Nolan was also a prolific editor of collections (by others), and anthologies, most recently co-editing two anthologies with friend, filmmaker, and writer Jason V Brock: The Bleeding Edge (2009), with stories from fellow writers Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, John Shirley, Dan O'Bannon, and several others, and The Devil's Coattails (2012), which featured offerings from Ramsey Campbell, S. T. Joshi, Richard Selzer, Earl Hamner Jr., and more, both from Cycatrix Press. Nolan teamed up with Bluewater Productions for a comic book series, Logan's Run: Last Day, released in 2010. In addition, he developed comics based on one other property of his for Bluewater: Tales from William F. Nolan's Dark Universe (featuring stories adapted by Nolan and Brock and published in 2013). Another comic book mini-series Sam Space (forthcoming) has been scripted and approved.
After a few years working in offices, he met Charles Beaumont, who would remain a close friend until Beaumont's untimely death at age thirty-eight.[1] Beaumont was instrumental in Nolan becoming an author.
Nolan was a close friend to radio writer Norman Corwin as well as speculative writer Ray Bradbury. He was also a member of the influential Southern California School of Writers in the 1950s–1960s (known informally as "The Group"), many of whom wrote for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and other popular series of the day. Nolan was an ethical vegetarian and loved animals. In later life, he still wrote new material and was active in various literary projects, and conventions (he was Guest of Honor at Killer Con and Portland's Orycon, as well as a special guest at the World Horror Convention, World Fantasy Convention, and many others), and promotional opportunities.
Though estranged for more than ten years, he had been married since 1970. He resided in Vancouver, Washington. With regard to his work, he said: "I get excited about something, and I want to write about it."[8]
Nolan died from complications of an infection in July 2021 at the age of 93.[9][10]
Nolan On Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction (2013; Hippocampus Press) – Collected nonfiction book (Edited by S. T. Joshi)
Like a Dead Man Walking and Other Shadow Tales (edited by Jason V Brock; a mix of science fiction, horror, poetry, and literary stories; Centipede Press, 2014)
Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing) Screen treatment (1978), written for Universal Studios (not produced), published by Rocket Ride Books in "Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis of THE THING" (2009)
^ abcdefJason V. Brock, "Finding Sanctuary: Running from the Zone to Logan" in Brock, Disorders of Magnitude: A Survey of Dark Fantasy. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. ISBN9781442235243. pp. 101–109.
^ abcdHarold Lee Prosser, "Nolan, William F(rancis)" in Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers, edited by Curtis C. Smith. Chicago, St. James, 1986. ISBN9780912289274. pp. 539–41.
^ abRay Russell, "Nolan, William F(rancis)" in John M. Reilly, Twentieth-century Crime and Mystery Writers (second ed.). St. James, 1986. pp. 677–9. ISBN9780912289175.