Editing James White (author)

{{Short description|Northern Irish science fiction author (1928–1999)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name         = James White
| image        = James White 01.png
| caption      = 
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1928|4|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Belfast]], Northern Ireland
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1999|8|23|1928|4|7|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Portstewart]], Northern Ireland
| occupation   = Author
| spouse       = {{marriage|Margaret "Peggy" Sarah Martin|1955}}
| children     = 3
| period       = 
| genre        = Science fiction
| movement     = 
| notableworks = {{cslist|[[Sector General]] series|''[[Second Ending]]''|''[[The Escape Orbit]]'', also titled ''Open Prison'' |semi=true}}
| website      = {{URL|sectorgeneral.com}}
}}
'''James White''' (7 April 1928 – 23 August 1999) was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. After a few years working in the clothing industry, he worked at [[Short Brothers]] Ltd., an aircraft company based in Belfast, from 1965 until taking early retirement in 1984 as a result of [[diabetes]]. White married Margaret Sarah Martin, another science fiction fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children. He died of a stroke.

He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two [[fanzine|fan magazines]], from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his [[first novel]] was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the [[Sector General]] series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.

White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of [[dramatic tension]] in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.

==Biography==
James White was born to a Catholic family in [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]], on 7 April 1928, and spent part of his early life in Canada.<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/sep/29/guardianobituaries|title=James White (obituary)|last=Andrews|first=G.|date=29 September 1999|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=24 November 2009|location=England}}</ref> He was educated in Belfast at St. John's Primary School (1935–1941) and St. Joseph's Technical Secondary School (1942–1943).<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> As a teenager he lived with foster parents.<ref name="SFRevuNov1998WhiteInterview">{{Cite news
| url=http://www.sfrevu.com/ISSUES/1998/9811/DEFAULT.HTM#Interviews | access-date=21 December 2008
| title=Focus On: Author James White | newspaper=SFRevue | volume=2 | issue=11 |date=November 1998}}</ref> He wanted to study medicine but financial circumstances prevented this. Between 1943 and 1965 he worked for several Belfast tailoring firms and then as assistant manager of a [[The Co-operative Group|Co-op]] [[department store]]. He married Margaret ("Peggy") Sarah Martin, another science fiction fan,<ref name="Ryder1991WhiteInterview" /> in 1955 and the couple had three children: daughter Patricia, and sons Martin and Peter. White later worked for the aeroplane builders [[Short Brothers]] Ltd. as a technical clerk (1965–1966), publicity assistant (1966–1968), and publicity officer (1968–1984).<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio">{{cite web | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | access-date=17 December 2008 | title=Dr. Kilcasey in Space: A Bio-bibliography of James White | author=Andrews, G. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207013020/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | archive-date=7 February 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="DictLitBioJames White">{{Cite book
| contribution=James White
| title=Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 261, British Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers Since 1960
| publisher=Gale Research Publications
| url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/james-white-dlb/ | access-date=17 December 2008
}}</ref>

