Andrew J. Offutt

Q: When did Andrew J. Offutt die?

Andrew J. Offutt died on April 30, 2013 in Morehead.

Q: How old was Andrew J. Offutt when they died?

Andrew J. Offutt was 78 years old at the time of death.

Q: What was Andrew J. Offutt's cause of death?

The cause of death of Andrew J. Offutt was cirrhosis.

Q: When was Andrew J. Offutt born?

Andrew J. Offutt was born on August 16, 1934 in Louisville.

Q: What was Andrew J. Offutt's occupation?

Andrew J. Offutt was a novelist.

Andrew Jefferson Offutt V (August 16, 1934 – April 30, 2013) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and erotic fiction author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A. J. Offutt, and Andy Offutt, often stylized in all lowercase. His erotica appeared under seventeen different pseudonyms, principally John Cleve, John Denis, Jeff Morehead, and Turk Winter.

The Sword of Skelos (1979), one of Offutt's contributions to the Conan The Barbarian saga, included a short, facetious biographical note:

"Andrew J. Offutt is the recently 'tired and re-tired', as he puts it, president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He loves heroic fantasy though at 6' 1" he is built for speed, not combat. Kentuckian Offutt has a number of other books in and out of print, and has been a helpless fan of Robert E. Howard since birth. Now he calls himself the Steve Garvey among writers; 'Surely it's every boy's dream to grow up—but not too much—and get to write about Conan'. Offutt researches with gusto, both in and out of books, having—briefly and painfully, he says—worn chainmail and helm and wielded sword. He is also tired of aged, bald, ugly, sexless mages and squeaky females in heroic fantasy".

Life and family

Offutt was born in a log cabin near Taylorsville, Kentucky. He was married for more than 50 years to Jodie McCabe Offutt of Lexington, Kentucky. They had four children: writer Chris Offutt; Jeff Offutt, Professor of Software Engineering at George Mason University; Scotty Hyde, copy editor for the Park City Daily News in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Melissa Offutt, a sales executive for Sprint in San Diego. Offutt also had five grandchildren, Sam, Steffi, James, Joyce, and Andrew.

Career in speculative fiction

Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story "And Gone Tomorrow" in the If. Despite this early sale, he did not consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story "Blacksword" to Galaxy in 1959. His first true science fiction novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970. Offutt disliked the title of this book, calling it "embarrassingly amateur".

Offutt wrote numerous novels and short stories, including several in the "Thieves World" series edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which feature his best known character, the thief, Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His "Iron Lords" series, likewise, was popular. Offutt also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard. There was a series on Howard's best known character, Conan, and another one on the less known Cormac mac Art—an Irish Viking active in King Arthur's time. In fact, Offutt wrote about him far more extensively than did Howard himself.

As "John Cleve", Offutt also wrote the 19-book erotic science fiction series "Spaceways", over half of which were collaborations.

As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint. From 1976 to 1978 he served as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).

Career in erotica

Offutt wrote at least 420 pornographic/erotic works under seventeen different pen-names and house-names, including Opal Andrews, "Anonymous," Joe Brown, John Cleve, Camille Colben, Jack Cory, Jeremy Crebb, P. N. Dedeaux, John Denis, Jeff Douglas, Farrah Fawkes, Baxter Giles, Alan Marshall, Jeff Morehead, J. (John) X. Williams, Turk Winter, and Jeff Woodson. The first was Bondage Babes, published under the name Alan Marshall by Greenleaf in 1968; the first appearance of his principal pen name, John Cleve, was on Slave of the Sudan in 1969.

According to his son Chris Offutt he came to regard Cleve as more a separate persona than a pen name, and his other aliases as Cleve's pen names, not his own. As "Cleve" he published more than 130 works of erotica before the market for erotica dried up about 1985; afterwards, turning to self-publishing, he issued 260 more as Turk Winter (an early "Cleve" pen name) over the next twenty-five years. Thirty more remained unpublished at the time of his death. So prolific was Offutt in this area that in summing up his writing career his son Chris wrote that he "came to understand that my father had passed as a science-fiction writer while actually pursuing a 50-year career as a pornographer."

About Andrew J. Offutt

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Life and family

Career in speculative fiction

Career in erotica

Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge

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1.Where was Andrew J. Offutt born?

2.Which of these individuals was one of Andrew J. Offutt's children?

3.What was the name of the first story Andrew J. Offutt published in 1954?

4.How did Andrew J. Offutt characterize the title of his first science fiction novel, Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards?

5.Which of these characters was Andrew J. Offutt's best-known creation in the Thieves' World series?

6.Andrew J. Offutt wrote about which character more extensively than did the character's original creator, Robert E. Howard?

7.Which organization did Andrew J. Offutt serve as president of from 1976 to 1978?

8.What is the name of the anthology series edited by Andrew J. Offutt that included Charles de Lint's first professional sale?

9.Approximately how many pornographic or erotic works did Andrew J. Offutt write under his various pen names?

10.What was the name of the first erotic work published by Andrew J. Offutt in 1968?

11.Which pseudonym did Andrew J. Offutt come to regard as a separate persona rather than just a pen name?

12.After the market for erotica decreased around 1985, which pseudonym did Andrew J. Offutt use to self-publish 260 works?

13.How long was Andrew J. Offutt married to his wife, Jodie McCabe Offutt?

14.In the facetious biographical note for The Sword of Skelos, how tall did Andrew J. Offutt claim to be?

15.What is the specific date of Andrew J. Offutt's death?

16.How many erotic works remained unpublished at the time of Andrew J. Offutt's death?

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