James Duncan Lawrence
Personal Information
Description
Jim Lawrence was born in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, then earned a degree in education from Wayne University in Detroit. He went on to earn a degree in mechanical engineering from the Detroit Institute of Technology. In 1939 he married. In 1940 he began teaching art at Detroit public schools, supplementing his income with jobs as a factory hand, office clerk, and safety engineer. In 1941 he was hired as a writer by the Jam Handy Organization, a producer of short educational and commercial movies, where he wrote scripts for naval and military training films. He began writing freelance for children's magazines as well, and in 1944 he decided to become a freelance writer full-time. In 1949 he was hired to write scripts for the radio show Challenge of the Yukon. He went on to write for other radio shows such as The Green Hornet, Sky King, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and The Silver Eagle. From the mid-1950s to 1967 he worked for the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, producing several of the Hardy Boys books under the house pseudonym "Franklin W. Dixon," some of the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books using the pseudonyms "Carolyn Keene" and "Sherry Lemmon", and 23 of the 33 Tom Swift, Jr. books under the house pseudonym "Victor Appleton II." From 1967 to 1969 he also contributed to the Christopher Cool series under the shared pseudonym "Jack Lancer." He also produced fiction under his own name, including Binky Brothers, Detectives (1968) and Binky Brothers and the Fearless Four (1971), both in collaboration with Leonard P. Kessler. In the late 1970s, he wrote the Man From Planet-X series under the pseudonym "Hunter Adams." In the 1980s, he wrote for Infocom, a software company that produced interactive fiction. He co-wrote two games for them, Seastalker (1984) and Moonmist (1986).
Books
The James Bond omnibus
ESPIONAGE & SPY THRILLER. The daring James Bond is back in a definitive bumper edition collecting more of Jim Lawrence's celebrated run in comic strip form! It includes nine of Bond's most thrilling and dangerous missions: Till Death Do Us Part, The Torch-Time Affair, Hot-Shot Nightbird, Ape of Diamonds, When The Wizard Awakes, Sea Dragon, Death Wing, and The Xanadu Connection!
Tom Swift and his Ultrasonic Cycloplane
"There's part of Bud's wrecked plane!" Hovering his new cycloplane, the Drumhawk, in turbulent skies above the wilds of the New Guinea jungle, Tom Swift Jr. points to the sheared-off wing of his friend's plane. The area, flanked by two extinct volcanoes, is as forbidding as the deserted native huts clustered in sinister shadows. Without Tom's latest aircraft, which uses ultrasonic rotating drums to provide lift, a rescue attempt would be impossible. Battling violent weather conditions, the young inventor lands the Drumhawk and organizes a rescue expedition. Hazards are encountered from hostile natives who fire barrage after barrage of razor-sharp stone missiles and from a scientist with a deadly ray weapon. Tormented constantly by crafty enemies and nature's perils in the search of Bud, the rescuers unearth a clue that the young pilot is a prisoner of an unscrupulous group of white men who have discovered a fabulous ancient secret and are utilizing it for nefarious purposes. How Tom, at the risk of his own life, outwits Bud's captors and opens up a new field for science makes tense, exciting reading.
Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite
Consternation and panic grip the world as a strange new moon shoots earthward. Millions of people are relieved when the weird, glowing runaway moon in the sky finally goes into orbit 50,000 miles from earth. Tom Swift Jr., who has developed a machine that will produce artificial earth-type gravity in the airless void of space, makes plans to explore this new satellite. In the gigantic, atomic spaceship Titan, Tom and his associates land on the mysterious moonlet and claim the bleak but fabulously rich possession for the United States. While exploring the satellite to pinpoint the best location for setting up the young inventor's atmosphere-making machine, Swift expedition scouts discover a spaceship belonging to a hostile nation. Claiming first right to the moon because of prior landing, the foreign scientists try every means to annihilate Tom and his group. How Tom succeeds in proving the Brungarian claim invalid, and saves his associates from being set adrift in outer space, will keep the reader spellbound to the very last page of this spine-tingling adventure.
Tom Swift and his Triphibian Atomicar
An atomic-powered car that travels on land, water, and through the air -- Tom Swift Jr.'s latest invention -- is an extraordinary achievement. But even its young inventor could not anticipate what a dramatic role the Triphibian Atomicar would play in a technical aid mission which takes Tom and his top-flight engineers to the untamed Asian land of Kabulistan, to help the new republic develop its natural resources. Time and again Tom must pit his skill and courage against fierce, nomadic tribesmen. But this is not a one-sided conflict between the ancient and the modern. Beneath the façade of thunderous hoofbeats, spears, and scimitars is a scientific mastermind bent on destroying the members of the Swift expedition in order to conceal from the Kabulistan government his discovery of a fabulous ruby mine lost for two centuries. After a series of danger-packed episodes, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay are caught in a seemingly inextricable, underground trap. How Tom builds a "do-it-yourself" rocket in a cavern laboratory and sends it homing for aid is a brilliant stroke of ingenuity. The young scientist-inventor's daring exploits in the primitive Middle East country of Kabulistan will keep the reader breathless with suspense until the last page of this gripping story.
