E. Richard Johnson is an interesting case of a writer who
started in prison, achieved considerable success, was
released, and then went back to crime and prison. His first
novel (SILVER STREET, I believe) may have won the Edgar for
best first. Certainly, he wrote several very muscular novels
that were critically acclaimed, one was made into a film, and
he had top publisher, editors, agents and a big advance when
he finally achieved parole. I remember my shock when checking
the UPI newswire ticker I saw he had been rearrested, caught
deadbang by the police. I know he went back to prison and
after a long, silent period he began writing again. I don't
know if he is still in prison, still writing, or even still
alive. Does anyone out there?
I also remember Al Nausbaum, who was a regular at MWA
functions and the early conventions who made his living as a
robber and pretended to be a writer as a cover (I think he
had a tape recording of the sound of a typewriter as a part
of that). He was a reader and became a big fan of Dan J.
Marlowe (THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH). While I am unsure of
the order (it has been many years since I heard him tell the
story), he contacted Marlowe, went to prison for bank
robbery, learned to write, was released, and became a regular
in the mystery magazines with dozens of stories. Again, I am
fuzzy on the details but I believe the FBI contacted Marlowe
when they were checking back on all of Al's phone calls while
he was on the lam. In any case, that strange start led to a
friendship between the two and Marlowe encouraged the
now-jailed Al Nausbaum in his ambition to become a writer.
Which he did, as many issues of Alfred Hitchcock and Mike
Shayne from the late 1960s and 1970s will attest.
Years later, when Marlowe became seriously ill, I recall
hearing Al helped his old mentor a lot and a few
collaborations were published about that time.
Al died three or four years ago but aside from regaling
people with the story in person, I know he published an
account of the whole thing. The MWA anthology one year was
devoted to true crime and that may have been where it saw
print. It would make a great made for TV movie.
One comment on John D. MacDonald: looking over the comments
by others of the last few days, I am struck by how many
different titles people have named as their favorites. Ten at
least. I have one of my own: THE KEY TO THE SUITE, which was
a novel about a business convention and corporate in-fighting
and only towards the end does a murder occur. Yes he had his
flaws and his main characters were often heros, which is out
of fashion these days, but he was one hell of a story
teller.
Richard Moore
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