RAYMOND F. JONES

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Obituary for Raymond F. Jones
Published in the Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1994

Raymond Fisher Jones, age 78,
died January 24, 1994, in Sandy, Utah.

Born Nov. 17, 1915, in Salt Lake City, a son of David F. Jones and Josephine Anderson. He attended the University of Utah. He served as an LDS missionary in Galveston, Texas mission. Married Elaine Kimball, June 27, 1940 in the Salt Lake Temple. She died July 23, 1970. Married Lillian Wats May 2, 1973.

Ray worked for the Weather Bureau and the Genealogical Society for many years. He was active in genealogy work his entire life. He retired from Sperry Utah as a publications engineer after 15 years. He was a well known writer of science, fact and fiction, both as a profession and a hobby. He sold his first story to a magazine at the age of 17. He published over 15 books and hundreds of magazine articles. One of his first books, This Island Earth, was made into a motion picture and was one of the earliest science fiction movies ever made.

Survived by his five children: David (Darla), Richard (Shirley), Laura Miller (Lee), Mary Gardner (Joe), Peggy Lovell (David), all of Salt Lake City; 18 grandchildren; his wife, Lillian and her five children, Jeff, Claudia, Laye Lynn, David, DeLyle, and two sisters-in-law, Lenore Nitsch; Joyce Hancock (Leonard). Preceded in death by grandson, Rayan Kimball Jones.

Funeral services will be Thursday, January 27, 11 a.m. at Winder Sixth Ward Chapel, 4366 So. 1500 East, Holladay. Friends may call Wednesday 6-8 p.m. at Jenkins Soffe Mortuary, 4760 So. State, Murray and 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services at the church. Interment, Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Other obituaries for Raymond F. Jones appeared in:
Science Fiction Chronicle, June 1994.
Locus magazine, May 1994 (v32:5, No. 400).

Trivia and Points of Interest

The Unofficial Raymond F. Jones Website was founded in 1999.

The first story I ever read by Jones was "The Non-Statistical Man".

A fascinating and insightful biography of Raymond F. Jones can be found at his son Richard Jones' website: www.mindspring.com/~kimball3

A transcript of a letter to Raymond F. Jones, dated July 4th, 1953, from John W. Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, can be found in the following book: The John W. Campbell Letters, ed. G. Hay, T. Chapdelaine, P. A. Chapdelaine & S. Doyle, AC Projects, Inc., 1985.

Jones' personal interests outside of writing science fiction included photography, model railroading, anthropology and archaeology.

Non-fiction books by Raymond F. Jones

Stories of Great Physicians
Whitman, 1963

The World of Weather
Whitman, 1961

Animals of Long Ago
Whitman, 1965

Physicians of Tomorrow
Reilly & Lee, 1971

Radar: How it Works
G.P. Putnams, 1972

Ice Formation on Aircraft
World Meteorological Organization (Geneva), 1968

Articles by Raymond F. Jones

"Pigeon Sense" (a scientific article about the use of radar during World War Two)
Astounding Science Fiction, March 1945

Comments from fans

"Richard, great page! Thanks! I started reading Jones's SF in the early sixties as a teen. None of my friends ever heard of him and I was never able to share my love of his stories. I don't think I had thought about him for many years until I was in a used book store a few weeks ago and happened upon Weeping May Tarry which I am in the middle of reading. It occurred to me just yesterday to search the web for him. I am sad to see that he has passed away but yours was the first picture of him I had seen and I was so glad to see that there are others who appreciate his talents. I do a number of web pages (professional and otherwise) myself so I appreciate the work you've put into yours. Keep up the good work!"
George David

"Good site, nice to meet a fellow fan. In my opinion Raymond F Jones is the unsung hero of the SF field."
Bill Goldup

"Hello, I am also a fan of Jones' work, and I'm glad to see that he isn't forgotten. One of the favorite books of my childhood was (and is) The Year When Stardust Fell."
Dwight E Belyeu

"This is just a note of thanks for your wonderful web site dedicated to Raymond F. Jones. In the summer of 1958 I was in the 7th grade. During the last week of class we were told that we could borrow a book to read for the summer. I went to the book shelf at the rear of the classroom under those enormous windows and found Son of the Stars. Thus began my life-long love for SF. When the summer was over I located the sequel Planet of Light. Years later I found a book store in Manhattan that specialized in old books and was able to obtain copies. I now live in North Florida and it was during a moment of nostalgia that I did a name search for the author and found your site. Keep up the good work."
Bob Dezendorf

"I was very pleased to find such an excellent site devoted to Raymond F. Jones. I've read a few of his books and enjoyed them all. He's never been too popular, and I was afraid that he had been forgotten - and lo and behold, there's your site! There are so many other excellent SF authors who have truly been forgotten, but your site shows that Raymond F. Jones is clearly not one of them. The first 80 pages of Renaissance is some of the best SF I've ever read (and I've read qutie a bit!)."
Isaac Wilcott

"Just got a computer and browsing sites on authors I used to enjoy, your site came up and I want to thank you for it. So much on it I didn't know, thank you for taking the time to put it together. He was a marvelously engaging writer to me, and you have added to that another dimension of appreciation, thanks."
Ian Cairns

"Thank you for your Raymond F. Jones page...I am 56 years old and have been reading SF since I was 12. As a kid, I was interested in science and especially electronics, an engineering discipline, and when I realized that people like Mr. Jones were engineers who wrote about engineers and engineering, I was thrilled! I remember reading Son of the Stars when I was in 7th grade (US reckoning) and I was not only impressed by the technical parts (much discussion of alien radio equipment vs Terran stuff) but also by the way RFJ treated the issues of the difficulties outsiders and earth people might have, should contact actually happen. After all, if humans can't get along with each other simply because of skin color and very minor facial features, what chance have we with others? Once again, thanks for the RFJ material.
Paul Egly

A special thank you to everyone who has e-mailed me about the website over the past few years. Your positive comments have been greatly appreciated.
R. Simms

Other Authors

I enjoy reading many authors and some of my favourites are: Edward D. Hoch, Henry Slesar, Arthur Porges, Raymond F. Jones, Amelia Reynolds Long, Jack Vance, Clifford D. Simak, Robert Sheckley, Clark Ashton Smith, Edmund Cooper, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, Zenna Henderson, Ross Rocklynne, Robert Silverberg, Jack Ritchie, Stanley G. Weinbaum, H. Beam Piper, Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, Fredric Brown, Gordon R. Dickson, Frank O' Rourke, Robert F. Young, Alan E. Nourse, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Nictzin Dyalhis, Clare Winger Harris, Arthur Tofte, Mary Williams, David R. Bunch, Basil Wells, Talmage Powell, H. B. Hickey, Ed Lacy, C. T. Stoneham, Arthur Sellings, Audrey Erskine Lindop, Eando Binder, E. C. Tubb, L. P. Davies, Mary Gallati, Paul Feakes, Sydney J. Bounds, Elijah Ellis, Rosemary Timperley, Hugh B. Cave, Kathleen Sky, Elizabeth Myers, Anne Frank, F. W. Thomas, Philip E. High, A. G. Gardiner (Alpha of the Plough), Ursula Bloom, Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Jacobi, Margaret St. Clair, Phyllis Eisenstein, Eric Frank Russell and Frank Sisk.

Copyright © 1999 Richard Simms