Brian Daley
Brian Charles Daley was an American author born on December 22, 1947, in Englewood, New Jersey. Growing up in Rockleigh, he developed a passion for storytelling early on, particularly in the science fiction genre. After serving in the army and spending time in Vietnam, he pursued a degree in media at Jersey City State College, while also working as a waiter. Daley's writing career took off in the late 1970s with his debut novel, *Doomfarers of Coromande*, which was followed by a successful sequel. He gained prominence for his contributions to the Star Wars franchise, particularly through novels centered on the character Han Solo, as well as adaptations of the original trilogy for National Public Radio. Additionally, he collaborated with James Luceno under the pen name Jack McKinney, producing a substantial number of novels in the Robotech series. Daley passed away in 1996 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving behind a legacy of influential science fiction writing. His ability to weave complex narratives and a deep knowledge of the genre contributed to his reputation as a skilled author in the science fiction community.
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Brian Daley
Writer
- Born: December 22, 1947
- Birthplace: Englewood, New Jersey
- Died: February 11, 1996
- Place of death: Arnold, Maryland
Biography
Brian Charles Daley was born on Dec. 22, 1947, in Englewood, New Jersey. He grew up in Rockleigh, New Jersey, with an older brother and younger sister. He read mostly science fiction in his youth, and decided he wanted to write stories himself as early as the third grade.
He graduated from high school in 1965, joined the army, and spent a year in Vietnam before being assigned to Berlin, Germany. On his return to civilian life, he entered Jersey City State College, majoring in media, and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. Del Rey Books bought his first novel, Doomfarers of Coromande (1977) after a good deal of rewriting to editorial specifications. Its alternate-world setting featured a Vietnam veteran helping a rightful ruler of a kingdom combat an evil sorcerer. Its success justified a sequel, The Starfollowers of Coromonde (1979).
He was enchanted by the first Star Wars movie and saw it as a vehicle for bringing science fiction to a mass audience. He got a chance to pick which character he would write about in a planned series of spin-off books. He picked Han Solo, because that character made a moral decision moving him from being outside the law to siding with the good guys. He wrote three prequels to the movie, Han Solo at Star’s End (1979), Han Solo’s Revenge (1979) and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy (1980). He would later write the radio play versions of the first three Star Wars movies for broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR).
His most acclaimed novel may be A Tapestry of Magics (1983), which brings in characters from elsewhere, real and fictional. His Alacrity FitzHugh galactic adventure series includes Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds (1985), Jinx on a Terran Inheritance (1985) and Fall of the White Ship Avatar (1986).
As Jack McKinney, a pen name he shared with James Luceno, he wrote about half of the first twenty-one Robotech novels, followed by the Sentinels series that expanded the Robotech universe, and the Black Hole Travel Agency series. Luceno has said Daley had an encyclopedic knowledge of the areas in which he wrote and could produce prose in half the time it took most writers. Their final collaboration was The End of the Circle (1989), which wrapped up many of the plotlines from the Robotech and Sentinels series. Luceno continued writing under the McKinney pseudonym. He wrote until shortly before his death.
He died early in 1996 of complications from the pancreatic cancer he had battled for about a year. He adapted the last of his three beloved three Star Wars movies, Return of the Jedi, for radio while undergoing chemotherapy. He died the morning after the wrap party for the recording of the radio series, where he had been toasted by the NPR performers.