What I liked about Prather was that he made it all look so
easy. All of the Shell Scotts I've read have been cleanly
written and well plotted, well structured craftsmanlike
tales, and these are virtues you tend to take for granted in
times of plenty. A lot of modern popular fiction I've read is
pretty much not that, though: overlong, ill-developed, not
well thought out, not well written. Prather looks like a
giant in retrospect.
It's funny to me that he's not talked about more than he is,
even in fan circles. He reminds me a lot of Edward S. Aarons,
another guy who evidently had modest goals, but in my opinion
did what he did very well. Perhaps it's this very lack of
ambition that, while it helped his popularity back in the
day, has caused his name to fade a bit since. It's sad,
though. I think cultivated readers/fans, in particular,
should be able to appreciate the intrinsic quality of
somebody like Prather, or Aarons, or Charles Williams, for
that matter.
I haven't read all the Scott series, I've read enough to know
there are some duff books there. I've yet to find the Holy
Grail, STRIP FOR MURDER. In general, my favorites are in the
early Sixties, right around the dawning of the sexual
revolution. I think they function wonderfully as great
humorous accounts of a guy trying to stay with it. (I seem to
remember GAT HEAT being an especially good one.)
I haven't read THE PEDDLER yet, though it's on my pile. Talk
about a Holy Grail: HardCase justified it's existence by
digging that one up, IMHO.
doug
--- James Reasoner <
jamesreasoner@flash.net> wrote:
> I'm greatly saddened to hear about this.
Prather
> has been one of my favorite authors for more
years
> than I like to think about.
>
> James Reasoner
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: e_lynskey
> To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 12:57 PM
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: RIP: Richard S.
Prather
>
>
> Forwarded from Dean Davis:
>
>
dean@deandaviswrotethat.com
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm sorry, but I just got some bad news.
Richard
> S. Prather has passed
> away. It seems he died peacefully in his sleep.
I
> don't have many
> other details right now.
>
> You are welcome to reply to this email, but I
will
> be out of town
> until Monday night. I will try to answer
all
> emails when I can.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dean
>
Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 17 Feb 2007 EST