John Lymington

Who was John Lymington?

John Lymington was born John Richard Newton Chance in London. He was a prolific writer of short stories, children's literature, mystery and science fiction novels. An obituary in Ansible Link credits Lymington with writing over 150 novels, 'including 20+ SF potboilers', adding that he 'made a steady income by delivering thrillers to Robert Hale at a chapter a week'.

Lymington's first book, Wheels in the Forest, was written in 1935. He also wrote Night of the Big Heat in 1959. Several of his short stories were collected in The Night Spiders in 1964. Pseudonyms used by Lymington throughout his career included John Drummond, David C. Newton, Desmond Reid and Jonathan Chance. Brian Stableford suggested in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature that the name Lymington was chosen 'in a blatant attempt to cash in' on John Wyndham's popularity.

Chance was educated in a private school in London, and subsequently attended a technical college with the intention of becoming a civil engineer, an ambition which he left behind to become a quantity surveyor. By the age of 21, he decided to give up this job and began to work full-time as a writer.