William Sloane (writer)

William Milligan Sloane III (15 August 1906 in Plymouth, Massachusetts – 25 September 1974 in New City, New York), known as William Sloane, was an American author of fantasy and science fiction literature, and a publisher. Sloane is best known for his novel To Walk the Night.

From 1955 until his death Sloane was the director of the Rutgers University Press in New Jersey. Before then, he had spent more than 25 years with several other publishers. He formed his own publishing concern, William Sloane Associates, in 1946.

Sloane attended The Hill School and graduated from Princeton University in 1929.

Personal life

William Milligan Sloane III married Julia Margaret Hawkins in 1929. They had three children: William Curtis Sloane (born 1932), Jessie Miranda Sloane (born 1935), and Julie Ann Sloane (born 1945).

He was not related to William Milligan Sloane.

Critical reception

Groff Conklin described To Walk The Night as "a subtle, moving story of mood and character, written in the great tradition of British fantasy, even though the author is an American." Anthony Boucher praised the same novel for its "rich warm character-drawing, disturbing subtlety, [and] splendid sense of vast beauty in the midst of terror." P. Schuyler Miller ranked it as "one of the great classics of modern science fiction." Hartford Courant reviewer George W. Earley praised it as "a wondrous blending of science and occultism guaranteed to unnerve the most blasé of readers."

Robert Bloch included To Walk the Night on his list of favourite horror novels.

To Walk The Night and the Edge of Running Water were published together in 2015 as The Rim of Morning, with an introduction by Stephen King. King wrote, "They are good stories and can be read simply for pleasure, but what makes them fascinating and takes them to a higher level is their complete (and rather blithe) disregard of genre boundaries."

Bibliography

• Back Home (1931), a ghost play in one act
• Runner in the Snow (1931), a play of the supernatural in one act
• Crystal Clear (1932), a fantasy play
• Ballots for Bill (1933), co-authored by William Ellis Jones
• The Silence of God (1933), a play for Christmas in one act
• Art for Art's Sake (1934)
• The Invisible Clue (1934), written under the name William Milligan
• Gold Stars for Glory (1935)
• To Walk the Night (1937), a science fiction novel with horror elements
• The Edge of Running Water (1939), a science fiction novel with horror elements; adapted as the motion picture The Devil Commands
• Space, Space, Space: Stories About the Time When Men Will Be Adventuring to the Stars (1953), a collection edited by Sloane
• Stories for Tomorrow: An Anthology of Modern Science Fiction (1954), a collection edited by Sloane ISBN 4-87187-302-1
• The Craft of Writing (1979), edited by Julia H. Sloane

Further reading

• American Authors and Books. 1640 to the present day. 3d revised edition. By W.J. Burke and Will D. Howe. Revised by Irving Weiss and Anne Weiss. New York: Crown Publishers, 1972.
• Contemporary Authors. Volumes 53-56. Detroit: Gale Research, 1975.
• Who Was Who in America. Volume 6, 1974-1976. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1976.
• Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers. 3d edition. Edited by Noelle Watson and Paul E. Schellinger. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991.
• The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.
• St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. 4th edition. Edited by Jay P. Pederson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1996.
• Howard, John. "A Look at The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane." All Hallows 29 (2002).

External links

• William M. Sloane papers, 1931–1979: Finding Aid, Princeton University Library Manuscripts Division, 2002.
• William Sloane at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database