Richard Gordon (Scottish author)
Encyclopedia
Richard Alexander Steuart Gordon (18 May 1947 – 7 February 2009) was a Scottish
author born in Banff
, Scotland
who wrote numerous science fiction
novels, encyclopedias, and travel guides. Gordon's novels are noted for their mix of historical fact and creative fictionalized events.
and Perthshire
. His family's home is located at the Cairnfield estate near Arradoul
. Gordon studied history at Newcastle University and was offered post-graduate work, but instead he accepted a job as a market researcher. He later left this position and made a career as a writer.
After many years of writing, Gordon moved to London
, where he took a course in teaching English as a foreign language.
Gordon began teaching abroad in his 50s. He first taught in Poland
, and then in 2003 he relocated to China. Gordon collapsed at the Lianhua Road Subway Station in the Shanghai Metro
of a heart attack and died in hospital on February 7, 2009. He had been teaching at Shanghai High School International Division
since 2005.
in 1965 as Richard A. Gordon. Later his publisher ask him to adopt a pseudonym for the risk of confusing him with the author of the Doctor
books. Gordon initially adopted the pen name Alex Stuart, but was again asked to change names due to complaints from author Violet Vivian Stuart, who published historical fiction
under that name. He then adopted the name Alex R. Stuart and later took on the pen name Stuart Gordon. Gordon's later work was published under his own name.
One interesting note of Gordon's work is the colorful dedications he had in his earliest works, such as the following dedication for the The Bikers: To She Who Types Like a Drunken Midget Playing The Piano.
While Gordon has never written fictional pieces set in Scotland, the characters in his books occasionally pass through his hometown. In his writing, Gordon often made reference to his Moray roots. In Fire in the Abyss
time-warped Sir Humphrey Gilbert
passes through Buckie
, where Gordon grew up.
In the late 1980s Gordon ventured into non-fiction and before his death he completed a number of works on the paranormal
and a series of illustrated walking and history guides of northern Scotland. In addition, he wrote several articles under the pen name The Moray Rambler. Gordon's 1992 publication "The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" elicited the ire of Gordon Stein, the director for the Center for Inquiry
, a non-profit educational organization whose primary mission is to dispel paranormal claims. Stein wrote a stinging review in the Spring 1994 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer
, critiquing Gordon's usage of "erroneous 'information' about the paranormal" and usage of references that "are never to the skeptical literature."
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
author born in Banff
Banff, Aberdeenshire
Banff is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
who wrote numerous science fiction
Science 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...
novels, encyclopedias, and travel guides. Gordon's novels are noted for their mix of historical fact and creative fictionalized events.
Life
Gordon was brought up and educated in BuckieBuckie
Buckie is a burgh town on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland in Moray. Buckie was the largest town in Banffshire by some thousands of inhabitants before regionalisation in 1975 removed that political division from the map of Scotland...
and Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. His family's home is located at the Cairnfield estate near Arradoul
Arradoul
Arradoul is a small village in Scotland, in the traditional county of Banffshire, and in the Moray council area. It is a ribbon settlement on the south side of main A98 road between Cullen and Fochabers, near to the Buckpool turn off to the town of Buckie. To the south of the village are the farms...
. Gordon studied history at Newcastle University and was offered post-graduate work, but instead he accepted a job as a market researcher. He later left this position and made a career as a writer.
After many years of writing, Gordon moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he took a course in teaching English as a foreign language.
Gordon began teaching abroad in his 50s. He first taught in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and then in 2003 he relocated to China. Gordon collapsed at the Lianhua Road Subway Station in the Shanghai Metro
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro is the urban rapid transit system of China's largest city, Shanghai. The system incorporates both subway and light rail lines. It opened in 1995, making Shanghai the third city in Mainland China, after Beijing and Tianjin, to have a rapid transit system...
of a heart attack and died in hospital on February 7, 2009. He had been teaching at Shanghai High School International Division
Shanghai High School International Division
Shanghai High School International Division is an international school in Shanghai, China, of Shanghai High School. The school features two parallel curricula in Chinese and English. It is the earliest government supported international school to be founded in Shanghai...
since 2005.
Publications
Gordon began publishing science fiction with "A Light in the Sky" for New WorldsNew Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...
in 1965 as Richard A. Gordon. Later his publisher ask him to adopt a pseudonym for the risk of confusing him with the author of the Doctor
Doctor Series
The Doctor series are a series of comic novels by British physician Richard Gordon covering the antics of a group of young doctors. The Doctor film series were developed from them. The early films featured Dirk Bogarde in the lead as Doctor Sparrow and Donald Sinden as Benskin...
books. Gordon initially adopted the pen name Alex Stuart, but was again asked to change names due to complaints from author Violet Vivian Stuart, who published 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...
under that name. He then adopted the name Alex R. Stuart and later took on the pen name Stuart Gordon. Gordon's later work was published under his own name.
