French writer Pierre Pairault, who wrote SF as Stefan Wul, died November 26, 2003 at the age of 81.
A dental surgeon by trade, he published eleven SF novels between 1956 and 1959 that achieved cult status. Only one of these was translated into English, Le Temple du Passe (1957, as The Temple of the Past, 1973 by Seabury Press), but two others are well known from their adaptations as animated films: Oms en Serie (1957), which gave birth to Rene Laloux's La Planete Sauvage (aka Fantastic Planet, 1973), with graphics by Roland Topor, and L'Orphelin de Perdide (1958), which inspired Les Maitres du Temps (1982), also directed by Laloux, with graphics by Jean "Moebius" Giraud.
Wul wrote one more SF novel, Noo, in 1977, and retired from dental surgery in 1989. He remained a presence on the French SF scene, and his books were often reprinted, with an edition of his complete works published in 1997.
— adapted from a longer obituary by Jean-Daniel Breque to appear in Locus Magazine
