In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel "The Ultimax Man". As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in "Dream Makers Volume II" (1983), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books published that had been unpublished at the time of the stroke.