John D. MacDonald
| John D. MacDonald | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 24, 1916 Sharon, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 28, 1986 (aged 70) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1945–1986 |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916 – December 28, 1986) was an American writer of novels and short stories, known for his thrillers.
MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in his adopted home of Florida. One of the most successful American novelists of his time, MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books in his career. His best-known works include the popular and critically acclaimed Travis McGee series, and his novel The Executioners, which was filmed twice as Cape Fear (1962) and again during 1991. During 1972, MacDonald was named a grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America, and he won a 1980 U.S. National Book Award in the one-year category Mystery.Stephen King praised MacDonald as "the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." Kingsley Amis said, MacDonald "is by any standards a better writer than Saul Bellow, only MacDonald writes thrillers and Bellow is a human-heart chap, so guess who wears the top-grade laurels."
MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where his father worked for the Savage Arms Corporation. The family relocated to Utica, New York, during 1926, where his father became treasurer of the Utica office of Savage Arms. During 1934, MacDonald was sent to Europe for several weeks, which initiated a desire for travel and for photography.
After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, but he quit during his sophomore year. MacDonald worked at menial jobs in New York City for a brief time, then was admitted to Syracuse University, where he met his future wife, Dorothy Prentiss. They married during 1937, and he graduated from Syracuse University the next year.
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