M.J. Engh (1933-2024)

Author M.J. Engh, 91, died at home July 11, 2024 in Garfield WA.

Mary Jane Gholson was born January 26, 1933. She attended the University of Chicago, studying history, archaeology, and library science, and worked as an editor in the US and Japan. Upon returning to the US, she worked as a freelance editor and substitute teacher. In 1971 she attended the University of Oklahoma, earning a Master of Library Science degree. She worked as a librarian at Oklahoma State University until moving to Pullman WA in 1979 to become a biology librarian at Washington State University.

Her first SF stories appeared in the 1960s under the name Jane Beauclerk, but she later began to publish as M.J. Engh. Her debut novel Arslan appeared in 1976 (and was republished as A Wind from Bukhara in 1989). Other books of interest include YA The House in the Snow (1987), Wheel of the Winds (1988), and Prometheus Award finalist Rainbow Man (1993). She co-wrote a non-fiction book, Too Many, with son Justin Engh (2015).

Engh was named Author Emerita by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association in 2009. She is survived by her son and daughter.

For more, see her entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.