He became a science fiction fan in 1941, attracted particularly by the works of [[E. E. Smith|E. E. "Doc" Smith]], which featured good aliens as well as evil ones, and of [[Robert A. Heinlein]], many of whose stories concern ordinary people. In 1947 he met another Irish fan, [[Walt Willis|Walter A. ("Walt") Willis]], and the two helped to produce the fan magazines ''[[Slant (fanzine)|Slant]]'' (1948–1953) and ''[[Hyphen (fanzine)|Hyphen]]'' (1952–1965),<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref name="sfwaWalterWillisObit">{{cite web
| url=http://www.sfwa.org/News/willis.htm | access-date=17 December 2008
| title=Walter Alexander Willis (1919–1999) | publisher=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000204062317/http://www.sfwa.org/News/willis.htm | archive-date=4 February 2000
}}</ref><ref name="James White">{{cite book | title=The First Protector (Earth: Final Conflict) | author=James White | publisher=Tor Books | date=March 2000 | isbn=978-0-312-84890-3 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/firstprotector00whit }}</ref> which featured stories and articles by noted authors including [[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]], [[A. Bertram Chandler]], and [[Bob Shaw]]. In 2004 both White and Willis were nominated for the retrospective [[Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer]] of 1953, although neither won.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.frankwu.com/hugo2004anon.html | access-date=19 December 2008
| title=2004 Hugo Awards and Retro Hugo Awards
}}</ref> <!-- White's main contribution was artwork, but he became interested in writing as the magazines used an increasing amount of art from noted professional illustrator [[Gerard Quinn]].<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> -->White said that he started writing stories because the ''Slant'' team felt that ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'' was too dominated by prophesies of [[nuclear war|nuclear doom]], and his friends dared him to write the kind of story that they all liked to read.<ref name="SFRevuNov1998WhiteInterview" /> He said that getting published was fairly easy during the 1950s, as the [[World War II]] restrictions on paper were ended, and there were at least 12&nbsp;science magazines in Britain and about 40 in the United States.<ref name="Ryder1991WhiteInterview">{{cite journal|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~albedo1/interview-white.html|title=Octocon Special – James White Interview|last=Ryder|first=B.|year=1991|journal=FTL|publisher=Irish Science Fiction Association|volume=11|access-date=28 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040403234523/http://homepage.eircom.net/~albedo1/interview-white.html |archive-date=3 April 2004}}</ref> His first published short story, "Assisted Passage", a parody of 1950s [[Ten Pound Poms|Anglo-Australian emigration policies]], appeared in the January 1953 edition of the magazine ''[[New Worlds (magazine)|New Worlds]]''.<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit" /><ref>{{Cite news | last=White | first=James | title=Assisted Passage | newspaper=New Worlds | issue=19 | date=January 1953 | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/shortstories/assistedpassage.html | access-date=17 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809053908/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/shortstories/assistedpassage.html | archive-date=9 August 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Further stories appeared in ''New Worlds'' during the next few years, but White's attempt to access the more lucrative American market by submitting stories to ''Astounding Science Fiction'' stalled after the publication of "The Scavengers".<ref name="Ryder1991WhiteInterview" /><ref>{{Cite news | last=White | first=James | title=The Scavengers | newspaper=Astounding Science Fiction | date=October 1953 | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/shortstories/thescavangers.html | access-date=17 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809053839/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/shortstories/thescavangers.html | archive-date=9 August 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref> White later said that his optimism about inter-species relations was unpalatable to ''Astounding'''s [[xenophobic]] editor, [[John W. Campbell]].<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref name="DictLitBioJames White" /> As a result, White's work was little-known outside the UK until the 1960s.<ref name="Ashley2005Transformations2">{{cite book
| title=Transformations: Volume 2 in the History of the Science Fiction Magazine, 1950–1970 | author=Michael Ashley
| publisher=Liverpool University Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-85323-769-3 | pages=146, 223
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-zHBPAWmHkC&dq=%22james+white%22+%22science+fiction%22&pg=PA146
| access-date=19 December 2008
| author-link=Mike Ashley (writer)
}}</ref>

In 1957, [[Ace Books]] published White's first novel, ''[[The Secret Visitors]]'', which included locations in Northern Ireland.<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit" /> The book had previously been serialised in ''New Worlds'' with the title ''Tourist Planet''. Ace Books' science fiction editor, [[Donald A. Wollheim]], thought the original ending was too tame and suggested that White should insert an all-out space battle just after the climactic courtroom scene.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> In November the same year ''New Worlds'' published White's [[Novella|novelette]] ''Sector General'', and editor [[John Carnell|John ("Ted") Carnell]] requested more stories set in the same universe, founding the series for which White is known best.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> White gained "a steady following" for his "scientifically accurate" stories, which were  examples of [[hard science fiction]] in ''New Worlds'', despite the magazine's promotion of literary [[New Wave (science fiction)|"New Wave" science fiction]] during the 1960s.<ref name="Ashley2005Transformations2" />

