(1931- ) US writer who began publishing sf with "For Those who Follow After" for Astounding in July 1951. Of his three sf novels to appear in book form – Dome World (March 1958 Astounding as "The Man on the Bottom"; exp 1962), The Fury from Earth (1963) and The Man Who Wanted Stars (fixup 1965) – the last is probably the best, though all of these straightforward Libertarian SF adventures are densely written. The first is set Under the Sea, the second describes a war between Earth and a liberated Venus, and the third depicts one man's long, driven quest to force and trick Earth governments into attaining interstellar Space Flight. Hawk Among the Sparrows: Three Science fiction Novellas (coll 1976) assembles stories of the 1960s; the title piece "Hawk Among the Sparrows" (July 1968 Analog) is a frequently cited example of Military SF, involving the Timeslip of a modern fighter plane to World War One. A further novel-length story is "Dawn" (April-June 1981 Analog). McLaughlin's subject matter and style were fairly typical of those encouraged by John W Campbell Jr during his editorial domination of Astounding. [JC/DRL]
see also: Pollution; Stars.
Dean Benjamin McLaughlin Jr
born Ann Arbor, Michigan: 22 July 1931
died
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