The R a Lafferty Fantastic Megapack
R. A. Lafferty
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK® Ebook Series
ALOYS
ADAM HAD THREE BROTHERS
SEVEN-DAY TERROR
DAY OF THE GLACIER
SODOM AND GOMORRAH, TEXAS
THROUGH OTHER EYES
THE WEIRDEST WORLD
THE SIX FINGERS OF TIME
TRY TO REMEMBER
McGONIGAL’S WORM
THE POLITE PEOPLE OF PUDIBUNDIA
IN THE GARDEN
ALL THE PEOPLE
DREAM
THE WAGONS
OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON
THE UGLY SEA
SATURDAY YOU DIE
COPYRIGHT INFO
The R.A. Lafferty Fantastic MEGAPACK® is copyright © 2016 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art © Adimas / Fotolia.
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The MEGAPACK® ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
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“Aloys” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, August 1961.
“Adam Had Three Brothers” was originally published in New Mexico Quarterly Review, Fall 1960.
“Seven-Day Terror” was originally published in If, March 1962.
“Day of the Glacier” was originally published in Science Fiction Stories, January 1960.
“Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, December 1962.
“Through Other Eyes “ was originally published in Future Science Fiction, No. 47, February 1960.
“The Weirdest World” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, June 1961.
“The Six Fingers Of Time,” by R. A. Lafferty” was originally published in If, September 1960.
“Try to Remember” was originally published in Collage Magazine, December 1960/January 1961.
“McGonigal’s Worm” was originally published in If, November 1960.
“The Polite People of Pudibundia” was originally published in If, January 1961.
“In the Garden” was originally published in If, March 1961.
“All the People” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, April 1961.
“Dream” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, June 1962.
“The Wagons” was originally published in New Mexico Quarterly Review, Spring 1959.
“Other Side of the Moon” was originally published in Husk Magazine, March 1960.
“The Ugly Sea” was originally published in The Literary Review, Fall 1960.
“Saturday You Die” was originally published in Artesian Magazine, Spring 1960.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Raphael Aloysius Lafferty was born on November 7, 1914, in Neola, Iowa to Hugh David Lafferty, a broker dealing in oil leases and royalties, and Julia Mary Burke, a teacher. He was the youngest of five siblings. His first name, Raphael, derived from the day on which he was expected to be born—the Feast of St. Raphael.
When Ray (as he was called) was 4 years old, his family moved to Perry, Oklahoma. He graduated from Cascia Halland later attended night school at the University of Tulsa for two years starting in 1933, mostly studying math and German, but left before graduating. He then began to work for a Clark Electric Co. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and apparently a newspaper as well; during this period (1939–1942), he attended the International Correspondence School.
Lafferty lived most of his life in Tulsa, with his sister, Anna Lafferty. Lafferty enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. After training in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and California, he was sent to the South Pacific Area, serving in Australia, New Guinea, Morotai and the Philippines. When he left the Army in 1946, he had become a 1st Sergeant serving as a staff sergeant and had received an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. He never married.
He did not begin writing until the 1950s, but he wrote thirty-two novels and more than 200 short stories, most of them at least nominally science fiction. His first published story (included here) was “The Wagons” in New Mexico Quarterly Review in 1959. His first published science fiction story was “Day of the Glacier” (also included here) in The Original Science Fiction Stories in 1960, and his first published novel was Past Master (1968).
Until 1971, Lafferty worked as an electrical engineer. After that, he spent his time writing until around 1980, when his output declined due to a stroke. He stopped writing regularly in 1984. In 1994, he suffered an even more severe stroke. He died 18 March 2002, aged 87 in a nursing home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His collected papers, artifacts, and ephemera were donated to the University of Tulsa’s McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Other manuscripts are housed in the University of Iowa’s Library special collections department.
Lafferty’s funeral took place at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa, where he regularly attended daily Mass. He is buried at St. Rose Catholic Cemetery in Perry
Without a doubt, he was one of the most quirky and unusual authors every to work in science fiction. I only met him once, at a World Science Fiction Convention (we were on a panel together, along with Jack Chalker and several others). He was a quiet but knowledgable on the subject—small press publishing—because small presses had long championed his work. He had a small but dedicated following.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
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