I read (and I think commented on here) THE JONES MEN by Vern
Smith about a year ago. It is a very nice first novel with
great power. It is a shame that Smith did not continue in
fiction. If the second novel mentioned when the paperback
reissue came out ever saw the light of day, I missed it. I
realize I may too often here mention personal associations
but I was a reporter in Atlanta with Smith and knew him by
sight and perhaps had a bit of pre-news conference chitchat
with him now and then. I say this only because I was writing
then and very aware of other Atlanta writers and if THE JONES
MEN made any splash in Atlanta where he lived at that time, I
would have noticed it and sought him out. The point is that
while it may have recieved good reviews, he may not have
recieved the kind of strong signals that strongly encouraged
him to continue.
News magazine reporters were an elite bunch and Smith was
definitely on a fast journalistic track. With a family to
support, I can understand how his career may have taken all
of his energy and time.
The mention of Ed Lacy takes me back. He was a classic
old-time liberal who made his name (and won an Edgar) writing
about Afro-American lead characters.
His real name was Len Zinsberg and as Bill
Crider notes, he was very familiar with boxing. He often
wrote about boxers or former boxers.
I am trying to remember my favorite Lacy novel. I think it
was called THE MEN FROM THE BOYS, which is a good title. Lacy
had a way with titles. Others include GO FOR THE BODY, PITY
THE HONEST, ENTER WITHOUT DESIRE.
Lacy also wrote under the name Steve April and had many short
stories under that name in the magazines of the 1950s and
60s.
Richard Moore
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