Miles Rodney's section chief in Slayton Ford's administration; Rodney's knowledge about him supported his claim to advanced age. His underlings called him "the Walrus".
Rod Walker's father. He agreed only reluctantly to let Rod go on his Advanced Survival test. While Rod was "lost" on the test, Jerome spent three years in a stasis field waiting for a cure to be developed for his chronic illness. (Rod's mother also appears, but her name is not given.)
(Tunnel in the Sky)
Rod Walker
High school student who took a Advanced Survival course and was stranded on the test planet. With Jimmy Throxton and Jackie Daudet, he gathered in as many other students as they could locate to form a community. The group was soon dominated by the college-age students, but after the death of the first "mayor" of the community Rod was re-established as the group's leader. After nearly three years, Earth regained contact with the planet and "rescued" the survivors. Rod was reluctant to leave the planet, but was persuaded by his sister to return home after all the other students had left. He eventually became a leader of emigrants to colony planets. His sister Helen called him "Buddy."
1. (no last name) Ira Weatheral's chief justice; he reversed so many of Ira's decisions that Ira deported him to Felicity.
(Time Enough for Love)
2. (no first name) Commanding officer of C Company (Warren's Wolverines) aboard the Tours.
(Starship Troopers)
wart seven
Rufo's description of a hit on a dragon when he, Oscar, and Star fought their way through the dragons of Nevia to the Gate. The term refers to hitting a circular target on the inner edge of the sixth ring toward the bullseye, almost but not quite in the seventh ring.
(Glory Road)
Jim "Duke" Warwick
Moderator and Selectman of Top Dollar. He was a mechanic by trade, but was elected state treasurer when Top Dollar nationalized Lazarus Long's bank.
(Time Enough for Love)
James (Jimmy) Washington
John Joseph Bonforte's chief clerk, a spare, elderly mulatto. He was a member of the Grand Assembly, representing the Lapps. He was ordained in the First Bible Truth Church of the Holy Spirit.
3. Possibly the capital of the Federation as well as of the United States.
(Stranger in a Strange Land)
"Clayton" Watanabe
Minister of Interior Affairs and Safety in the first Free Luna government. Clayton is his Party name.
(The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress)
Sumire Watanabe
Crew member in the Leif Ericsson, who married Ray Gilberti during the voyage.
(Time for the Stars)
water brothers
Those who have "shared water", that is, affirmed mutual complete trust, understanding, and acceptance. A Martian ritual, adopted by Earth friends of Valentine Michael Smith.
According to Manuel Garcia O'Kelly, he wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories and founded IBM [A conflation of the character in the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Thomas Watson, founder of IBM.]
(The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress)
WDES
Radio station in Des Moines that announced the flying saucer landing. Its staff was taken over by puppet masters.
(The Puppet Masters)
Weary Willie
Larry Smith stage routine about a tramp in a barnyard; copied from "a very great artist of another century" [possibly the famous clown Emmet Kelly].
1.Ira Weatheral's "pretty daughter", who helped him elicit memoirs from Lazarus Long. She was the host mother of one of Lazarus' clone sisters, and migrated to Tertius as part of Lazarus' extended family. She had a number of nicknames that are variations on her name: Hamasweet, Mama Hamalambie, Hamadear, etc.
(Time Enough for Love)
2. [mentioned in passing] A member of Lazarus Long's household.
Howard Families telepath, afflicted by a number of genetic defects including low intelligence. He was contacted by the Jockaira while the New Frontiers orbited their planet.
(Methuselah's Children)
Ira Weatheral
1. Member of the Howard Foundation and spokesman for the Johnson family.
(Methuselah's Children)
2. Member of the Johnson family and chairman pro tem of the Howard Foundation, just under 400 years old at the time of the novel. He ordered Lazarus Long rejuvenated against Lazarus' obvious wishes, persuaded Lazarus to record his memoirs, and coordinated the project of finding him "something new" to do in life. He retired from the chairmanship and founded a colony on Tertius with Lazarus' help.
(Time Enough for Love)
3. Howard Foundation chairman on Tertius.
(The Number of the Beast)
4. One of Lazarus' co-husbands on Tertius, a descendant of Eleanor Weatheral.
2. Husband of Maureen Johnson's eldest daughter, Nancy Irene Smith. His parents were friends of the family before they found out they were registered with the Howard Foundation. A member of the Reserve, he was called to active duty for World War II and fought in Czechoslovakia.
