Ford McCormack

Ford McCormack appears to have been a mid-20th-century science fiction and fantasy writer whose surviving bibliography is small but memorable. The strongest confirmed records available here come from Project Gutenberg and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, which list Phantom Duel and other short fiction under his name.

Phantom Duel was originally published in Infinity Science Fiction in November 1955, and Project Gutenberg notes that it was later cleared for free ebook release after research found no evidence of a U.S. copyright renewal. ISFDB also credits McCormack with stories including "March Hare Mission," published in Worlds Beyond in January 1951, and "Hell-Bent," which was later anthologized in Twelve Stories from Deals with the Devil.

Reliable biographical details about McCormack himself are hard to verify from the sources found in this search, so his life story remains obscure. What does come through clearly is the flavor of his work: compact, idea-driven adventure fiction from the classic magazine era, the kind of storytelling that still appeals to readers who enjoy vintage speculative fiction.