Tom Swift and his Sonic Boom Trap
A weird blast of sound engulfs an American city. Tom is caught in the panic while visiting there to demonstrate his new sonic boom deadener--the Silentenna--at a Noise Reduction Conference. A top-rank scientist, John Wyvern, who is also attending the conference, mysteriously vanishes the day of the sonic attack. Attempts on the lives of both Tom and Wyvern's pretty daughter intensify the young inventor's determination to solve the mystery. A clue to John Wyvern's whereabouts takes Tom to the sun-scorched Australian Outback, where he uses his latest invention-- robot bloodhound--to track down the missing scientist, but a deadly bush fire wipes out the trail. Meanwhile, other cities in the United States have suffered terrifying eruptions of sound. The President receives an unsigned ultimatum, threatening an all-out sonic blitz unless the blackmailer's price of ten million dollars is paid. Tom's Silentenna offers the only hope of defense--but to perfect it he needs a special liquid-crystal device which only the missing scientist can supply. The young inventor's race against time to thwart the unknown sonic enemy will keep every reader's pulse pounding with excitement and suspense.
Shark bait
Twelve-year-old Mokes is torn between obeying his father, the police chief in the small town of Kailua, Hawaii, and being with his friends who plan to go see a fight between an island boy and a sailor.
Tom Swift and his Atomic Earth Blaster
Furious Antarctic storms and ruthless enemies stalk Tom Swift Jr. And his latest atomic invention, the earth blaster, in book number five of this thrilling science-adventure series. When Tom chooses the South Pole as the spot to hunt for molten iron with his earth blaster, his closest friends raise their eyebrows. Even Chow Winkler, the expedition's genial Texan cook, says, "Brand my thermopile, if the young inventor ain't plumb loco!" First Tom has to convince the skeptics about the value of his earth blaster. Preliminary tests prove that it is one of the greatest inventions the world has ever known. When spies of the Kranjovian government learn about the project, it becomes a race to see who will reach the South Pole first. Tom risks his life and al the funds of Swift Enterprises to launch the expedition. With his pal Bud Barclay, Chow, and a group of top-flight technicians, he braves the white fury of the Antarctic ice barriers to set up operations. But the Kranjogians seem to have beaten him to it! In the nerve-racking and chill-packed days that follow, the young inventor is faced with one of the greatest challenges in his career. The outcome hangs in the balance down to the last page of this dynamic story. Read it to see how Tom Swift Jr. startles the world when his atomic earth blaster starts the most phenomenal gusher known to man!
Tom Swift and the Asteroid Pirates
A violent explosion in space touches off one of the most thrill-packed adventures in Tom Swift Jr.'s scientific career. The appalling news that a cargo rocket has disintegrated while en route with vital supplies to Swift Enterprises' research base on the asteroid, Nestria, sounds a grim warning that the lives of Nestria's personnel are at stake.
Tom Swift and his Polar-Ray Dynasphere
An unidentified rocket ship crashes into the Swifts' outpost in space and vanished before Tom can track it down. Shortly after comes the startling news that a Mars probe rocket, vital to the United States space program, has failed to respond to signals to bring it back to earth. Tom is confident that with his latest invention -- the Polar-Ray Dynasphere -- he can retrieve the stranded missile. But a web of espionage threatens his plan. A clue to the solution of the mystery prompts Tom to accept an invitation from the young Prince Jahan to visit his native land of Vishnapur in the snow-peaked Himalayas north of India. In this remote Oriental kingdom, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay visit a strange lake of death and sight the tracks of a weird monster said to prowl the lake at night. Tom conceives an ingenious plan for draining the poison lake with the Dynasphere mounted aboard his new spacecraft, the Dyna Ranger, so that the valley may be turned into valuable farmland. Fireball missiles and a hairbreadth encounter with a charging tiger are only two of the perils that confront the daring young inventor in this colorful, thrill-packed adventure.
