Peter Rabe
| Peter Rabe | |
|---|---|
Peter Rabe
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| Born |
November 3, 1921 Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany |
| Died | May 20, 1990 (aged 68) Atascadero, California |
| Pen name | Marco Malaponte, J. T. MacCargo |
| Occupation | novelist, screenwriter |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1955 - 1990? |
| Genre | Crime fiction, mystery fiction, spy fiction |
| Spouse | Claire, Kristen (Kiki), Barbara |
| Children | 3 - Jonathan, Julia, Jennifer |
Peter Rabe aka Peter Rabinowitsch, (1921–1990), was a German American writer who also wrote under the names Marco Malaponte and J. T. MacCargo (though not all of the latter's books were by him). Rabe was the author of over 30 books, mostly of crime fiction, published between 1955 and 1975.
Born Peter Rabinowitsch on November 3, 1921, to Michael Rabinovitch (a Russian Jew; the spelling is the Russian version) and Elisabeth Margarete Beer, in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Hanover, Germany, where Peter's father worked as a doctor and surgeon.
When the Nazis came to power and summoned Michael Rabinovitch to a Gestapo office and confronted him with transcripts of political conversations between him and his patients, he decided it best to emigrate to the United States before Peter turned 15 and face possible internment. Michael also had his doctor's license revoked by the Nazis. Michael and Peter left a few months before Kristalnacht in October, 1938, sponsored by Michael's brother Robert Rubin, and they lived with the Rubin family in Detroit, Michigan. At Rubin's suggestion, Michael changed the family name to "Rabe," by combining his name (the "Ra" from Rabinovitch) and his wife's maiden name (the "Be" from Beer). He took over the practice of a retiring obstetrician in New Bremen, Ohio, a German American town. Margarete, a Lutheran, brought her other two sons, Valentin and Andreas, on the last ship of refugees before World War II broke out in 1940.
Peter earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, then served a stint in the Army. He attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland and was awarded a master's degree and a Ph.D. in psychology.
While at Western Reserve, Rabe met Claire Frederickson, also a psychology student and member of a family who had left Europe ahead of the Nazis. Claire introduced Peter to fellow student Max Gartenberg, who would eventually become Peter's literary agent.
Claire and Peter married and moved to Bar Harbor, Maine, where Peter worked as a researcher for Claire's brother, Emil Frederickson. Peter was uncomfortable experimenting on animals and after the project ended the couple moved to Los Angeles to try to establish Peter as a therapist. It was hard to break in and after a short time the couple returned to Cleveland.
Peter did blue-collar work in a factory but was soon asked to work on the company's advertising layouts. This work served him well as Peter used these skills to write and illustrate his first book, From Here to Maternity (Vanguard Press, 1955; originally appeared in McCall's Magazine, September 1954, as "Who's Having This Baby?"), a humorous look at the birth of his and Claire's first son, Jonathan, born April 5, 1953.
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