| John D. Macdonald |
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Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania , MacDonald enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance but dropped out during his sophomore year to work menial jobs in New York City. While attending the Syracuse University School of Business, he met Dorothy Prentiss. They married in 1937, and he graduated from Syracuse the following year. In 1939, he received an MBA from Harvard University . WRITING CAREER Early Pulp Stories MacDonald served in the ''Dime Detective'' set his career in motion, and he continued to sell to the Detective , mystery, adventure, sports, Western and Science Fiction pulps. As the boom in Paperback novels expanded, he successfully made the jump to longer fiction with his first novel, ''The Brass Cupcake'', published in 1950 by Fawcett Publications ' Gold Medal Books. His SF included the story "Cosmetics" in '' Astounding '' (1948) and the novels ''Wine of the Dreamer'' (1951) and ''Ballroom of the Skies'' (1952). Travis McGee MacDonald's protagonists were often intelligent and introspective men, sometimes with a hard cynical streak. Travis McGee , the "salvage consultant" and "knight in rusting armor," was all of that. He first appeared in the 1964 novel '' The Deep Blue Good-by '' and was last seen in '' The Lonely Silver Rain '' in 1985 . All titles in the 21-volume series include a color, and the novels usually feature an ever-changing array of female companions, plus an appearance by a sidekick known only as "Meyer," a retired economist. As Sherlock Holmes had his well-known address on Baker Street, McGee had his trademark lodgings on his 52-foot Houseboat ''Busted Flush'', named for the Poker hand that started the run of luck in which he won her. She's docked at Slip F-18, Bahia Mar marina, Fort Lauderdale, Florida . Influence Various writers have acknowledged the trail that MacDonald and McGee blazed, including dead-center, to capture all its languid sleaze, racy sense of promise, and breath-grabbing beauty." Homage to MacDonald was evident in the 1981-88 CBS-TV series '' Simon & Simon '' with scenes showing Rick Simon's boat docked at Slip F-18 in San Diego. The Science Fiction writer Spider Robinson has made it clear that he is also among MacDonald's admirers. The bartender in Callahan's Crosstime Saloon , Mike Callahan, is married to Lady Sally McGee, whose last name is almost certainly a tribute to Travis. In a recent sequel to the Callahan's series, ''Callahan's Key'', a group of regulars from the former saloon decide they've had enough of Long Island , so they move to Key West, Florida , in a colorful caravan of modified School Bus es. On their way to Key West, they stop at a marina near Fort Lauderdale specifically to visit Slip F-18 (where ''Busted Flush'' was usually moored) and meet a local who was the prototype for McGee's sidekick Meyer. The slip is empty, with a small plaque mentioning ''Busted Flush''. MEDIA ADAPTATIONS MacDonald's novel ''Soft Touch'' was the basis for the film ''Man-Trap'' (1961). His 1957 novel ''The Executioners'' was filmed in 1962 as ''Cape Fear'' , a dark thriller of strong suspense and menace. Martin Scorsese directed the 1991 remake of ''Cape Fear'' . Among other film or television adaptations of MacDonald's work, the 1984 ''A Flash of Green'' was probably the most successful. When Travis McGee arrived on the big screen in 1970 with ''Darker Than Amber'', the film received favorable reviews from Roger Ebert and other critics. ''The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything'' was adapted for a 1980 TV movie that failed to capture the spirit of the original novel. The novella "Linda" was filmed twice for television, in 1973 (with Stella Stevens in the title role) and 1993 (with Virginia Madsen ). BIBLIOGRAPHY Travis McGee novels In chronological order:
Non-series novels (selected)
Short story collections
Science Fiction
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