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Re: RARA-AVIS: _Hardboiled America_ and writer biographies
William Denton wrote:
>
>
> It also got me wondering who, among all the hardboiled writers we talk
> about, had the most interesting life. (Or perhaps just early life).
This is an interesting question, certainly. From what I know about
personal lives of the writers we love, Hammett probably gets the nod
from me for having the most interesting life. My St. James 20th Century
Crime and Mystery Writers (still the 3rd ed., though the 4th is on
order, if anyone wants me to look something up pretty soon) says Hammett
served in the Motor Ambulance Corps of the U.S. Army, 1918-19, served in
Army Signal Corps in Aleutian Islands (1942-45), worked as a clerk,
stevedore, advertising manager, PRIVATE DETECTIVE (Pinkerton), full-time
writer from 1922 (also book reviewer for Saturday Review and NY Evening
Post), lived in Hollywood (1930-42), relationship with Lillian Hellman
started in 1930 (this alone would make for a very interesting life),
taught creative writing in New York (1946-56), convicted of contempt of
Congress and sentenced to six months in prison, 1951.
Whew! Yeah, there are some very interesting lives among the hard-boiled
authors, but really, it would be tough for anyone to top Hammett. He
seems to have done it all. I've read Lillian Hellman's writings (or some
of them, at least) about life with Hammett and recommend these.
Best wishes,
Richard King
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