Tom Swift and his Electronic Retroscope
Enraged Jaguars, violent winds of hurricane force, and a mysterious "giant" who roams the jungle around the Mayan village in Yucatan, Mexico, where Tom is encamped, are only a few of the perils that the young inventor encounters during his thrilling expedition. But even more feared by the young inventor is an unknown saboteur, intent on destroying Tom's two latest inventions -- the electronic retroscope camera and his "parachute" plane, designed for landing in small areas. Undaunted by the hazards that surround him and assisted by the friendly natives, Tom perseveres in his objectives. He tests his paraplane for landing maneuverability in densely grown jungle areas, and uses his retroscope (magic to the natives!) to restore -- photographically -- ancient carvings and writing on old Mayan relics. Tom is astounded when he discovers that some of the carved symbols are similar to the mathematical symbols used by his mysterious friends in outer space to communicate with him. Is it possible, Tom wonders, that beings from another planet actually landed in Yucatan centuries ago? What happens to Tom and his friends as they seek the answer to this question in the dark depths of a buried temple will hold every reader in gripping suspense to the last line of this challenging adventure.
Binky brothers, detectives
When the Binky brothers get a case involving a missing catcher's mitt, the younger brother proves the better detective and establishes his right to be a full partner in the agency.
Tom Swift and his Outpost in Space
Tom Swift, Jr., aided by his friend Bud Barclay, overcomes several sabotage attempts while trying to design and build the first solar-operated space station.
Binky Brothers and the Fearless Four
When the snow fort is threatened and then wrecked, the obvious suspect is the new boy in the neighborhood.
Tom Swift and his Spectromarine Selector
"We're trapped a mile below the ocean's surface," Tom Swift announces to his companions as calmly as possible. His father and Bud Barclay exchange fearful glances in the air-bubble elevator stopped in its undersea descent by a jammed cable. This close call is only one of the many hazards which beset Tom on his most challenging deep-sea venture -- a trip to the ancient city of gold on the ocean bottom. Here, with his pal Bud Barclay and other members of the Swift expedition, Tom tests his two new inventions. With the de-organic-izer, which employs revolutionary scientific principles, crusts of centuries-old sea growth are removed from the city's buildings and the original gold luster restored. With his other astounding invention -- the spectromarine selector -- Tom searches for a valuable new rare metal. He must succeed, if his father is to fill an important government rocket contract. A terrifying sea monster, an abandoned submarine containing human skeletons, a near-fatal leak in the hydrodome over the scene of operations, and the unexpected appearance of an enemy fail to daunt Tom in his mammoth undertakings. How the young scientist-inventor achieves his goals is told dramatically in this thrill-packed story of undersea adventure. - Jacket flap.
ESP McGee and the haunted mansion
Convinced that something spooky is going to happen at the old Frome mansion, Edward "ESP" McGee and his best friend, Matt Terrell, decide to test McGee's ESP and explore the supposedly empty house.
Tom Swift and his Subocean Geotron
The young scientist-inventor embarks on one of the most challenging missions of his adventure-packed career. The mission: recover a valuable cache left on Earth thousands of years ago by colonists from another planet. Can Tom locate it before his deadly foe the Kranjovians seize the capsule? Clues to the cache lead him to a location beneath the ocean floor -- near strange Easter Island, with its eerie ruins. Further search is impossible until Tom can invent and build a manned, burrowing mole-mobile -- the Geotron. Tom and his close pal Bud Barclay race against time in an equally challenging project: to build a unique aquarium and stock it with rare species of deep-sea life. If they fail to meet the deadline, a donor's bequest goes to the despotic Kranjovian government. Their desperate contest with the Kranjovians propels Tom and Bud into a series of hair-raising perils. Tom's weird ordeal as a "bird man" of Rano Kao; the boy's narrow escape from being buried alive in a cave; their life-or-death undersea duel for the priceless cache -- all go to make up this electrifying, suspense-filled adventure.
Tom Swift and his Aquatomic Tracker
Tom Swift and his pal Bud Barclay embark on one of the greatest scientific adventures of the century -- a daring underwater crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, equipped only with Tom's electronic hydrolung suits! Hundreds of miles from land, the hydrolung batteries inexplicably go dead and the two boys are dramatically rescued in the dark of night. Examination of their equipment reveals sabotage. A complex clue leads Tom to believe there is a connection between the sabotaging of the hydrolung and the sinking of the SS Centurion--which went down in mid-Atlantic with a fortune in gold bullion and a world-famous statue aboard. After making good on their second attempt to accomplish the nonstop swim under the Atlantic, Tom and Bud are given the assignment of salvaging the Centurion's valuable cargo. To locate the sunken ship, Tom designs the aquatomic tracker, an astounding device that detects and identifies metallic and chemical traces left by an object in water, then tracks the object. How the young scientist-inventor outwits the vicious saboteurs and traps the most fiendishly clever mastermind of crime he has ever met makes a fast-moving story of super-suspense.