Space For Hire (Seven For Space)
SPACE FOR HIRE
Book One in the
Seven For Space
series
by
William F. Nolan
Introduction by
George Clayton Johnson
Cover & Interior
Illustrations by
Ron Lemen
Space for Hire
Copyright © 1971 by William F. Nolan
Copyright © renewed 1989 by William F. Nolan
Preface Copyright © 2008 by William F. Nolan
"A Letter" Introduction Copyright © 2008 by George Clayton Johnson
Cover art ©2008 by Ron Lemen
Interior illustrations ©2008 by Ron Lemen
Additional interior illustration ©2008 Ed Roeder
Creative services provided by The Creative Plantation
Art direction & interior design (print edition) by Neil Uyetake
Art direction & cover design by Ed Roeder
Editing by Allison Bocksruker
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any format without the permission of the author and publisher.
CONTENTS
Introduction by George Clayton Johnson
Preface: "Welcome to Sam's Universe" by William F. Nolan
To Charles Holloway
A good man.
A good friend
WILLIAM F. NOLAN
is a prime example of the Renaissance Man. He has raced sports cars, acted in films and television, worked as a cartoonist for Hallmark Cards, been a biographer and playwright, narrated a Moon documentary, had his work selected for more than 300 anthologies and textbooks, taught creative writing at the college level, painted outdoor murals, designed book covers, operated his own art studio, created Mickey Mouse adventures for Walt Disney, been the conductor on a miniature railroad, been cited as a Living Legend by the International Horror guild, voted Author Emeritus by the SF Writers of America, won the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award twice, been cited by the American Library Association, has over 85 books to his credit (including 3 volumes of verse) ,served as a job counselor for the California State Department of Employment, prepared pamphlets on eye care, created his own TV series for CBS, written more than a dozen novels including the best-selling SF classic
Logan's Run
, performed as a lecturer and panelist at a variety of conventions, handled publicity for Image Power, Inc., has had 700 items printed in 250 magazines and newspapers (including 165 short stories), won numerous other awards, had 20 of his 40 scripts produced, and functioned as a literary critic and commercial artist.
"A Letter"
by
George Clayton Johnson
Mr. Charles Holloway
Escondido, California
Dear Charles:
Congratulations!
First music, then video, now publishing: yet another Holloway Production.
It's wonderful to hear that you've decided to publish
Seven for Space
by William F. Nolan.
As you are aware, I've been friends with Ol' Bill for many decades, but I always think of him as William F.
You may not fully appreciate who William F. is. His honesty, sincerity and warmth only point toward the character of the man. He has a fierce integrity, an enormous persistence, and an incredible memory, qualities that make him a good man to work with. He taught me by example. I've tried to be as straight-arrow as he is. After all, Charles, I was locked in a motel room with him for twenty-one days while we talked about possible futures and wrote the novel
Logan's Run
.
In close quarters like that, arguing about something you consider important, you learn what a man is made of.
I've never met anyone like him.
The range of his interests.
The precision of his facts.
His ability to complete things.
The limberness of his imagination.
His sense of fair play.
These are only some of the reasons that I chose to collaborate with him from among all of my writer friends.
You may not be aware of the size of his fan base. How beloved he is by collectors. How rich his publishing history is. The collector's edition of the book alone should give you a handsome profit.
The sheer number of his accomplishments is numbing. When I nagged William F. for precise figures he sent me a note that made me blink a number of times. I considered some of the implications of his listing, aware that even now he is putting the finishing touches on a massive 900-page book on the life of Dashiell Hammett.
My history with Nolan goes back to the 50s. He'd already published the
Ray Bradbury Review
, the first complete index of Bradbury's stories to that date. The fact impressed me on a scholarly level. His early stories impressed me even more. His first collection,
Impact 20
, was published in 1963. I first met the prototype for Sam Space there (as "Sam Slammer") in "The Beautiful Doll Caper".
Read that book sometime. It's a stunner. Great stories, no two alike. A real showcase of his writing talent.
