1938.
Thus established as an authority on Conan, Clark was invited to provide introductions for the first book editions of Howard's Conan stories, published by Gnome Press
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics.The company was founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle. Many of Gnome's titles were reprinted in England by Boardman Books...
in the 1950s. Expanded versions of his and Miller's essay on Conan, retitled "An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian," appeared in the Gnome volume The Coming of Conan
The Coming of Conan
The Coming of Conan is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his seminal sword and sorcery heroes Kull and Conan the Barbarian, together with the first part of his pseudo-history of the "Hyborian Age" in which the Conan tales were set...
in 1953 and (revised by de Camp) in the fanzine Amra
Amra
Amra are the name of certain ancient Irish elegies or panegyrics on native saints. The best known is the Amra of Coluimb Cille...
, vol. 2, no. 4, in 1959. It was the source of the linking passages between the individual Conan stories in both the Gnome editions and the Lancer
Lancer Books
Lancer Books was a series of paperback books published from 1961 through 1973 by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularly its series of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian tales, the...
paperback editions of the 1960s.
Clark and Miller's Hyborian Age map, together with Howard's own original, are the basis of those published in the Gnome, Lancer, and later editions of the stories.
Clark and the science fiction community
While unemployed in the mid-1930s Clark wrote a couple of science fiction stories, with plotting assistance from L. Sprague de Camp, which were published in Astounding Stories in 1937. While he himself wrote no more science fiction, this experience prompted de Camp to launch his own career as a science fiction writer, first with short stories and then with a novel in collaboration with their mutual friend Miller.Clark furthered de Camp's career in another way by introducing him into Fletcher Pratt's war-gaming circle, and to Pratt himself, in 1939. De Camp and Pratt went on to write some of the most celebrated light fantasy of the 1940s, the Harold Shea and Gavagan's Bar
Tales from Gavagan's Bar
Tales from Gavagan's Bar is a collection of short stories by science fiction and fantasy authors L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, illustrated by the latter's wife Inga Pratt...
stories.
Clark also provided L. Ron Hubbard with the germ for his humorous fantasy novella The Case of the Friendly Corpse, published in the August 1941 issue of Unknown. According to de Camp, in the 1930s Clark and a friend named Mark Baldwin had "concocted a prospectus for an imaginary College of the Unholy Names" in the 1930s, which Clark lent to Hubbard in 1941. Hubbard then built his story around the setting.
Clark's marriage in 1944 led to the establishment of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders
Trap Door Spiders
The Trap Door Spiders are a literary male-only eating, drinking, and arguing society in New York City, with a membership historically composed of notable science fiction personalities...
, founded in that year by Pratt. As the new Mrs. Clark was reportedly unpopular with Pratt and others of his friends, the club gave them an excuse to spend time with him without her. The Trap Door Spiders later served as the model for Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers
Black Widowers
The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories which he started writing in 1971...
. Clark himself was fictionalized as the James Drake character.
In 1952 Clark apparently provided the scenario for the Twayne Science Fiction Triplet The Petrified Planet, postulating a world whose description was then used as the basis for the three novellas by Pratt, H. Beam Piper
H. Beam Piper
Henry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales.He wrote under the name H. Beam Piper...
and Judith Merril
Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman , who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist....
forming the body of the work. An excerpt from Clark's introduction ("The Silicone World") was reissued in the December, 1952 issue of Startling Stories
Startling Stories
Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
, and the whole was reprinted in the 1983 Ace
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
edition of Piper's contribution to the book, Uller Uprising. However, the Startling Stories excerpt has also been credited to Pratt, who supposedly utilized Clark's name as a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
.
Isaac Asimov wrote the foreword to Clark's Ignition! - they had first met in 1942.
Science fiction
- "Minus Planet," published in Astounding Science Fiction, Apr 1937.
- "Space Blister," published in Astounding Science Fiction, Aug 1937.
Nonfiction
- "A new periodic chart", Journal of Chemical Education, 10,675-657 (1933).
- "A modern periodic chart of chemical elements", Science, 111, 661-663 (1950).
- "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career," with P. Schuyler Miller, published in The Hyborian Age (1938).
- "Introduction" to The Petrified Planet (1952) (reused for Uller Uprising, by H. Beam Piper (1983)).
- "The Silicone World", published in Startling Stories, December 1952.
- "An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian," with P. Schuyler Miller, published in The Coming of Conan (1953).
- "An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian," with P. Schuyler Miller and L. Sprague de Camp, published in Amra, vol. 2, no. 4, (1959).
- "Science Fact: Dimensions, Anyone?" published in Analog Science Fiction - Science Fact, November 1966.