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John Keith Laumer (1925–1993) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force (which provided background for his Bolo series) and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service (which provided ample source material for his Retief series). His older brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Laumer’s The Other Side of Time). Frank Laumer, their youngest brother, is a historian and writer.

Keith Laumer was born in Syracuse, New York. He attended Indiana University, 1943-44, and then served in the United States Army in the Second World War in Europe. He later attended Stockholm University, 1948-49, and then received a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1950 from the University of Illinois. He served twice in the US Air Force, 1953-56 and 1960-65, attaining the rank of Captain in the latter tour. In between the two terms in the military, Laumer was a member of the US Foreign Service in South Asia.

In the late 1950s, Laumer returned to Florida and purchased a small two-acre island on a lake in Hernando County near Weeki Wachee. He resided there the rest of his life.

Around this time he turned his attention to writing science fiction. His first work, a short story, was published in April 1959.

Today Laumer is remembered for the Bolo and Retief stories. Stories from the former chronicle the evolution of super tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states “I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service.”

In addition to his Bolo and Retief stories, Laumer’s more serious adventures included the subjects of time travel and alternate-world adventures such as found in his The Other Side of Time, A Trace of Memory, and Dinosaur Beach.

Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations (“In the Queue” was nominated for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons (1965) received a nomination for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.

—Karl Wurf

Rockville, Maryland

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