White kept his job with Short Brothers and wrote in the evenings, as his stories did not make enough money for him to become a full-time author.<ref name="DictLitBioJames White" /> In 1980 he taught a literature course at a Belfast branch of the [[Workers Educational Association]].
When [[diabetes]] had severely impaired his eyesight, he took early retirement in 1984 and relocated to the north [[County Antrim|Antrim]] resort town of [[Portstewart]], where he continued to write.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref name="Ryder1991WhiteInterview" /> For many years he was a Council Member of the [[British Science Fiction Association]] and, with [[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]] and [[Anne McCaffrey]], a Patron of the [[Irish Science Fiction Association]].<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" />
White was also a strong [[pacifist]].<ref>''[[Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia]]''
by [[Brian Stableford]]. CRC Press, 2006 (pg. 392).</ref> He died of a stroke on 23 August 1999,<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit"/><ref name="sfwaJamesWhiteObit">{{cite web
| url=http://www.sfwa.org/News/white.htm | access-date=17 December 2008 | title=James White, 1928–1999
| author=Nielsen Hayden, P | publisher=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000119075840/http://www.sfwa.org/News/white.htm | archive-date=19 January 2000
}}</ref> while his novels ''[[Double Contact]]'' and ''[[The First Protector (Earth: Final Conflict)|The First Protector]]'' were being prepared for publication.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref name="James White"/><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.inconjunction.org/coj/newsletters/1999/09.shtml#Cont3
| access-date=19 December 2008
| title=James White Dies
| archive-date=28 August 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828204353/http://www.inconjunction.org/coj/newsletters/1999/09.shtml#Cont3
| url-status=dead
}}</ref> His wife Peggy, son Martin, and daughter Patricia survived him.<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit" />

== Published works ==

=== Sector General ===
The [[Sector General]] series consists of 12 books published originally between 1962 (''[[Hospital Station]]'') and 1999 (''[[Double Contact]]'').<ref name="White1962HospitalStation">{{cite book
| title=Hospital Station | author=James White | publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] | year=1962
}}</ref><ref name="White1999Double Contact">{{cite book
| title=Double Contact | url=https://archive.org/details/doublecontactsec00jame | url-access=registration | author=James White | publisher=[[Tor Books]] | year=1999
| isbn=9780312870416 }}</ref> Additional short stories set in the Sector General Universe ('"Countercharm", "Tableau", "Occupation: Warrior", and "Custom Fitting") appear in other collections by White.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" />

Sector General is a gigantic multi-species hospital [[space station]] founded as a peace-making project by two heroes from opposite sides of humanity's only full interstellar war.<ref>{{cite book
| title=Sector General | author=James White | publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] | year=1983
| chapter=Accident
}}</ref> The hospital accommodates patients and staff from dozens of species, with different environmental requirements, behaviours and ailments.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> Initially most of the stories concern the career of Doctor Conway, who rises from junior surgeon to Diagnostician.<ref name="White1962HospitalStation" /><ref name="White1985Star Healer">{{cite book
| title=Star Healer | url=https://archive.org/details/starhealer0000whit | url-access=registration | author=James White | publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] | year=1985
| isbn=9780345320896 }}</ref> In the fourth book the Galactic Federation decides that the emergency service which the hospital offers to victims of space accidents and planetary catastrophes is the most effective means of making [[First contact (science fiction)|peaceful contact]] with new spacefaring species, which allows the series to expand its range of plots, characters and settings.<ref name="White1979Ambulance Ship">{{cite book
| title=Ambulance Ship | author=James White | publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] | year=1979
}}</ref> The seventh and later books each have a different and usually alien viewpoint character, which gave them "considerable new pep".<ref name="Langford1983WhiteandSectorGeneral" /> They also expand the range of issues beyond purely medical, and in [[Mike Resnick]]'s opinion treat issues such as guilt and forgiveness better than most science fiction.<ref name="Resnick1996WhitePapersIntro">{{Cite book | contribution=Introduction | author=Mike Resnick | title=The White Papers | publisher=NESFA Press | year=1996 | isbn=978-0-915368-71-6 | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/articlesresnick.html | access-date=18 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020114101345/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/articlesresnick.html | archive-date=14 January 2002 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The series defined the subgenre of multi-species medical stories,<ref name="Langford1983WhiteandSectorGeneral">{{Cite news
| author=Dave Langford
| title=James White and Sector General
| newspaper=[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]
| year=1983
| url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/articleslangford.html
| access-date=18 December 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706092117/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/articleslangford.html
| archive-date=6 July 2008
| url-status=dead
}} Also at {{cite web | url=http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/odyss01.html | access-date=18 December 2008 | title=Critical Mass | author=Dave Langford }}</ref> and was "the first explicitly [[pacifist]] [[space opera]]" series, when much of contemporary space opera from the United States was notably military.<ref name="White1979Ambulance Ship" /><ref name="Stableford2004HistDictJamesWhite">{{Cite book
| author=Brian M. Stableford | contribution=James White | pages=385–386
| title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature
| publisher=Scarecrow Press| year=2004 | isbn=978-0-8108-4938-9
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzmIPZg5xicC&dq=%22james+white%22+biography+science+fiction&pg=PA249
| access-date=18 December 2008
}}</ref>

