Radell Faraday "Ray" Nelson (born October 3, 1931) is an American science fiction author and cartoonist most famous for his 1963 short story "Eight O\'Clock in the Morning", which was later used by John Carpenter as the basis for his 1988 film They Live.\n', '

Nelson was born October 3, 1931 in Schenectady, New York, the son of Walter Hughes Nelson and Marie Reed. He has one younger brother, Trevor Reed Nelson. He became an active member of science fiction fandom while still a teenager at Cadillac High School in Cadillac, Michigan. After graduation, he attended the University of Chicago (studying theology), then spent four years studying in Paris, where he met Jean-Paul Sartre, Boris Vian and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William Burroughs and other Beat Generation icons. In Paris, he worked with Michael Moorcock smuggling then-banned Henry Miller books out of France. While there, he also met Norwegian Kirsten Enge, who became his second wife October 4, 1957. Their only child, Walter Trygve Nelson, was born September 21, 1958 in Paris. He had previously been married to fellow fan Perdita Lilly, subject of his first book, the 23-page poetry collection Perdita: Songs of Love, Sex and Self Pity, who would later marry John Boardman.\n', '

Nelson began his career writing and creating cartoons for science fiction fanzines. Later Nelson wrote many professionally published short stories including "Turn Off the Sky" and "Nightfall on the Dead Sea". His best known story "Eight O\'Clock in the Morning" was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (November 1963). Ray Nelson and artist Bill Wray adapted the story as their graphic comic "Nada" published in the comic book anthology Alien Encounters (No. 6, April 1986) and director John Carpenter adapted it as his film They Live (1988).\n', '

Return to Ray Nelson Autograph Profile