View source for Nelson S. Bond

{{Short description|American writer}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. --> 
| name          = Nelson Slade Bond
| image         = Nelson Slade Bond.jpg
| image_size    = 
| alt           = Black and white photograph of Nelson Slade Bond
| caption       = Nelson S. Bond in 1979
| pseudonym     = 
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1908|11|23}}
| birth_place   = [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2006|11|04|1908|11|23}}
| death_place   = [[Roanoke, Virginia]], U.S.
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = 
| language      = English
| nationality   = American
| ethnicity     = 
| citizenship   = 
| education     = 
| alma_mater    = [[Marshall University]]
| period        = 1937–1959
| genre         = Science fiction, fantasy, western, crime, drama
| subject       = 
| movement      = 
| notableworks  = 
| spouse        = {{Marriage|Betty Gough Folsom|1934}}
| partner       = 
| children      = {{Plainlist|
* Lynn Bond
* Christopher Bond
}}
| relatives     = 
| influences    = 
| influenced    = 
| awards        = [[Nebula Awards|Nebula Author Emeritus]] (1998)
| signature     = 
| signature_alt = 
| website       = <!-- www.example.com -->
| portaldisp    = yes
}}
[[File:Planet stories 1940win.jpg|thumb|right|Bond's "Beyond Light" was the cover story in the Winter 1940 issue of ''[[Planet Stories]]'']]
[[File:Amazing stories 194001.jpg|thumb|right|The first installment of Bond's "Sons of the Deluge" was cover-feature on the January 1940 issue of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'']]

'''Nelson Slade Bond''' (November 23, 1908 – November 4, 2006) was an [[American literature|American writer]]. His works included books, magazine articles, and scripts used in radio, for television and on the stage.

The 1998 recipient of the Nebula Author Emeritus award for lifetime achievement, Bond was a pioneer in early science fiction and fantasy.  His published fiction is mainly [[short story|short stories]], most of which appeared in [[pulp magazine]]s in the 1930s and 1940s. Many were published in ''[[Blue Book (magazine)|Blue Book]]'' magazine, though Bond largely retired from fiction writing after the 1950s. He is noted for his "Lancelot Biggs" series of stories and for his "Meg the Priestess" tales, which introduced one of the first powerful female characters in [[science fiction]].

==Early life==
Bond's parents, Richard Slade Bond and Mary Bond, were from [[Nova Scotia]], but moved to [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]] shortly before his birth in that city. The family later relocated to [[Philadelphia]] after [[World War I]]. In high school, Bond reviewed plays for ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''.  He worked for an insurance company during the [[Great Depression]] before enrolling in a college.<ref name="guardian">{{cite journal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries|first=Steve|last=Holland|title=Obituary: Nelson S Bond|journal=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 21, 2006|access-date=May 3, 2013}}</ref>  He attended [[Marshall University|Marshall College]] in [[Huntington, West Virginia]] from 1932 to 1934. While at Marshall, he contributed to the ''Huntington Herald Advertiser'' and edited the college newspaper, ''The Parthenon''. He met his future wife, Betty Gough Folsom, while at Marshall, and they married in 1934.<ref>[http://pulprack.com/arch/2003/02/nelson_s_bond_m.html Ruber, Peter. Pulp Rack: "Nelson S. Bond, Master Pulpster" (expansion of profile in ''Arkham's Masters of Horror'' anthology).]</ref>

After graduating, Bond briefly worked for his father's [[public relations]] agency.<ref name="guardian" /> Shortly after joining, he was offered the position of public relations field director for the province of Nova Scotia.  This involved meeting celebrities visiting the province and writing pieces about them that were placed in various periodicals.<ref name="guardian" />

He started selling fiction when he realised he could make more money by writing, sending works to newspapers, [[pulp magazines]] and the more upmarket "slick" magazines.<ref name="guardian" />

