John Steakley

John Steakley
Born (1951-07-26)July 26, 1951
Cleburne, Texas
Died November 27, 2010(2010-11-27) (aged 59)
McKinney, Texas
Occupation Writer
Nationality USA
Genre Science fiction, Horror

John William Steakley, Jr. (July 26, 1951 – November 27, 2010)[1] was an American author, best known for his science fiction writing.[2] He published two major novels, Armor (1984)[3] and Vampire$ (1990); the latter was the basis for John Carpenter's Vampires movie.[4] He published four short science fiction and fantasy stories.[5]

Background

Born in Cleburne, Texas, Steakley lived most of his life in Texas, aside from brief spells in South America and Hollywood in his youth. Steakley's father owned a Chevrolet dealership in Dallas from 1962 until he sold it in 1999.[6][7] Steakley attended St. Mark's School and graduated from Colorado Academy, a boarding school in Denver. He then went on to study at Westminster College in Missouri, and at Southern Methodist University, where he received his BA in English.[8]

In 1988, Steakley married photographer Lori Jones; they held their wedding reception in the showroom of a local Subaru dealership.[9] He was an avid golfer and in the mid-1990s carried a single-digit handicap.[10] He died after a five-year battle with liver disease.

Writing and acting

His sister told the press that Steakley went to Hollywood at the invitation of screenwriter L.M. "Kit" Carson. He sold a film treatment, and played a bit part ("Local 1") in at least one film, Don't Open the Door!, but "he stayed out there a few years and just hated it."[2] Steakley (whose childhood fantasy was reportedly to be a science fiction writer) returned to Texas, and wrote.[2] He had his first professional short story publication, "The Bluenose Limit", in the March 1981 issue of Amazing Stories; and another, "Flyer", in the September 1982 issue.[11] He published two major novels, Armor (1984)[3] and Vampire$ (1990). According to his website, he worked on the incomplete Armor II for years.

Steakley was the writer for, and played a nameless bit part in, a 1997 film, Scary Texas Movie. In 1998, John Carpenter directed a screen adaptation of Vampire$ (retitled Vampires), which starred James Woods as the leader of a Catholic Church-sanctioned team of vampire hunters. Steakley played one more nameless bit part in the 2000 film Playing Dead, directed by Brad Keller (Scary Texas Movie was Keller's first film as a director).

Quotes

"Mythology is about Good VS Evil, is it not? We can pretend runes and astrology and reading tea leaves...But to whom do we pray when we are terrified? Carl Sagan's essays?" - John Steakley, online
"He's the best of us. The best of our best, the best that each of us will ever build or ever love. So pray for this Guardian of our growth and choose him well, for if he be not truly blest, then our designs are surely frivolous and our future but a tragic waste of hope. Bless our best and adore for he doth bear our measure to the Cosmos." - John Steakley, Armor, p. 62
"Bullies don't want to fight you. They don't want to fight at all. They simply want to beat you up." - Armor, re-used in Vampire$.
"He manages to survive, not through the an inherent craving for life, but through a stubborn refusal of death." - Armor
"You are
What you do
When it counts"
-The Masao (from the novel, Armor)

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary: John William Steakley Jr.". The Dallas Morning News. November 28, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Simnacher, Joe (November 20, 2010). "John William Steakley Jr., 'Vampire$' author, dies at 59". The Dallas Morning News.
  3. 1 2 "Science fiction fans, professionals gather". The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA). February 8, 1986. Retrieved November 27, 2010. John Steakley's book, "Armor," is about the first interplanetary war.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Malcolm (October 30, 1998). "'Carpenter's Vampires': Great Fangs, But No Teeth". Hartford Courant. p. F5. Retrieved November 27, 2010. Carpenter and his screenwriter, Don Jacoby, set out a bloodless story line drawn from the John Steakley novel "Vampire$" about the pursuit of a master vampire
  5. ↑ "John Steakley". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  6. ↑ Sinnamacher, Joe (October 10, 2002). "John William Steakley, Owner of landmark car dealership". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  7. ↑ Box, Terry (April 27, 1999). "Steakley Chevrolet purchased; AutoNation pays estimated $5 million". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  8. ↑ Simnacher, Joe. "John William Steakley Jr., 'Vampire author, dies at 59." Dallas Morning News November 30, 2010
  9. ↑ Schwartz, Marilyn (April 5, 1988). "April Fool's, a Showroom, and Thou". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  10. ↑ Wade, Harless (February 20, 1994). "Whatever its vintage, each of these holes offers trouble by the shot". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 27, 2010. "Any time you tee it up here," said McKinney science fiction novelist John Steakley, a single-digit handicapper, "it's like playing Russian roulette
  11. ↑ ISFDb listing for Steakley

External links

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