Robert Thurston (1936-2021)
SF writer Robert Thurston, 84, died October 20, 2021 in Ridgefield Park NJ.
Thurston attended the first Clarion Science Fiction Writers’ Workshop in 1968, and his debut SF story, “Stop Me Before I Tell More”, appeared in Orbit 9 (1971). His final story was “Nobody Like Josh” in Asimov’s (2016). First novel Alicia II appeared in 1978. Other SF novels include Set of Wheels (1983, expanded from 1971 story “Wheels”), Q Colony (1985, expanded from story “The Oonaa Woman”, 1981), and Trial of Heroes (2004). Thriller For the Silverfish appeared in 1985. He also wrote numerous tie-in novels, including several Battlestar Galactica and Battletech books and Isaac Asimov’s Robot City: Robots and Aliens #3: Intruder (1990). His novel Robot Jox (1989) was based on a Joe Haldeman screenplay. Thurston was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1973.
Robert Donald Thurston was born October 28, 1936 in Lockport NY. He was a US Army veteran, and studied English literature in graduate school at the University of Buffalo. For two decades he was the administrator for the Opportunity Scholarship Program at New Jersey City University, and also taught writing at various colleges. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Rosemary Thurston (née Fox), and their children.
For more, see his entry at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