=== Other novels ===

''[[Second Ending]]'' (1961), which White described as "about the last man on Earth" but with "an upbeat ending",<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> was short-listed for a [[Hugo Award]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1962.html#nvl
 |access-date  = 19 December 2008
|title       = The ''Locus'' Index to SF Awards: 1962 Hugo Awards
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081220110852/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1962.html#nvl
 |archive-date = 20 December 2008
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

''[[The Escape Orbit]]'' (1964; titled ''Open Prison'' in the UK), which was short-listed for a [[Nebula Award]],<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula1966.html#nvl
 |access-date  = 19 December 2008
|title       = The ''Locus'' Index to SF Awards: 1962 Hugo Awards1966 Nebula Awards
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110605230752/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula1966.html#nvl
 |archive-date = 5 June 2011
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> chronicles the efforts of human prisoners of war to survive after being dumped on a hostile planet without tools or weapons.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" />

''[[All Judgement Fled]]'' (1968), which won the 1972 Europa Award,<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref>{{cite web |url  = https://fanac.org/fanzines/Luna/luna_monthly-19.pdf
|access-date = 12 March 2022
|title = Luna Monthly issue 19}}</ref> was described by [[Mike Resnick]] as his favourite among White's novels and as "''[[Rendezvous with Rama]]'' done right."<ref name="Resnick1996WhitePapersIntro" />

White's other novels not part of the Sector General series are:<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" />
* ''[[The Secret Visitors]]'' (1957)
* ''[[The Watch Below]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Tomorrow is Too Far]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Dark Inferno]]'' (1972) (alternate title: ''Lifeboat'')
* ''[[The Dream Millennium]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Underkill]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Federation World]]'' (1988)
* ''[[The Silent Stars Go By (White novel)|The Silent Stars Go By]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Earth:Final Conflict:First Protector]]'' (1999)

===Collections and short stories===
The title story of White's collection ''[[Deadly Litter]]'' (1964) anticipated the dangers of [[space debris]] although there had been only a few orbital missions.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Perfume of Garbage: Modernity and the Archaeological | author=Michael Shanks, David Platt and William L. Rathje | journal=Modernism/Modernity | volume=11 | issue=1 | pages=61–83 | url=http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/writing/M-M-Garbage.pdf | access-date=19 December 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325170247/http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/writing/M-M-Garbage.pdf | archive-date=25 March 2009 | df=dmy-all | doi=10.1353/mod.2004.0027 | year=2004 | s2cid=145192839 }}</ref> ''The White Papers''  was produced by [[NESFA]] (New England Science Fiction Association) to commemorate White's being the Guest-of-Honour at the 1996 [[Worldcon]],<ref name="Resnick1996WhitePapersIntro" /> and includes short stories and fan magazine articles by White, plus sections of Gary Louie's guide to the [[Sector General]] series. Among the stories, "Custom Fitting" (1976) was short-listed for a Hugo Award,<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1977.html#ss
 |access-date  = 19 December 2008
|title       = The ''Locus'' Index to SF Awards: 1977 Hugo Awards
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081220110924/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1977.html#ss
 |archive-date = 20 December 2008
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> and "Sanctuary" (1988) won an Analog Analytical Laboratory Award.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/AnLab1989.html#nva | access-date=19 December 2008 | title=1989 Analog Analytical Laboratory | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504002632/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/AnLab1989.html#nva | archive-date=4 May 2009 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> His short story "[[Un-Birthday Boy]]", published in the magazine [[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|''Analog'']] in 1996 but not in a collection or anthology,<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> was short-listed for a Hugo Award.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1997.html
 |access-date  = 18 November 2008
|title       = The ''Locus'' Index to SF Awards: 1997 Hugo Awards
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20141018064755/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1997.html
 |archive-date = 18 October 2014
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

