John D. MacDonald

Today would have been writer John D. MacDonald's 95th birthday. He was the creator of the Travis McGee series of books and a favorite of many. His Empty Copper Sea and The Green Ripper were two of my favorites.

The story of how he persevered and strove to become a writer is inspirational in itself.

 

Yeah, but did he have his picture on bubble-gum cards?

 

The Lonely Silver rain was the last.

MacDonald was so fun to read that many overlooked how good a writer he was. I like how every so often other writers will have one of their characters reading a Travis McGee story as part of the narrative. Carl Hiaassen would do that pretty frequently.

 

Ragu, start with the Travis McGee series. They all have colors in the titles, so they're not hard to identify. MacDonald's books are full of how-to tips on doing illegal and almost illegal stuff. He must've bought a beer for every shady looking guy he met in his long life. They're also pretty good descriptive social history of Florida and the other warm states in the 60s and 70s as they were in the process of becoming the Sun Belt instead of the South as it had been known.

 

Sirs, Madames,

He was very mad at my favorite Ross MacDonald for his last book, The Blue Hammer. You know, the McGee/color-in-title thing. Strained a decent relationship. The first reference to the Blue Hammer surfaces very late and it's a stunning bit of prose.

I'd say Archer has it all over McGee but that's just me (and a Canadian thing).

YHS, etc

 

The Archer books are excellent. And it should be pointed out that the Archer title "The Zebra-Striped Hearse," which is sort of a color title, predates the first Travis McGee novel by two years, 1962 to 1964. Maybe it was a dual homage.

 

Every novelist should include a scene in which a character is reading Kilgore Trout.

 

Or perhaps a reference to wide open beaver?

 

Mr Gee,

Trust me. Ross wasn't paying homage to John with Blue Hammer. His own man. Wouldn't have occurred to him. Incredible writer.

YHS, etc

 

Have read every single one of the Travis McGee novels but it's been a long time.

Thanks to Chris am going to revisit them

And I think John D and Ross are two different writers.