One interesting note of Gordon's work is the colorful dedications he had in his earliest works, such as the following dedication for the The Bikers: To She Who Types Like a Drunken Midget Playing The Piano.
While Gordon has never written fictional pieces set in Scotland, the characters in his books occasionally pass through his hometown. In his writing, Gordon often made reference to his Moray roots. In Fire in the Abyss
Fire in the Abyss
Fire in the Abyss is a science fiction novel by Stuart Gordon, pen name of Richard Gordon, , having as its main character the Elizabethan adventurer Humphrey Gilbert, an actual historical figure, as a time traveler....
time-warped Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Humphrey Gilbert of Devon in England was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. Adventurer, explorer, member of parliament, and soldier, he served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and was a pioneer of English colonization in North America and the Plantations of Ireland.-Early life:Gilbert...
passes through Buckie
Buckie
Buckie is a burgh town on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland in Moray. Buckie was the largest town in Banffshire by some thousands of inhabitants before regionalisation in 1975 removed that political division from the map of Scotland...
, where Gordon grew up.
In the late 1980s Gordon ventured into non-fiction and before his death he completed a number of works on the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
and a series of illustrated walking and history guides of northern Scotland. In addition, he wrote several articles under the pen name The Moray Rambler. Gordon's 1992 publication "The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" elicited the ire of Gordon Stein, the director for the Center for Inquiry
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry is a non-profit educational organization with headquarters in the United States whose primary mission is to encourage evidence-based inquiry into paranormal and fringe science claims, alternative medicine and mental health practices, religion, secular ethics, and society...
, a non-profit educational organization whose primary mission is to dispel paranormal claims. Stein wrote a stinging review in the Spring 1994 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer
Skeptical Inquirer
The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....
, critiquing Gordon's usage of "erroneous 'information' about the paranormal" and usage of references that "are never to the skeptical literature."
Partial list of works
Works are published under pseudonym Stuart Gordon unless otherwise noted.- The BikersThe Bikers (novel series)The Bikers was a series of science fiction novels written in the early 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Alex R. Stuart.The plot of the series was a group of monster-like motorcycle gangs that were terrorizing contemporary Britain.-Series:...
(1971) - published under pen name Alex R. Stuart - The OutlawsThe Bikers (novel series)The Bikers was a series of science fiction novels written in the early 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Alex R. Stuart.The plot of the series was a group of monster-like motorcycle gangs that were terrorizing contemporary Britain.-Series:...
(1972)- published under pen name Alex R. Stuart - Time Story (1972)
- The Bike from HellThe Bikers (novel series)The Bikers was a series of science fiction novels written in the early 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Alex R. Stuart.The plot of the series was a group of monster-like motorcycle gangs that were terrorizing contemporary Britain.-Series:...
(1973) - published under pen name Alex R. Stuart - The Devil's RiderThe Bikers (novel series)The Bikers was a series of science fiction novels written in the early 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Alex R. Stuart.The plot of the series was a group of monster-like motorcycle gangs that were terrorizing contemporary Britain.-Series:...
(1973) - published under pen name Alex R. Stuart - One-EyeThe Eyes (novel series)The Eyes was a series of science fiction novels written in the 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Stuart Gordon.The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the same nature was torn and mutated. The origin of the catastrophe is uncertain, due to the passing of centuries and to the...
(1973) - Two-EyesThe Eyes (novel series)The Eyes was a series of science fiction novels written in the 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Stuart Gordon.The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the same nature was torn and mutated. The origin of the catastrophe is uncertain, due to the passing of centuries and to the...
(1974) - Suaine and the Crow-God (1975)
- Three-EyesThe Eyes (novel series)The Eyes was a series of science fiction novels written in the 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Stuart Gordon.The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the same nature was torn and mutated. The origin of the catastrophe is uncertain, due to the passing of centuries and to the...
(1975) - Smile on the void: The mythhistory of Ralph M'Botu Kitaj (1981)
- Fire in the AbyssFire in the AbyssFire in the Abyss is a science fiction novel by Stuart Gordon, pen name of Richard Gordon, , having as its main character the Elizabethan adventurer Humphrey Gilbert, an actual historical figure, as a time traveler....
(1983) - Archon (1988)
- The Hidden World (1988)
- Down the Drain: Water, Pollution and Privatisation (1989) - with coauthor Jennie Smith
- The Mask (1990)
- Eye in the Stone (1990)
- The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (1992)
- The complete Moray rambler (1992) - Published under Richard Gordon
- The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends (1993)
- The Book of Miracles: From Lazarus to Lourdes (1995)
- The Book of Hoaxes: An A-Z of famous fakes, frauds and cons (1995)
- The Book of Curses: True Tales of Voodoo, Hoodoo and Hex (1995)
- Round Iverness, The Black Isle and Nairn: Walks and History (1998) - Published under Richard Gordon
- Round Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey: Walks and History (1999) - Published under Richard Gordon
- Round Aberdeen from Beeside to the Deveron (2000) - Published under Richard Gordon