Ironically, the first story in
Impact 20
is a beauty titled "The Small World of Lewis Stillman", wherein the last adult male in the city is tracked down and beaten to death by a rag-tag band of what prove to be surviving children. It is this image, Charles, that I credit with being the inspiration for
Logan's Run
.
I am a total fan of Nolan's. He has been one of my many teachers and much of what I know about working in harness I learned from him.
Our working credo seemed to be, "Give it to me with the bark off and I won't hate you, this time."
When William F. has turned the laser beam of his mind upon a subject, don't be surprised by what he will see or how he will give that Nolan tilt to his perception. Remember, Charles, this is a perception fired in the same kiln with Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and myself.
Remember, we are all products of the days when those ancient pulp magazines you see at science fiction conventions were new, and movies like Karloff's
Frankenstein
and Lugosi's
Dracula
were showing for the first time in neighborhood theaters, and when you could find classic books in paperback editions for a quarter on bus station magazine racks — a new experience for America. Radio was just coming into its own and comic books were expanding the minds of the young. That was when Nolan developed his undying love for Batman and I became an offspring of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan. After all, his name is John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and am I not George Clayton John's son?
I met William F. 50 years ago at the same time I met Charles Beaumont and John Tomerlin. The four of us became fast friends and lived in each other's lives for many years, drawn together by our devotion to writing and the magnetic quality of Charles Beaumont, who tested us all with his knowledge, sense of humor, depth of understanding, strength of character and sense of honor. It is easy to love the people who love the people you love.
Both Nolan and I were especially saddened by the fact that Beaumont didn't live long enough to see the major success we had with our
Logan's Run
.
Had he not died I'd still be living in his shadow, and happy to be doing so, I believe.
Are you aware that
Space for Hire
is Nolan's first novel after
Logan's Run
?
Logan's Run
and
Seven for Space
have in common a mythos shared by William F. and me, taken from our nostalgic remembrances of childhoods spent watching Karloff and Lugosi, reading Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, laughing at Laurel & Hardy, thrilling to Flash Gordon and Tarzan, and listening to radio shows like "I Love a Mystery" and "Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy".
I can't really tell you how it was then, but that "reality" stamped itself into Bradbury and Beaumont and Nolan and me and others in indescribable ways that are reflected in just how Nolan structures and objectifies those nascent memories.
I see "Sam Space" as the basis for a big splashy Broadway musical. Nolan's comic vision of a seedy, worn-out future featuring the ultimate pop-culture icon, the Private Detective, is a natural for the Great White Way.
Charles, I can see it now! The hottest musical in town! Singing — dancing — satire — humor — a send-up of every science fiction theme.
And Nolan is the perfect person to write it. A musical comedy is the only art form that he has not yet taken a crack at.
It could pay off big for both you and William F.
I hope so.
Best Wishes,
George Clayton Johnson
Pacoima, California
2007
Welcome to Sam's Universe!
The truly manic exploits of Sam Space were written over a 36-year period between a multitude of more rational books, scripts, stories, and articles. Sam's insane adventures encompass two short novels and five stories, all but the last narrated by Sam himself.
When I finished
Space For Hire
back in December of 1970 I figured that I'd had my say about Sam. What kept bringing me back to him? Love, for one thing. Yeah, that's right, I loved conjuring up the big lug's madcap adventures. I'm very fond of Sam and his wacky universe of three-headed females and leaking robot dragons. I'm fond of nutty Nate Oliver and his goofy inventions. I enjoy writing about my talking mice on Jupiter (the mouse planet) , the sadly-reflective Zububirds of Pluto, and Sam's always-grumpy Martian hovercar. All great fun.
More importantly, I think they also provide great fun for my readers. That's the goal of every writer — to please his or her audience.
Sam is a guy to like. I like him, and if you're meeting him here for the first time, I think you'll like him too.
Of course, if Dash Hammett had never invented an Francisco's Sam Spade in
The Maltese Falcon
I would never have created his alter ego, Sam Space. So I owe a big debt to Mr. Hammett. Both detectives are tough, pragmatic, and sharp-minded.
However, there are major differences …
