John Jakes
Encyclopedia
John William Jakes is an American writer
, best known for American historical fiction
.
, Illinois
. He first sold stories to pulp magazine
s while still in college in the early 1950s. He studied creative writing at DePauw University
, Greencastle, Indiana
, graduating in 1953. He then earned an M.A.
in American literature
from The Ohio State University.
and westerns and other sorts of historical fiction
, while working in the advertising
industry. In 1971, he began to write full time.
During this time, he was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
, a loose-knit group of heroic fantasy
authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's
Flashing Swords!
anthologies.
He gained widespread popularity with the publication of his Kent Family Chronicles, which became a bestselling American Bicentennial Series of books in the mid to late 1970s, selling 55 million copies. He has since published several more popular works of historical fiction, most dealing with American history, including the North and South Trilogy about the U.S. Civil War, which sold 10 million copies and was turned into an ABC-TV miniseries.
and Florida
with his wife, Rachel, to whom he has been married since 1951.
on ABC
in the 1980s and 1990s.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, best known for American historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
.
Early life and education
Jakes was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He first sold stories to pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s while still in college in the early 1950s. He studied creative writing at DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
, Greencastle, Indiana
Greencastle, Indiana
Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Scots-Irish American Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylvania...
, graduating in 1953. He then earned an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
from The Ohio State University.
Writing career
Jakes published several stories and novels over the 20 years following completion of college, many of them fantasy fiction, science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and westerns and other sorts of historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
, while working in the advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
industry. In 1971, he began to write full time.
During this time, he was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America is the name of a literary group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the fantasy subgenre of heroic fantasy or "Sword and Sorcery."...
, a loose-knit group of heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy which chronicles the tales of heroes in imaginary lands. Unlike stories of sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy narratives tend to be intricate in plot, often involving many peoples, nations and lands. Grand battles and the fate of the world are common themes,...
authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
Flashing Swords!
Flashing Swords!
Flashing Swords! was a series of fantasy anthologies published by Dell Books from 1973 to 1981 under the editorship of Lin Carter. It showcased the heroic fantasy work of the members of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America , a somewhat informal literary group active from the 1960s to the...
anthologies.
He gained widespread popularity with the publication of his Kent Family Chronicles, which became a bestselling American Bicentennial Series of books in the mid to late 1970s, selling 55 million copies. He has since published several more popular works of historical fiction, most dealing with American history, including the North and South Trilogy about the U.S. Civil War, which sold 10 million copies and was turned into an ABC-TV miniseries.
Personal
Jakes lives in South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with his wife, Rachel, to whom he has been married since 1951.
The Kent Family Chronicles
- The BastardThe Bastard (novel)The Bastard is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1974. It is book one in a series known as The Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
(1974) - The RebelsThe Rebels (novel)The Rebels is a historical novel written by John Jakes, originally published in 1975, the second in a series known as The Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to narrate the story of the nascent United...
(1975) - The SeekersThe Seekers (novel)The Seekers is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1975. It is book three in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
(1975) - The FuriesThe Furies (novel)The Furies is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1976. It is book four in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
(1976) - The Titans (1976)
- The Warriors (1977)
- The Lawless (1978)
- The Americans (1979)
The North and South trilogy
- North and South (1982)
- Love and War (1984)
- Heaven and Hell (1987)
Other
- A Night For Treason (1956)
- Wear A Fast Gun (1956)
- The Devil Has Four Faces (1958)
- The Seventh Man (1958)
- I, Barbarian (1959) (as Jay Scotland)
- Johnny Havoc (1960)
- Sir Scoundrel (1962) (as Jay Scotland)
- Arena (1963) (as Jay Scotland)
- Making It Big aka Johnny Havoc And The Siren In Red (1968)
- California Gold (1989)
- In The Big Country (1993), later reissued as The Bold Frontier (2001)
- On Secret Service (2000)
- Charleston (2002)
- Savannah or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln (2004)
- Funeral for Tanner Moody (with Elmer Kelton, Robert Randish) (2004)
- The Gods of Newport (2006)
Brak the Barbarian series
- Brak the Barbarian (1968)
- Brak the Barbarian: The Mark of the Demons (1969)
- Brak the Barbarian: The Sorceress (1969)
- Brak: When Idols Walked (1978)
- The Fortunes of Brak (1980)
Other
- When The Star Kings Dies (1967)
- The Asylum World (1969)
- The Hybrid (1969)
- The Last Magicians (1969)
- The Planet Wizard (1969)
- Secrets Of Stardeep (1969)
- Tonight We Steal the Stars (1969)
- Mask of Chaos (1970)
- Six-Gun Planet (1970)
- Black in Time (1970)
- Mention My Name in AtlantisMention My Name in AtlantisMention My Name in Atlantis, being, at last, the true account of the calamitous destruction of the great island kingdom together with a narrative of its wondrous intercourses with a superior race of other-worldlings, as transcribed from the manuscript of a survivor, Hoptor the Vintner, for the...
(1972) - Time Gate (1972)
- Witch Of The Dark Gate (1972)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Excalibur (1985) with Gil Kane
Nonfiction
- Famous Firsts In Sports (1967)
- Great War Correspondents (1967))
- Great Women Reporters (1969)
- Mohawk: The Life Of Joseph Brant (1969)
Adaptations
The Bastard was adapted as a television miniseries by Universal Pictures Television as the first offering of the highly successful syndicated package, Operation Prime Time (1978). It was followed by "The Rebels" (1979) and "The Seekers" (1979). The North and South trilogy was made into three miniseriesMiniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the 1980s and 1990s.
External links
- FantasticFiction — bibliography and book covers
- Author's website — biography