RARA-AVIS: Re: A Black Border for McGee?

From: dermdocsx2 ( dermdocsx2@cox.net)
Date: 25 Jun 2007


In 1985 while in college, I was very much into the McGee novels. I read an interview with MacDonald where he confirmed that the unfinished manuscript did exist, so that he would "have leverage on his publisher." He said that whenever his publisher would talk about reducing his royalties, he would begin discussing the final novel and then his publisher would reverse his position on royalties. At the time, MacDonald actually said that the working title for the final McGee was Symphony in Black. Hope this helps.

Pat Lee

--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Nathan Cain" <IndieCrime@...> wrote:
>
> I was doing a little research and I came across an article on The
> Green Ripper published in Time Magazine. It begins like this:
>
> Locked inside a beige file cabinet in Sarasota, Fla., is an
unfinished
> manuscript entitled A Black Border for McGee. May it never be
> published. The book, as its name suggests, would write finis to
Travis
> McGee, the perdurable, persnickety shamus whose demise, white-haired
> Author John Dann MacDonald once vowed, would occur after his tenth
> color-coded* starring role. "I keep the MS.," says the author, "as
> leverage on my publisher." The latest McGee, The Green Ripper, is
the
> 18th in the Travis saga, and the best.
>
> Here's the link to the full article:
> http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916954,00.html
>
> It would appear that John D. MacDonald is confirming the existence
of
> the rumored final Travis McGee novel. Has the existence of this
> manuscript, completed or not, ever been confirmed? Was MacDonald
> having some fun, or did he actually write a novel where McGee dies?
> Has anyone on the list done any research on this, or know of anyone
> who has?
>



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