Jack Ritchie
| Jack Ritchie | |
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Pencil sketch of Jack Ritchie.
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| Born | John George Reitci February 26, 1922 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| Died | April 25, 1983 (aged 61) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| Occupation | Short story writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Notable awards | Edgar Award |
| Spouse | Rita Ritchie (nee Krohne) |
John George Reitci (February 26, 1922 – April 25, 1983) was an American writer of detective fiction who wrote under the name Jack Ritchie. Although he wrote one novel, he was primarily known for his vast output of short stories.
Jack Ritchie was born in a room behind his father’s tailor shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 26, 1922. After leaving high school, Ritchie was a student at the Milwaukee State Teachers College. During the Second World War, he enlisted in the U.S. army and was stationed in the Central Pacific for two years, serving for much of that period on the island of Kwajalein. It was here that he first discovered crime and mystery fiction. To pass the time, he read a large amount of mystery books and it was through this that he grew to love the genre.
At the end of the war, Ritchie returned to his hometown of Milwaukee. After trying unsuccessfully to go back to college under the G.I. Bill, Ritchie worked for a time in his father’s shop. Not wishing to pursue a tailor's career, Ritchie decided to try writing stories for a living. Ritchie's mother, Irma Reitci, also wrote short stories and she introduced him to a literary agent, Larry Sternig, to whom Jack gave a copy of a story he had just written. Sternig recognised Rithcie's writing ability at once and sold the story, "Always the Season", to the New York Daily News in 1953.
Ritchie married a fellow writer, Rita Krohne, in 1954. Rita, under her married name, wrote a series of historical adventure novels for children. Jack and Rita Ritchie made their living from the combined income of their freelance writing, though Jack Ritchie stated that they never collaborated on any of their stories.[1] Ritchie and his wife lived in various Milwaukee locales throughout the 1950s. Their first home together was a secluded log cabin on Washington Island. With the birth of their first child in 1957, the Ritchies relocated to a larger house on the island. In 1964, they moved back to the mainland, living in a farmhouse just west of Jefferson and raising a family of four children.[2]
While his wife took part-time work to supplement the family income, Jack dedicated himself to the writing of stories. Ritchie moved to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin after he and his wife divorced in 1978.
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