Flying Saucer Rock and Roll

Howard Waldrop was born in Mississippi in 1946 and has lived most of his life in Texas except for about six years when he lived along the Stillaguamish River in Washington state. He made his first professional sale in 1970. He was nominated for two Nebulas in 1977 for his stories "Custer's Last Jump" (written with Steven Utley) and "Mary Margaret Road-Grader" and has won both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards for "The Ugly Chickens" (1980).

Howard Waldrop's stories combine elements such as alternate history, American popular culture, the American South, old movies (and character actors), classical mythology, and rock 'n' roll music. His style is sometimes obscure or elliptical. The stories are often considered entertaining: Night of the Cooters is The War of the Worlds told from the perspective of a Texas sheriff (a homage to Slim Pickens); "Heirs of the Perisphere" involves robotic Disney characters waking up in the far future; "Fin de Cyclé" describes the Dreyfus affair from the perspective of bicycle enthusiasts.