Thursday, January 21, 2010

Death Of A Tough Guy

One of my favorite novelists died this past Monday. Robert B. Parker, who breathed new life into 'tough guy' detective fiction in the 1970's died suddenly at his writing desk on Monday morning.

I've read all of his Spenser novels, and most of his other work as well. He wrote in what was to me a fresh voice, spare of words, but not sparing of emotion or beauty.

I will miss seeing a new book of his on the shelves, and knowing I had a day or two of pure pleasure ahead of me.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122726090

I heard this story on NPR Tuesday morning, and they left a lot out of this version. What struck me most especially was a short interview with a mystery book store owner in Boston, who reported that she had spoken to Parker only a few days before his death.

She asked him, 'Are you ever going to retire from writing?'

He answered, 'On the day I die.'

The man always did tell the truth.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Sidd, a tip for hyperlinking URL's. After you compose your post, highlight the text you would like to appear as the text over the link.

    For example, if you wanted the link to appear when the reader clicked on "I heard this story" then highlight that text and then click on the "link" icon at the top of the compose box. Then backspace out the http: that appears in the box and paste your link and click ok. The text will automatically appear as the hyperlink.

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  2. You have a way with words. Thought about following in his footsteps?

    I have some ideas about writing radio drama -- then producing them. It is exciting to think about, but scary when you start to work on it.

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