John Boyd was the main literary name of Boyd Bradfield Upchurch (October 3, 1919 – June 8, 2013), an American science fiction author, born in Atlanta, Georgia. His best known work is his first science fiction novel, The Last Starship From Earth, published in 1968. Boyd wrote eleven science fiction novels, five other novels, and one biography. The majority of his novels were published by US publisher Weybright & Talley, with later ones appearing from science fiction publishers.[1]