Other collections include:<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" />
* ''[[The Aliens Among Us]]'' (1969)
* ''Monsters and Medics'' (1977; published by Ballantine Books; includes the novel ''Second Ending'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewers-choice.com/monsters_and_medics.htm|title=Reviewers Choice Reviews: Monsters And Medics|last=Calderwood|first=J.|date=December 2003|publisher=Reviewer's Choice Reviews|access-date=28 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106041351/http://www.reviewers-choice.com/monsters_and_medics.htm|archive-date=6 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''Futures Past'' (1982) (includes the Sector General story "Spacebird")

==Critical appraisal==
[[Paul Kincaid]] described White as a second-rank writer who occasionally produced first-rank works, and attracted a devoted but not wide audience. Kincaid noted that his plots were often formulaic and his writing employed a predictable set of techniques and mannerisms, along with a "studied quietness."<ref>{{cite journal
| title=In Brief | author=Paul Kincaid | journal=[[Science Fiction Studies]] | volume=32 | issue=3 | date=November 2005
| url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/birs/bir97.htm | access-date=18 November 2008 | author-link=Paul Kincaid
}} (review of [[Dave Langford]]'s books ''The Complete Critical Assembly: The Collected White Dwarf and (GM, and GMI) Columns'' and ''Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays, 1980–2002'')
</ref> On the other hand, [[John Clute]] wrote that "in the depiction of goodness may lie the real genius of James White,"<ref>{{Cite book
| author=John Clute | contribution=Introduction
| title=General Practice | publisher=[[Orb Books]] | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-7653-0663-0 | author-link=John Clute
}}</ref> [[Mike Resnick]] described the [[Sector General]] series' characters as "the most memorable crew of aliens ever created,"<ref name="Resnick1996WhitePapersIntro" /> and Graham Andrews wrote that White's aliens are really alien, not just human minds with exotic biologies.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> [[Mike Ashley (writer)|Michael Ashley]] commented that the setting of the television series ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' is reminiscent of Sector General,<ref name="Ashley2005Transformations223">{{cite book
| title=Transformations: Volume 2 in the History of the Science Fiction Magazine, 1950–1970 | author=Michael Ashley
| publisher=Liverpool University Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-85323-769-3 | page=223
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-zHBPAWmHkC&dq=%22james+white%22+%22science+fiction%22&pg=PA146
| access-date=19 December 2008
| author-link=Mike Ashley (writer)
}}</ref> and Mark R. Leeper noted similarities between Sector General's setting and that of television's ''[[Babylon 5]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.killermovies.com/g/goodmorningbabylon/reviews/ul.html|title=Good Morning Babylon Review|last=Leeper|first=M.R.|date=4 March 1993|publisher=KillerMovies.com|access-date=27 November 2009}}</ref> Chris Aylott wrote that White's plot construction and writing, including occasionally clumsy exposition, are typical of the [[Golden Age of science fiction]] in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/double_contact_991103.html |title='Double Contact' Gives Dose of Old Medicine |last=Aylott |first=C. |date=3 November 1999 |publisher=Space.com |access-date=24 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007190302/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/double_contact_991103.html |archive-date=7 October 2008 }}</ref>

[[Algis Budrys]] concluded his review of ''[[The Watch Below]]'' with "...&nbsp;this is very nice writing when considered simply as prose and as an attempt to involve the reader's emotions."<ref>{{Cite news | author=Algis Budrys | title=Review:The Watch Below | newspaper=[[Galaxy Science Fiction]] | date=August 1966 | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | access-date=20 November 2008 | author-link=Algis Budrys | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207013020/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | archive-date=7 February 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, when reviewing ''[[All Judgment Fled]]'' he wrote, "I suspect that he generates so much tension within himself while writing a book that he literally cannot bear to come to grips with crucial scenes."<ref>{{Cite news | author=Algis Budrys | title=Review:All Judgment Fled | newspaper=[[Galaxy Science Fiction]] | date=March 1971 | url=http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | access-date=20 November 2008 | author-link=Algis Budrys | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207013020/http://www.sectorgeneral.com/biobiblio.html | archive-date=7 February 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

