BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – After six times as a finalist, Jack McDevitt has received the Nebula, winning the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s highest award for his novel, “Seeker.”
“I nearly fell out of my chair,” the former Rhode Island teacher said of when his name was called during the May 12 award ceremony in New York. “He paled,” his wife, Maureen, said.
The trophy – which depicts planets suspended in space – now sits on a shelf in the McDevitts’ living room.
But that’s not his only memento of the writing craft. Framed book covers hang on the wall of his office where the works were written. His entry hall is lined with illustrations of his stories that were published in magazines.
Growing up in south Philadelphia during the Depression, McDevitt developed a love for science fiction.
“My father took me to the theater. They were running the old Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers series,” he said.
One time they exited the theater to see a full moon out.
“I asked him if he thought we’d ever get to the moon. He said it would never happen. He lived to see it,” McDevitt said.
The award-winning author wasn’t originally a writer. He taught for years, including a senior honors English class at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, R.I., then serving 20 years with the U.S. Customs Service.
He came to Brunswick to teach at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and remained to raise his children north of Brunswick.
McDevitt had given up on his dream of writing until his wife encouraged him to try.
His first story was about a post office clerk who fell in love with a woman in the office and didn’t know what to say. He found inspiration in a letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson that arrived 130 years late.
His story, The Emerson Effect, was rejected by several publications, but was published by the Twilight Zone magazine in December 1981. That launched a career. He was written 12 novels.
He’s currently writing another novel and is under contract for two more.
The settings for his novels are among unknown planets sometimes thousands of years into the future. As technology advances, human nature does not, but McDevitt sometimes dreams up other life forms. He’s writing of a race of mute aliens who communicate by telepathy.
All this while sales of science fiction, as with many books, are down.
But the writer says he’ll keep at it as long as he’s able.
He adds the heavy award is better than the royalties.
“The money is good, but it’s not quite as good as somebody telling you you’re good at something you like,” he said.
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On the Net:
Nebula Awards: http://www.sfwa.org/awards/2007/
AP-ES-05-28-07 1217EDT
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