Jack,
Re your comment below:
"One thing that did stick out to me, since it had been a few
years since I read an 87th Precinct, was the way that McBain
has not aged his characters all the way to old men, in spite
of the first having been published in 1956. I didn't see
anything about the Twins in TFB, but I may have forgotten it
since it is a few months since I read it. But Carella was
married to the same woman, Teddy, I think her name is."
Steve's still married to Teddy. The twins are about 10 and
have been for the last quarter century or so, having taken
some fifteen years to get to the age of 10.
I'm not really sure why this surprises you. Comparatively few
long-lasting series characters age at the same rate real
people do.
Actually, in the earliest 87th's, Steve and most of the other
squad members are WW2 vets in their late 20's or early 30's
(except for Meyer who was 37). It was Bert Kling, still in
his early 20's, who was the Korean vet.
By the end, Kling was in his early 30's, the rest were in
their late 30's or early 40's, and Meyer was still 37.
But, compared to Shell Scott who stayed 30 for more than 50
years, or Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, who stayed the exact
same age while other around them got older, McBain's handled
the age question with comparative realism.
JIM DOHERTY
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