(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)
Justin Weatheral
Friend of Maureen Johnson and Brian Smith, and father-in-law of their daughter Nancy Irene Smith. He was the father of Maureen's son Patrick Henry Smith. In 1917 he became a trustee for the Howard Foundation, and became chairman and chief executive in 1929. In the 1930s he formed an investment firm with Brian Smith. He was on the War Production Board during World War II.
Thorby Rudbek's step-uncle, who controlled Rudbek Associates after Creighton Rudbek's disappearance. He attempted to retain control after Thorby's reappearance by thwarting his efforts to learn about the business. He was narrowly defeated in a stockholder's election and fired from the company.
(Citizen of the Galaxy)
Leda Weemsby
Thorby Rudbek's cousin, daughter of his maternal grandmother's youngest sister. She was actually a Rudbek, though she usually used her stepfather's surname. Her nickname was "Slugger". She helped Thorby fight Jack Weesmby, casting the deciding vote against him in the stockholders' election.
College friend of Karen Farnham, a divorcee. She was visiting Karen when a nuclear attack began, and survived by joining the family in their bomb shelter. She was appointed the group's historian and farmer, and became Hugh Farnham's lover. She gave birth to twin sons after the family's capture by the Chosen. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, she and Hugh were used as subjects in a time-travel experiment, sent back to the time just before the atomic war. They fled to an abandoned mine outside the blast periphery, and eventually set up a freehold and trading post there. The Chosen and their servants pronounced her name "Barba" or "Barbra".
1. His books were removed from the public library after science fiction was outlawed in Alex Hergensheimer's homeworld. One of Alex's English professors, bluntly opposed to the censorship, had said that Wells invented every basic fantastic theme.
(Job: A Comedy of Justice)
2. His books were included in the Galileo-Marching-and-Chowder Society library.
The military academy for the Interregnum. [Presumably the original United States Military Academy, converted to the Prophet's purposes after he established his theocracy.]
[mentioned in passing] Company that offered suspended animation. A society couple allegedly bought their service to be frozen until they could spend their honeymoon on an interplanetary liner.
(The Door Into Summer)
Nick Weston
[mentioned in passing] Acquaintance of Maureen Johnson and Brian Smith. His son was a private during World War I.
(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)
Westport High School
School to which Woodrow Smith and two of his siblings transferred when they moved to a farmhouse in 1929.
Surgeon in Windsor City who ran an infirmary for the natives.
(The Number of the Beast)
Wheeler (no first name)
Interplanetary Patrol hero, one of the Four Heroes whose names were called in every muster. The reason for his legendary status was not given in this or any other story.
(Space Cadet)
Acey Wheelwright
Nom de plume of Dak Broadbent, under which he published three volumes of verse.
Deety Burroughs saw him in Wonderland and wanted to follow him down the rabbit hole.
(The Number of the Beast)
Whitmanites
Anarchist-pacifist sect evicted from Canada; their settlement failed in Little America, and the survivors emigrated to Venus. They used an artificial language, even for personal names. The Venus colony was infested with puppet masters; both masters and hosts died in an epidemic of nine-day fever; Mary Cavanaugh (Allucquere) was the only survivor.
Actor whom Montgomery wanted to put in a play to repeat D. D. Harriman's sentiments about the Moon. [The name may be inspired by legendary actors Basil Rathbone and John Wilkes Booth.]
("The Man Who Sold the Moon")
Robert Wilkie
Physicist and radiation specialist drafted to work at the Citadel; one of the few survivors of the Ledbetter Effect catastrophe. Whitey Ardmore dubbed him "The Punk Kid".
Prince of Orange, Duke of Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Knight Commander of the Holy Roman Empire, Admiral General of the Imperial Forces, Adviser to the Martian Nests, Protector of the Poor, and, by the Grace of God, King of the Lowlands and Emperor of the Planets and the Spaces Between. The government he ruled was apparently a constitutional monarchy similar to 20th-century Great Britain. He was a native of the Netherlands and a personal friend of John Joseph Bonforte. He spotted Larry Smith's masquerade when Smith failed to offer the customary insults about Willem's train collection.
(Double Star)
Willie's Wildcats
Juan Rico's first platoon after graduating from boot camp: Company K, Third Regiment, First Mobile Infantry Division.
