L. Neil Smith | |
---|---|
Born | Lester Neil Smith III May 12, 1946 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Died | August 27, 2021 Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. | (aged 75)
Occupation | Novelist, activist |
Period | 20th century, 21st century. |
Genre | Libertarian science fiction |
Literary movement | Libertarianism in the United States |
Notable awards | Prometheus Award |
Website | |
www |
Lester Neil Smith III (May 12, 1946 – August 27, 2021 [1]), better known as L. Neil Smith, was an American libertarian science fiction author and political activist. His works include the trilogy of Lando Calrissian novels, all published in 1983: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. He also wrote the novels Pallas, The Forge of the Elders, and The Probability Broach, each of which won the Libertarian Futurist Society's annual Prometheus Award (which Smith personally created) for best libertarian science fiction novel. In 2016, Smith received a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Libertarian Futurist Society.
Smith was born in Denver, Colorado on May 12, 1946. His father was an Air Force officer, and his childhood was spent in various places including Waco, McQueenie, and La Porte, Texas; Salina, Kansas; Sacramento, California; and Gifford, Illinois (all before he completed fifth grade) and then St. John's, Newfoundland and Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, where he graduated from high school. [2]
Several of Smith's works are set in his North American Confederacy universe:
Smith wrote three novels set in the Star Wars expanded universe. All three feature con-artist, associate of Han Solo and previous owner of the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian, first introduced in the film The Empire Strikes Back. The novels take place between Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope:
The three novels were collected as The Lando Calrissian Adventures Omnibus Edition (1994).
Smith joined the Libertarian Party in 1972 (just after its beginnings in 1971). He served on the Platform Committee in 1977 and 1979, and in 1978 ran for the state legislature in Colorado, losing to Ronald Strahle by 10,895 votes to 1,925. [7]
In 1999, Smith announced that he would run for president in 2000 as an independent if his supporters would gather 1,000,000 online petition signatures asking him to run. [8] After failing to achieve even 1,500 signatures, his independent campaign quietly died. He next tried an abortive run for the Libertarian Party nomination, which ended almost as quickly when, in the California primary, Harry Browne overwhelmingly defeated him, 71% to 9%. [9]
Although Browne was chosen by the party's 2000 national convention, Smith, because of a dispute between the Libertarian Party's national organization and its Arizona affiliate, appeared as the Libertarian Party candidate for president on the Arizona ballot. He and running mate Vin Suprynowicz received 5,775 votes in the national election, less than 0.01% of the vote. [10] Shortly thereafter, Smith's supporters announced a new 1,000,000-signature petition drive; however, in late 2003, with the new drive once again failing to achieve even a small fraction of that total, Smith announced that he would not pursue another political office.
Smith endorsed the Free State Project and Badnarik's campaign for president in 2004.
Smith is the founder of, and regularly contributed essays to, The Libertarian Enterprise, an anarcho-capitalist and paleolibertarian journal.
L. Neil Smith | |
---|---|
Born | Lester Neil Smith III May 12, 1946 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Died | August 27, 2021 Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. | (aged 75)
Occupation | Novelist, activist |
Period | 20th century, 21st century. |
Genre | Libertarian science fiction |
Literary movement | Libertarianism in the United States |
Notable awards | Prometheus Award |
Website | |
www |
Lester Neil Smith III (May 12, 1946 – August 27, 2021 [1]), better known as L. Neil Smith, was an American libertarian science fiction author and political activist. His works include the trilogy of Lando Calrissian novels, all published in 1983: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. He also wrote the novels Pallas, The Forge of the Elders, and The Probability Broach, each of which won the Libertarian Futurist Society's annual Prometheus Award (which Smith personally created) for best libertarian science fiction novel. In 2016, Smith received a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Libertarian Futurist Society.
Smith was born in Denver, Colorado on May 12, 1946. His father was an Air Force officer, and his childhood was spent in various places including Waco, McQueenie, and La Porte, Texas; Salina, Kansas; Sacramento, California; and Gifford, Illinois (all before he completed fifth grade) and then St. John's, Newfoundland and Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, where he graduated from high school. [2]
Several of Smith's works are set in his North American Confederacy universe:
Smith wrote three novels set in the Star Wars expanded universe. All three feature con-artist, associate of Han Solo and previous owner of the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian, first introduced in the film The Empire Strikes Back. The novels take place between Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope:
The three novels were collected as The Lando Calrissian Adventures Omnibus Edition (1994).
Smith joined the Libertarian Party in 1972 (just after its beginnings in 1971). He served on the Platform Committee in 1977 and 1979, and in 1978 ran for the state legislature in Colorado, losing to Ronald Strahle by 10,895 votes to 1,925. [7]
In 1999, Smith announced that he would run for president in 2000 as an independent if his supporters would gather 1,000,000 online petition signatures asking him to run. [8] After failing to achieve even 1,500 signatures, his independent campaign quietly died. He next tried an abortive run for the Libertarian Party nomination, which ended almost as quickly when, in the California primary, Harry Browne overwhelmingly defeated him, 71% to 9%. [9]
Although Browne was chosen by the party's 2000 national convention, Smith, because of a dispute between the Libertarian Party's national organization and its Arizona affiliate, appeared as the Libertarian Party candidate for president on the Arizona ballot. He and running mate Vin Suprynowicz received 5,775 votes in the national election, less than 0.01% of the vote. [10] Shortly thereafter, Smith's supporters announced a new 1,000,000-signature petition drive; however, in late 2003, with the new drive once again failing to achieve even a small fraction of that total, Smith announced that he would not pursue another political office.
Smith endorsed the Free State Project and Badnarik's campaign for president in 2004.
Smith is the founder of, and regularly contributed essays to, The Libertarian Enterprise, an anarcho-capitalist and paleolibertarian journal.