James Duncan Lawrence (author)

James Duncan Lawrence ((1918-10-22)October 22, 1918 – (1994-03-19)March 19, 1994) was an American author, best known for authoring most of the Tom Swift Jr. series of books under the pseudonym Victor Appleton II.

Biography[]

Lawrence was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1918.^[1][2][3]

As a freelance writer in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he wrote scripts for a number of radio shows, including The Green Hornet and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.^[3]

In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for the Stratemeyer Syndicate on a number of series (listed in the Bibliography).^[3]

Lawrence died in Summit, New Jersey in 1994.^[1]

Bibliography[]

Tom Swift Jr. series[]

He wrote the following books in the Tom Swift Jr. series under the Stratemeyer Syndicate house pseudonym Victor Appleton II:

• Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster (1954)
• Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space (1955)/1977 reissue title: …And His Sky Wheel
• Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter (1956)
• Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite (1956)
• Tom Swift and His Ultrasonic Cycloplane (1957)
• Tom Swift and His Deep Sea Hydrodome (1958)
• Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon (1958)
• Tom Swift and Space Solartron (1958)
• Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope (1959)/1972 Reissue Title: …In The Jungle of the Mayas
• Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector (1960)
• Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts (1960)
• Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X (1961)
• Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung (1961)
• Tom Swift and His Triphibian Atomicar (1962)
• Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober (1962)
• Tom Swift and the Asteroid Pirates (1963)
• Tom Swift and His Repelatron Skyway (1963)
• Tom Swift and His Aquatomic Tracker (1964)
• Tom Swift and His 3-D Telejector (1964)
• Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere (1965)
• Tom Swift and His Sonic Boom Trap (1965)
• Tom Swift and His Subocean Geotron (1966)
• Tom Swift and the Mystery Comet (1966)
• Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid (1967)

Hardy Boys series[]

He revised the following books in the Hardy Boys series under the Stratemeyer Syndicate house pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon:

• The Mystery at Devil's Paw (1959)
• A Figure in Hiding (1965)
• The Secret Warning (1966)
• The Disappearing Floor (1964)
• The Sting of the Scorpion (1979)

Nancy Drew series[]

He wrote the following books in the Nancy Drew series under the Stratemeyer Syndicate house pseudonym Carolyn Keene:

• Race Against Time (1982)
• Clue of the Ancient Disguise (1982)
• The Silver Cobweb (1983)
• The Haunted Carousel (1983)
• Enemy Match (1984)
• The Mysterious Image (1984)
• The Bluebeard Room (1985)
• The Phantom of Venice (1985)

Christopher Cool series[]

He wrote the following books in the Christopher Cool series under the Stratemeyer Syndicate house pseudonym Jack Lancer:

• X Marks the Spy (1967)
• Mission: Moonfire (1967)
• Department of Danger (1967)
• Ace of Shadows (1967)
• Heads You Lose (1968)
• Trial by Fury (1969)

Binky Brothers series[]

Along with Leonard P. Kessler, he wrote the following books in the Binky Brothers series:

• Binky Brothers, Detectives (1968)
• Binky Brothers and the Fearless Four (1970)

Man From Planet X series[]

Writing as Hunter Adams, he wrote the following books in the Man From Planet X series:

• Man From Planet X: The She-Beast (1975)
• Man From Planet X: Tiger by the Tail (1975)
• Man From Planet X: The Devil to Pay (1975)

James Bond comic strip[]

In 1969, he took over as the writer for the James Bond syndicated comic strip.^[4]

Among the titles were:

• The Man with the Golden Gun (1966)
• Octopussy (1966)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1967)

The complete list is given in James Bond comic strips.

References[]