(Starship Troopers)
Willis
Jim Marlowe's Martian "pet": furry and slightly larger than a basketball, with three retractable legs and eyes. It was apparently sentient though simple-minded, and was able to use human speech as well as exactly reproducing any sound it heard including musical compositions and long conversations in the original voices. It was actually the larval form of an adult Martian. His Martian name meant, "In whom the hopes of a world are joined". The human scientific name is Areocephalopsittacus Bron- [The character saying the name is interrupted before completing it; the first part is Greek for "Mars parrot head"; the "Bron-" is probably the first syllable of the discoverer's name.]
British colony on Barsoom. The population consisted of officers and enlisted men, civil servants, transportees, and their spouses and dependents. The natives, a less intelligent version of Black Hats, were called "wogs" and used as field hands. The Gay Deceiver visited the settlement hoping to recharge energy supplies and buy clothing.
(The Number of the Beast)
Humphrey Belmont Wingate
Corporate lawyer who, while drunk, signed on as a contract laborer to Venus. He previously did not believe that conditions were bad, but got first-hand experience in the virtual slavery that Venus laborers endured. After running afoul of the pushers and learning that he would be sold south by his patron, he fled with another laborer to a "refugee camp" for runaways, where he wrote a book about his experiences. He was rescued and his contract was paid off by a wealthy friend who had contracted with him but extricated himself more easily. When he returned to Earth he found that few people were interested in the plight of the Venusians.
Town in which Alex Hergensheimer and Margrethe Gunderson found themselves during their travels through the universes. A kind couple bought them lunch there, and Margrethe bought traveling clothes at a second-hand store.
(Job: A Comedy of Justice)
Winters (no first name)
Free United States Army member from Vermont who objected to Stokes' brainwashing project. He died immediately after giving an impassioned speech for freedom of thought.
("If This Goes On—")
John Cabot Winthrop III
Attorney with the law firm of Winthrop, Winthrop, Ditmars, and Winthrop. Hugo Pinero posted bond with him against the failure of his invention.
("Life-Line")
Her Wisdom CXXXVIIL (no other name)
A predecessor of Star whose behavior was shocking even hundreds of years later.
1. Community elder in the Ship, who arbitrated disputes and insatiably collected information from any source. Each Witness memorized the Sacred Lines and the lives of all previous Witnesses.
[mentioned in passing] Interplanetary emigration Gate, from the name probably located in South Africa.
(Tunnel in the Sky)
W.K.
[mentioned in passing] Warned by A.C.B. in a news ad that he only had 7, and in a later ad 10, days to live. Georges Perreault assumed the message was a code.
Universe into which Gay Deceiver rotated. The crew saw the White Rabbit, and shared their lunch with Charles Dodgson.
(The Number of the Beast)
Wong (no first name)
1. Farmer who offered shelter to Venus Republic soldiers after the Federation occupation. His farm was a base for guerrilla operations. Mrs. Wong is also mentioned.
Protestant minister initially disturbed by the success of the priests of Mota. After discussing his misgivings with a friend who was a Catholic priest, he reconsidered and was eventually recruited for intelligence work.
Army officer who instituted a citizens' training camp for officer candidates; Brian Smith attended the camp in 1916.
(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)
Woolamurra
Port of call for the Sisu, a lush pioneer planet just inside the Terran Hegemony. The inhabitants traded food and raw materials for manufactured items.
[mentioned in passing] Middle Earth, a unanimous choice of fantasy world among the crew of the Gay Deceiver. They did not actually visit it.
(The Number of the Beast)
World War III
1. [mentioned in passing] It occurred before the invasion of the puppet masters.
(The Puppet Masters)
2. [mentioned in passing] Occurring before Nehemiah Scudder took control of the United States government, it ended with a treaty that banned nuclear weapons.
("If This Goes On—")
3. It occurred before the events of Stranger in a Strange Land, after the first human trip to Mars.
(Stranger in a Strange Land)
Wormface
Kip Russell's name for the aliens who plotted to invade Earth. They set up a base on Pluto and kidnapped Peewee Reisfeld to coerce her father into cooperating with them. With the aid of the Mother Thing, Kip and Peewee were able to thwart the aliens' plans. The council of the Three Galaxies passed judgment on the aliens, and "rotated" their planet so that it was 90 degrees from the rest of the universe — leaving their sun behind.
Public health officer who visited Priscilla Smith after she was diagnosed with venereal disease.
(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)
Howard Wright
A troublemaker who insisted on participating in the Free Luna government, and was appointed Liaison for Arts, Sciences and Professions as a makework position. He disappeared shortly after a dispute with Manuel Garcia O'Kelly and Wyoming Knott in which the two threatened to resign from the government.