John Williams writes:
<< The reason the St James Guide
has no entry on Willeford is because the idiot
commissioned to write it
(i.e. me) missed his deadline. >>
I contributed to the Dictionary of Literary Biography volume
on American Hard-Boiled Writers. It too appears to have
omissions. Reasons: editor could not get a contributor for a
certain writer; contributions did not come in, etc. An
original list of writers eventually got cut in half (or by a
third). Also, some omissions are explained by the fact that
some writers
(e.g., F. Brown, L. Brackett) appear in other volumes of the
series.
Graham Powell writes:
<<In fact, I would have to say that Willeford was one
of the more
"successful" PBO writers, by which I mean to say that he
wrote exactly what he wanted for over 30 years. He never had
to give in and do hackwork just for a paycheck.>>
This is not quite true. Willeford did not write corporate
brochures, etc., but he did write comments on student papers
for years. My guess is that he would've given up teaching if
he made more writing. Also, he considered some efforts
weaker--quick writes to make money to pay for school (though
some good word--"The Woman Chaser" notably--is from this
period). He was contracted to do "Off the Wall" (the Son of
Sam book)--which was a good project and a good book, but he
did it for hire.
Doug
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