He started by writing sports stories but made his first significant sale with "Mr. Mergenthwerker's Lobblies", which was published 
in ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]'' in 1937.<ref name="PW">{{cite web|url=http://www.arkhamhouse.com/bondinterview.htm|title=PW Talks with Nelson Bond|first=Ben P.|last=Indick|year=2002|access-date=May 3, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211151819/http://www.arkhamhouse.com/bondinterview.htm|archive-date=February 11, 2012}}</ref> His first science fiction story was "Down the Dimensions" in the April 1937 issue of ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding]]''.<ref>[http://helixsf.com/archives/Jan07/pastmasters.htm Webster, Bud. "Past Masters - Nelson Bond," Helix SF]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  He only wrote occasional non-fiction once he was established as an author of fiction. Bond wrote and sold more for ''[[Blue Book (magazine)|Blue Book]]'' than the pulps, which was not only more prestigious but paid more for his work.<ref name="PW" />

He also published articles on [[philately]] and served on the Board of Governors / Board of Directors of the British North America [[Philatelic]] Society.<ref>[http://www.bnaps.org/archives/officers.html British North America Philatelic Society]</ref>

==Radio and television==
Bond wrote for such radio programs as ''[[Jean Hersholt|Dr. Christian]]'', ''[[Hot Copy]]'' (1943–44) and ''The Sheriff'' (1944–51), a continuation of ''[[Death Valley Days]]''. Bond also scripted for numerous television anthology programs, such as ''[[Lux Video Theatre]]'', ''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]'', ''[[General Motors Theatre]]'' and ''[[Tales of Tomorrow]]''. "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" was adapted to radio at least a half-dozen times and also ran as a 1938 radio series. After Bond scripted the story as a teleplay, it became the first full-length play presented on network television. It was televised three times - on ''Broadway Previews'' (1946), ''[[The Philco Television Playhouse]]'' (1949) and the ''[[Kraft Television Theatre]]'' (1953). For ''Locus'' Bond described his experiences in radio and TV:

<blockquote>I began writing for radio after they started adapting some of my stories. I thought, "Well, hell, I can do better than that," and I started adapting them myself. After a while, a couple of series opened up, and they asked me to become the writer. I wrote 52 weeks of ''Hot Copy'' and about 26 weeks of ''The Sheriff'' show, a comedy Western. Then television came along. I had just written ''Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies'' as a radio series, and I adapted it for television. It became the first television play ever aired on a network. The network, however, consisted of Boston, New York and Washington. (This was 1946.) The presentation was so elaborate, there was a studio audience, and they printed a program for it. Unfortunately, no copy of the show exists, because they didn't have tape in those days. All they had was kinescope, flickering black and white movie stuff. That was probably the golden opportunity of my life that I threw out the window. After the play was done, the director said, "This is a brand-new medium. Why don't you come up here and get into it with us?" They couldn't pay me very much, and I said, "I'm making more than that in radio right now," so I turned it down... But I wrote about 15 or 20 television plays, some of them adaptations of my own things, others original. ''State of Mind'' was a fantasy about a man who got pissed off at modern civilization. He said, "I'm gonna secede from the Union." So he did. I thought it was a helluva good idea! (Still a cute play, but it's not produced anymore.) I adapted my second Mergenthwirker/Lobblies story as a television play, and then there was a third one.<ref>[http://www.locusmag.com/1998/Issues/10/Bond.html Locus Online: "Nelson S. Bond: Looking Way Back" (excerpted from ''Locus'' magazine, October 1998)]</ref></blockquote>

==Other writing==
Bond worked in public relations before and after his writing career, opening his own agency in 1959. He later became a noted [[antiquarian]] bookseller. Bond retired from writing in the late 1950s. After encouragement from fans and professionals, notably [[Harlan Ellison]], he published a new story in 1995.

Bond had an extensive correspondence with [[James Branch Cabell]] and after Cabell's death was his literary executor for a while.

In 1998 the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] made Bond an [[Author Emeritus]]. In 2002 Bond donated his personal papers to the Marshall University library, which created a replica of his home office. Bond died of complications from heart problems on November 4, 2006.

