Howard Waldrop
Waldrop in 2007
Born	(1946-09-15)September 15, 1946 Houston, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	January 14, 2024(2024-01-14) (aged 77) Austin, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Fiction writer
Genre	Science fiction
Notable works	"The Ugly Chickens", "Night of the Cooters"
Notable awards	Nebula Award (1980) World Fantasy Award (1981)

Howard Waldrop (September 15, 1946 – January 14, 2024) was an Americanscience fiction author who worked primarily inshort fiction. He received theWorld Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021.

Born inHouston, Mississippi,^[1] Waldrop spent most of his life inTexas. He moved toWashington state for several years, but returned toAustin.

As a child, he corresponded withA Game of Thrones authorGeorge R. R. Martin about their shared love of comic books. He was an avidfly fisherman. He was a member of theTurkey City Writer's Workshop, attended theRio Hondo Writing Workshop,^[2] and taught at theClarion Workshop.^[3]

Waldrop was a frequent attendee ofArmadilloCon, the local science fiction convention held annually in Austin. He was theToastmaster at the inaugural ArmadilloCon #1 (1979) and again at ArmadilloCon #29 (2007); he was Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon #5 (1983).^[4]

Waldrop was one of three writer Guests of Honor at the 1995World Fantasy Convention^[5] held inBaltimore and atReadercon 15^[6] held inBurlington, Massachusetts, in 2003.^[7]

Waldrop was Professional Writer Guest of Honor atLoscon 46 inLos Angeles,California, in 2019.^[8]

In 2004 he started writing movie reviews withLawrence Person forLocus Online.^[9]

Waldrop died from a stroke in Austin, on January 14, 2024, at the age of 77.^[10][11]

Waldrop's stories combine elements such asalternative history, Americanpopular culture, theAmerican South,^[12] old movies (andcharacter actors),classical mythology, androck 'n' roll music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical:Night of the Cooters is apastiche ofH. G. Wells'The War of the Worlds told from the perspective of a small townTexas sheriff (a homage toSlim Pickens) who faces a Martian cylinder crashing down near his town; "Heirs of the Perisphere" involves roboticDisney characters waking up in the far future; "Fin de Cyclé" describes theDreyfus affair from the perspective of bicycle enthusiasts.

Waldrop's work is frequently out-of-print, though still available for saleonline; several of his books have been reprinted inomnibus editions.

Several of his stories have been nominated for the genre's awards; "The Ugly Chickens" — about the extinction of thedodo — won aNebula Award for best novelette in 1980, and also aWorld Fantasy Award for Short Fiction in 1981; this is perhaps his best known work. In 2021, he won theWorld Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.^[13]

Several of his stories are being adapted to film.^[14]

• The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 (withJake Saunders, 1974) (Ballantine mass market, 1986,ISBN 0-345-33994-0)
• Them Bones (Ace, 1984,ISBN 0-441-80557-4)
• A Dozen Tough Jobs (novella) (Mark V Ziesing hardcover, 1989,ISBN 0-929480-01-5)
• The Search for Tom Purdue (announced)^[15]
• The Moone World (announced)^[16]

• Howard Who? (Doubleday hardcover, 1986) (2006 trade paperback reprint fromSmall Beer Press,ISBN 1-931520-18-6)
• All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past (Ursus Imprints, signed/numbered/slipcased hardcover, 1987), (Ace mass market, 1991,ISBN 0-441-16069-7); mass-market UK edition reprinted under the titleStrange Things In Close-Up, 1991
• Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories (Zeising/Ursus Imprints hardcover, 1990) (Ace mass market, 1993,ISBN 0-441-57473-4)
• Going Home Again (Eidolon trade paperback, 1997,ISBN 0-9586864-0-8)
• Dream Factories and Radio Pictures (e-book, 2001 atELECTRICSTORYArchived January 17, 2020, at theWayback Machine; printed trade paperback from Wheatland Press, 2003)
• Custer's Last Jump and Other Collaborations (Golden Gryphon hardcover, 2003,ISBN 1-930846-13-4) (includes Waldrop's collaborations withSteven Utley,Bruce Sterling,Leigh Kennedy,George R. R. Martin, and others.)
• Heart of Whitenesse (Subterranean Press, hardcover, 2005,ISBN 1-59606-018-2)
• Things Will Never be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005 ("best of" collection fromOld Earth Books, 2007,ISBN 1-882968-36-0, trade paperback;ISBN 1-882968-35-2 for 300-copy limited edition hardcover)^[17]
• Other Worlds, Better Lives: Selected Long Fiction 1989-2003 (Old Earth Books, 2008,ISBN 1-882968-38-7, trade paperback;ISBN 1-882968-37-9 for 300-copy signed/limited edition hardcover)^[17]
• Horse of A Different Color: Selected Stories (2008-2013)Small Beer Press trade paperback,ISBN 978-1-61873-073-2)
• H'ard Starts: The Early Waldrop (Subterranean Press, 2023,ISBN 978-1-64524-116-4 for 750-copy signed/limited edition hardcover)

• "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" lead off story inWild Cards I: Wild Cards, Bantam, 1986 (multiple volume ongoing series currently in print fromTor Books.)
• "Thin, On the Ground" inCross Plains Universe,MonkeyBrain Books, 2006.
• "The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls" inOld Mars (anthology),Tor Books, 2013.^[18][19] Nominated for aLocus Award.^[20]
• "Ike at the Mike" (Omni, June 1982)

• The Soul-Catcher (self-published, 1967)
• YouCould Go Home Again (Cheap Street signed/numbered/tray cased very limited hardcover edition, 1993)
• Custer's Last Jump (withSteven Utley) (Ticonderoga Publications, 1996)
• Flying Saucer Rock and Roll (Cheap Street signed/numbered tray cased very limited hardcover edition, 2001)
• A Better World's in Birth! (Golden Gryphon, 2003)
• The Horse of a Different Color (You Rode In On)/The King of Where-I-Go (WSFA, 2006); saddle-stitched trade paperback given out to members of the 2005Capclave, though not printed in time to be distributed there (not available/sold separately after publication)

• Howard Waldrop at theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• A Woodsman's Guide to Howard Waldrop
• The Ugly Chickens (online at lexal.net)
• Howard Waldrop stories online
• Howard Waldrop atIMDb

• 1946 births
• 2024 deaths
• 20th-century American novelists
• American male novelists
• American science fiction writers
• American alternate history writers
• Nebula Award winners
• World Fantasy Award–winning writers
• Novelists from Texas
• American male short story writers
• 20th-century American short story writers
• 21st-century American short story writers
• People from Houston, Mississippi
• 20th-century American male writers
• 21st-century American male writers

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