White said of his approach to producing stories, "Of course, the plot idea must come first – but the characters soon take over," and compared it to using a [[compass]] rather than a map. He explained that he was drawn to medical themes by two factors: they offered opportunities for dramatic tension without war; and he had wanted to become a doctor, but had to go to work instead.<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> His avoidance of violent themes is as strong in his non-medical stories as in the Sector General series.<ref name="Andrews1999WhiteObit" /><ref name="Stableford2004HistDictJamesWhite" />

None of White's works won [[Hugo Award|Hugo]] or [[Nebula Award|Nebula]] Awards, although four were short-listed. However, he won a Europa Prize in 1979,<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /> an ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Analog]]'' Analytical Laboratory Award in 1988 and a Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award in 1996.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit147.html#5571-1961
 |access-date  = 18 November 2008
|title       = The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203131501/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit147.html#5571-1961
 |archive-date = 3 December 2008
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> In 1998, White received the [[NESFA]] (New England Science Fiction Association) [[Edward E. Smith Memorial Award]] ("Skylark Award") for contributions to science fiction, named after a story by one of his inspirations, E. E. "Doc" Smith,<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.nesfa.org/awards/skylark.html
| access-date=18 November 2008
| title=The Skylark: The E. E. Smith Memorial Award
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204000351/http://www.nesfa.org/awards/skylark.html
| archive-date=4 December 2008
| url-status=dead
}}</ref> and appreciated this so much that he donated his complete collection of ''[[Slant (fanzine)|Slant]]'' magazines to NESFA.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.nesfa.org/awards/skylark98.html
| access-date=18 November 2008
| title=1998 Skylark Award
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219003849/http://nesfa.org/awards/skylark98.html
| archive-date=19 December 2005
| url-status=dead
}}</ref> The next year he was inducted into the [[European Science Fiction Society]]'s [[Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esfs.info/esfs-awards-1996.html#anchor100955|title=ESFS Awards 1996–1999|year=1999|access-date=28 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907224520/http://www.esfs.info/esfs-awards-1996.html#anchor100955|archive-date=7 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> White was Guest-of-Honour at many conventions including: the 1971 and 1985 [[Novacon]]s in the United Kingdom;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novacon38.org.uk/past_cons.htm |access-date=18 November 2008 |title=The History of Novacon }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> three [[Beneluxcon]]s (Belgium, Netherlands and [[Luxembourg]]); the 1998 [[Octocon]] (Ireland);<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.octocon.com/2006/rollofhonour.php | access-date=18 November 2008 | title=Previous Guests at Octocon
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627075522/http://www.octocon.com/2006/rollofhonour.php | archive-date=                 27 June 2006
}}</ref> a Nicon ([[Northern Ireland]]); and the 1996 [[Worldcon]].<ref name="SectorgeneralBiobiblio" /><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/TheLongList.html
| access-date=18 November 2008
| title=The Long List of World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons)
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110085511/http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/TheLongList.html
| archive-date=10 January 2010
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Since 2000 the James White Award has been presented for the best short story by a non-professional writer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/2000/News/Announcements2000_04.html|title=Locus Online: Books and Publishing News, Announcements April 2000|date=22 April 2000|publisher=Locus Publications|access-date=24 November 2009}}</ref> The judges are professional authors and editors, and have included [[Mike Resnick]], [[Orson Scott Card]], [[Lois McMaster Bujold]], [[Peter F. Hamilton]], [[Christopher Priest (novelist)|Christopher Priest]] and [[Robert Sheckley]].<ref>{{cite web
| title=The James White Award
| url=http://www.jameswhiteaward.com/ | access-date=18 November 2008
}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of Northern Irish writers]]
* [[:Category:Novels by James White (author)]]
* [[:Category:Short story collections by James White (author)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sectorgeneral.com/ Official home page]
* {{isfdb name|James_White|James White}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20000116063407/http://www.scifan.com/writers/ww/WhiteJames.asp Bibliography] on SciFan

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Rafal A. Ziemkiewicz]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[European Science Fiction Society|ESFS]] award for Best Author|years=1999}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Ken MacLeod]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, James}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Irish pacifists]]
[[Category:Irish science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Science fiction writers from Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:20th-century British novelists]]
[[Category:Male novelists from Northern Ireland]]