Jo Clayton

Jo Clayton, undated photo

Jo Clayton (February 15, 1939 – February 13, 1998) was an American fantasy and science fiction author. She wrote 35 novels and many short stories. Her works sold over one and a quarter million copies.^[1]

She was born Patricia Jo Clayton in Modesto, California,^[2] and was raised in the area along with two sisters by her farmsteading parents. Their parents arranged for all three children to attend college, and Jo graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California in 1963. She worked as a teacher for thirteen years, beginning in Bell, California.

In 1969 she had a religious conversion and moved to New Orleans to join the Sisters of Mount Carmel, a Roman Catholic order of instructors.^[3] She left the order after three years, just before she would have taken her vows to become a nun. While in New Orleans she wrote heavily and also worked as an artist, painting people's pets. By 1983 she decided to move to Portland, Oregon.

At age 57 she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, and died from her condition a year and a half later. During her stay in the hospital she continued writing, completing a full novel and half of the last book in a trilogy.^[1]

She was survived by her mother, Bessie Clayton, and her sisters, Penn Brumm and Pamela Larsen.^[1]

Bibliography

• Diadem from the Stars (1977)
• Irsud (1978)
• Lamarchos (1978)
• Maeve (1979)
• Star Hunters (1980)
• The Nowhere Hunt (1981)
• Moongather (1982)
• Moonscatter (1983)
• Ghosthunt (1983)
• The Snares of Ibex (1984)
• Changer's Moon (1985)
• Drinker of Souls (1986)
• Quester's Endgame (1986)
• Skeen's Leap (1986)
• Skeen's Return (1987)
• Skeen's Search (1987)
• Blue Magic (1988)
• Shadow of the Warmaster (1988)
• A Gathering of Stones (1989)
• The Soul Drinker (1989)
• Shadowplay (1990)
• Shadowspeer (1990)
• Shadowkill (1991)
• Wild Magic (1991)
• Wild Magic #2: Wildfire (1992)
• Dancer's Rise (1993)
• Wild Magic #3: The Magic Wars (1993)
• Dance Down the Stars (1994)
• Serpent Waltz (1994)
• Fire in the Sky (1995)
• The Burning Ground (1995)
• Crystal Heat (1996)
• Drum Warning (1996)
• Drum Calls (1997)
• Drum into Silence (2002), completed posthumously by Kevin Andrew Murphy.^[3]

Series by "World"

The Diadem Saga Diadem from the Stars Lamarchos Irsud Maeve Star Hunters The Nowhere Hunt Ghosthunt The Snares of Ibex Quester's Endgame Shadith's Quest Shadowplay Shadowspeer Shadowkill The Shadowsong Trilogy Fire in the Sky The Burning Ground Crystal Heat Standalone Shadow of the Warmaster Standalone A Bait of Dreams The Skeen Trilogy Skeen's Leap Skeen's Return Skeen's Search

The Duel of Sorcery Series Moongather Moonscatter Changer's Moon The Dancers Trilogy Dancer's Rise Serpent Waltz Dance Down the Stars The Soul Drinker Trilogy Drinker of Souls Blue Magic A Gathering of Stones The Wild Magic Series Wild Magic Wildfire The Magic Wars The Drums of Chaos Drum Warning Drum Calls Drum into Silence

References

1. Obituary at Science Fiction Writers of America
2. "Clayton, Jo," Harris M. Lentz, Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 1998, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7864-5203-3, p. 46.
3. Bernard A. Drew, Literary Afterlife: The Posthumous Continuations of 325 Authors' Fictional Characters, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7864-4179-2, p. 279.

Sources

• Statement on the floor of the US Senate, Senator Harkin, February 27, 1998, Congressional Record p. 2155.

External links

• Official web site
• Jo Clayton at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Goodreads page