John Hayden Howard (1925-2014) was a 1967 Nebula Award finalist and prolific short story writer who often wrote under his pen name, Hayden Howard. He was published 73 times internationally, in the US, UK, and Australia, with some works translated into Italian and French.
Hayden’s dystopian and science fiction was often published in Galaxy Magazine and IF Worlds of Science Fiction. His 1960s short stories were illustrated by Jack Gaughan, an illustrator now listed in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Hayden was also published in a paperback anthology edited by Isaac Asimov and the hardcover version of Best of SF: 1970; he is listed in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. In addition to sci-fi, he also published many detective stories, sea stories, and mysteries, including in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
The year Hayden’s novel The Eskimo Invasion was an award finalist, he was in good company. Other 1966-1967 Nebula and Hugo Award nominees included Philip K. Dick (Man in the High Castle); J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings series); Daniel Keys (Flowers for Algernon); Robert Silverberg (Thorns); Frank Herbert (Dune); and Isaac Asimov (Foundation Series.) Star Trek episodes were also nominated for awards at that time. Hayden Howard’s stories are reminiscent of a television show from the same era, The Twilight Zone®. Many of Hayden’s short stories have similar thought-provoking surprise endings.
In real life, family and friends knew Hayden simply as “Jack.”
Laurie Winslow Sargent met Jack when she was about 32 years old when, in midlife, Jack fell in love with Laurie’s widowed mother, Jill. Laurie knew him well for 25 years as a friend, loving step-grandpa to her three children, and an enthusiastic supporter of her own writing.
Laurie has herself been a published writer since 1988. She has contributed to seventeen books, including two of her own, written for twenty-two magazines, and done some freelance editing. Now estate executor for John Hayden Howard and manager of his literary rights, she compiled REAWAKENED WORLDS from his original manuscripts and contributed the Foreword and Afterword.
Laurie has been interviewed on radio shows broadcast internationally—and is excited to share Hayden Howard with listeners. Her fondest writing memories include finding her first book listed online in a book-mobile in New Zealand circulating among Māori people, receiving an astonishing email from an enthusiastic Filipino reader, and interviewing an Olympic athlete in the mountains of Norway.
Contact Laurie regarding Hayden Howard via CrossConnectMedia.com or JohnHaydenHoward.com. She is on Twitter as @LaurieSargent and on Facebook at facebook.com/LaurieWinslowSargent/.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.