2/3: Ben Bova & Myron R. Lewis - The Dueling Machine

• published: 06 Dec 2014
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Benjamin William Bova (born November 8, 1932) is an American author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, six-time winner of the Hugo Award, a former editor of Analog magazine, a former editorial director of Omni (magazine), a past president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America, and lives in Florida". Bova worked as a technical writer for Project Vanguard in the 1950s and later for the Avco Everett Research Laboratory[6] in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. At Avco Everett he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz (later of the Foresight Institute). In 1972, Bova became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death in 1971. At Analog, Bova won six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor. After leaving Analog in 1978, he went on to edit Omni during 1978–1982. In 1974, he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science-fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search". Bova served as the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode (1973). His novel The Starcrossed, loosely based on his experiences, featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. Bova dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project. Bova holds the position of President Emeritus of the National Space Society and served as President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1990 to 1992. Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ed.D. (from California Coast University) in 1996. Bova has drawn on his experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists. As of 2010, Bova has written over 115 books – non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he attended the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000) as the Author Guest of Honor. Recently, Hollywood has taken an interest in Bova's works because of his wealth of knowledge about science and about what the future may look like. In 2007, Stuber/Parent Productions hired him as a consultant to provide insight into what the world may look like in the near future for their film Repo Men (2010) starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker; also in 2007 he provided consulting services to Silver Pictures on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's novel Altered Carbon. In 2007, Velocity Management became Ben Bova's literary manager. THE DUELING MACHINE...... is the solution to settling disputes without injury. After you and your opponent select weapons and environments you are injected into an artificial reality where you fight to the virtual death… but no one actually gets hurt. That is, until a warrior from the Kerak Empire figures a way to execute real-world killings from within the machine. Now its inventor Dr. Leoh has to prevent his machine from becoming a tool of conquest. – The Dueling Machine, written with Myron R. Lewis, first appeared in the May, 1963 issue of Analog Science Fact & Fiction. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------