Alan Nelson (1911-1966)

James Alan Nelson
Author, Screenwriter
Born December 11, 1911, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Died September 9, 1966, San Francisco, California

In tracking down the writer Alan Nelson, I started with the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, which gives his dates as 1911-1966. From there, it was to Ancestry.com and the only man named Alan Nelson with those dates. I assume that the Alan Nelson about whom I write today is the right Alan Nelson. Everything seems to line up just right for him. If he was the right man, then Alan Nelson was born on December 11, 1911, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to James W. Nelson (1873-1925), an agricultural agent and professor of agriculture, and Mary Blanche (Hayden) Nelson (1882-1950). Nelson had a younger brother, Rollin Glen Nelson (1915-1978).

Alan Nelson grew up in Oakland, California. In 1921, the Oakland Tribune published his story "The Enchanted Mountain" in its children's column "Boys' Den." (Aug. 14, 1921, whole page no. 68). He was only nine years old at the time and won a prize for his entry. He was also a member of "The Aunt Elsie Club" column in the same newspaper (Jan. 16, 1921, whole page no. 56). He may have been the same James Nelson who attended the University of San Francisco in 1932 and whose picture appears in the university yearbook. Nelson traveled to Europe in 1935.

In the 1940 census, Nelson was an interviewer for the state employment agency. In the U.S. census of 1950, he was divorced, living in a San Francisco rooming house, and working as a freelance magazine writer. A compilation of Nelson's story titles from the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and The FictionMags Index, plus his very early story in his hometown paper:

• "The Enchanted Mountain" in the Oakland Tribune (Aug. 14, 1921)
• "The Wheel Named Prudence" in Esquire (Apr. 1944)
• "Man in a Hurry" in Weird Tales (May 1944)
• "Professor Pfaff's Last Recital" in Cosmopolitan (June 1946)
• "The Tune" in Good Housekeeping (Sept. 1946)
• "The Sound of Hunger" in Liberty (Jan. 18, 1947)
• "The Origin of Narapoia" in What’s Doing (Apr. 1948)
• "Narapoia" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Apr. 1951)
• "Cattivo" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Aug. 1951)
• "No Strings Attached" in Bluebook (May 1952)
• "The Gualcophone" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Aug. 1952)
• "Pot Luck" in Bluebook (Sept. 1952)
• "The City Where No One Dies" Bluebook (Dec. 1952)
• "Soap Opera" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Apr. 1953)
• "Silenzia" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Sept. 1953)
• "The Shopdropper" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Jan. 1955)

There was also a James Nelson who had stories in Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, and Mammoth Mystery/Mammoth Detective in 1943-1947. I can't say that this was the same author, but these things also fit. You can see James Nelson's writing credits in The FictionMags Index by clicking here and scrolling down.

Despite their relatively small number, Alan Nelson's stories were reprinted repeatedly in book form. Nelson is also credited as the writer of the teleplay for "The Horn," for the anthology series Tales of Tomorrow, broadcast on October 10, 1952, and featuring Franchot Tone, Stephen Elliott, and Barbara Joyce.

Nelson was married at least twice. Note that two of his stories have Italian titles, "Cattivo" (bad, evil, or naughty) and "Silenzia" (mutes [?]). After a divorce, Alan Nelson in fact married an Italian woman, Gina Maria Bin (1919-1973) in 1951 in San Francisco. They had a daughter, Karen Christine Nelson.

Nelson became vice president of the Lennen and Newell advertising agency in San Francisco. His wife was an interior designer. James Alan Nelson died of cancer on September 9, 1966, at French Hospital in San Francisco. He was just fifty-four years old.

Alan Nelson's Story in Weird Tales

"Man in a Hurry" (May 1944)

Further Reading

Alan Nelson's stories were collected in Doctor Departure and Others (Gryphon Books, 1989) with cover art by Brad W. Foster and an introduction by Gary Lovisi. That book is the place to start if you want to know more about Alan Nelson. Unfortunately I don't have access to it and can't say with certainty that I have the right Alan Nelson.

Doctor Departure and Others by Alan Nelson, with cover art by Brad W. Foster. The title refers to Nelson's series character Manly J. Departure.

Updated on October 4, 2017, and on August 1, 2026.
Text and captions copyright 2013, 2023 Terence E. Hanley