Alan Lomax was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activist, oral historian, and film-maker. Lomax produced recordings, concerts, and radio shows in the US and in England, which played an important role in preserving folk music traditions in both countries, and helped start both the American and British folk revivals of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. He collected material first with his father, folklorist and collector John A. Lomax, and later alone and with others, Lomax recorded thousands of songs and interviews for the Archive of American Folk Song, of which he was the director, at the Library of Congress on aluminum and acetate discs.
Alan Dean Foster is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction, who has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels and many novelizations of film scripts.
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back. The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff.
"Tom Dooley" is a North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina, allegedly by Tom Dula. The song is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio, which reached No. 1 in Billboard and the Billboard R&B listing, and appeared in the Cashbox Country Music Top 20.
Spellsinger is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Alan Dean Foster. At present the series consists of eight books and, although there was a significant gap between the writing of book six and book seven, it seems unlikely that any more will be written.
The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is Foster’s first published novel and started both his Humanx Commonwealth universe and his two most popular recurring characters, Pip and Philip Lynx ("Flinx"). The book is second chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.
Spellsinger (1983) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the first in the Spellsinger series.
The Day of the Dissonance is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the third book in the Spellsinger series.
The Moment of the Magician (1984) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the fourth book in the Spellsinger series.
The Paths of the Perambulator (1985) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the fifth book in the Spellsinger series.
Time of the Transference (1986) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the sixth book in the Spellsinger series.
Son of Spellsinger (1993) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the seventh book in the Spellsinger series.
Chorus Skating (1994) is a fantasy novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book follows the continuing adventures of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported from our world into a land of talking animals and magic. It is the eighth book in the Spellsinger series.
Mudge is a character from Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series. He is an anthropomorphic otter with a thick Cockney accent, a womanizer, a thief and a gambler who is the best friend and traveling companion of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather. These and other unsavory traits seem to be common to the otter species in the Spellsinger world, but Mudge takes it to the extreme. He initially encounters Jon-Tom after more or less colliding with him in the Bell Woods.
Midworld (1975) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is set in his primary science fiction universe, the Humanx Commonwealth.
Glory Lane (1987) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book takes place outside of either of Foster’s two usual universes, Spellsinger and the Humanx Commonwealth.
Phantasia Press Inc. was an American small publisher formed by Sidney Altus and Alex Berman publishing short-run, hardcover limited editions of science fiction and fantasy books. It was active from 1978 to 1989. The company was based in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The publisher specialized in limited quality first hardcover editions of authors prominent in the field, particularly Philip José Farmer, C. J. Cherryh, L. Sprague de Camp and Alan Dean Foster. Some of its offerings were true first editions; others, the first hardcover editions of works previously published in paperback. In a few instances there had been previous hardcover editions.
The Spellsong Cycle is a fantasy series written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. Set in the fictional world of Erde, it is notable for its system of magic, based on music and song.
Icerigger is a 1974 science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. Like many of Foster's science-fiction novels, Icerigger takes place within his Humanx Commonwealth fictional universe. The book's two sequels are Mission to Moulokin and The Deluge Drivers.