Nelson and Betty Bond had two sons, Kit and Lynn. Betty Bond had her own career in Virginia television, interviewing local notables for her ''Betty Bond Show'' on Roanoke's [[WSLS-TV]].<ref>Allen, Mike. [http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/90254 "Roanoke writer widely admired"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120909033119/http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/90254 |date=2012-09-09 }}, ''The Roanoke Times'', November 6, 2006.</ref>  Bond died in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]], while visiting his son.

==Bibliography==
{{wikisource|works=or}}

===Novels===
*''[[Exiles of Time]]'' (Prime Press, 1949)
*''That Worlds May Live'' (Wildside, 2003)

===Short story collections===
*''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74221 The Scientific Pioneer]'' (Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1940)
*''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74173 The Return of Lancelot Biggs]'' (Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1942)
*''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74174 Mr. Biggs Goes to Town]'' (Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1942)
*''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74226 Horsesense Hank Does His Bit]'' (Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1942)
*''Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies and Other Fantastic Tales'' (Coward-McCann, 1946)
*''[[The Thirty-First of February]]'' (Gnome Press, 1949)
*''[[The Remarkable Exploits of Lancelot Biggs, Spaceman]]'' (Doubleday, 1950)
*''No Time Like the Future'' (Avon, 1954)
*''[[Nightmares and Daydreams]]'' (Arkham House, 1968)
*''[[The Far Side of Nowhere]]'' (Arkham House, 2002)
*''[[Other Worlds Than Ours]]'' (Arkham House, 2005)

===Nonfiction===
*''The Postal Stationery of Canada: A Reference Catalog'' (Herman Herst, 1953)
*''James Branch Cabell: A Complete Checklist'' (1974)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061118042600/http://www.sfwa.org/news/2006/nbond.htm SFWA: Nelson Bond obituary]
* {{cite web |url = https://mds.marshall.edu/mu_ebooks/2/ |title = Nelson Bond; an Unbaked Cookie |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20230102000000/https://mds.marshall.edu/mu_ebooks/2/ |archivedate = 2023-01-02 |publisher = [[Marshall University]]}} [https://archive.org/details/nelson-bond-an-unbaked-cookie.-barbara-winters Alt URL] A biographical sketch of Nelson Bond by Barbara Winters.
* {{cite web |url = http://www.marshall.edu/library/speccoll/virtual_museum/bond/default.asp |title = Nelson Slade Bond home page |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140207143601/http://www.marshall.edu/library/speccoll/virtual_museum/bond/default.asp |archivedate = 2014-02-07 |publisher = [[Marshall University]]}} Lists Bond's literary papers, bibliographic information and videos.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050104025420/http://pulprack.com/arch/2003/02/nelson_bond_a_b.html "Nelson Bond, A Bibliography in Progress"], compiled by Peter Ruber and incorporating data provided by Bond, at Pulp Rack
* [https://roanoke.com/webmin/features/in-memory-of-nelson-bond/article_1ded9460-31bf-561f-8675-72d2b7db427c.html Mike Allen, "In memory of Nelson Bond", The Roanoke Times, Monday, May 19, 2008]
* {{LCAuth|n50042072|Nelson S. Bond|13|}}
* {{ISFDB name|id=456|name=Nelson S. Bond}}
* {{IMDb name | id=1057726 | name=Nelson S. Bond}}
* [http://www.philsp.com/articles/pastmasters_03.html Past Masters - A Tribute to Nelson Bond] by Bud Webster
* {{Gutenberg author | id=34095}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Nelson Slade Bond}}

=== Audio ===
* {{Librivox author |id=9804}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719235002/http://windowsmedia.marshall.edu/specialcollections/streaming/mr_mergenthwirkers_lobblies.wma ''Johnny Presents'': "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" (February 11, 1941)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081030223755/http://windowsmedia.marshall.edu/specialcollections/streaming/Bond_Poems.mp3 Nelson Bond recites from memory fragments of poems by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Rudyard Kipling and Sara Teasdale (July 2005)]
::[https://web.archive.org/web/20110529223212/http://206.212.0.81/library/speccoll/virtual_museum/bond/Poetry.asp Full text of the three poems]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Nelson S.}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American radio writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:Marshall University alumni]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]