Robert B. Parker
| Robert B. Parker | |
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Parker in 2006
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| Born | Robert Brown Parker September 17, 1932 Springfield, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | January 18, 2010 (aged 77) Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1974–2010 |
| Genre | Detective fiction, Western fiction |
| Spouse | Joan Hall Parker (1956 –2010) |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Website | |
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Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer of fiction, primarily of the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also produced. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited by critics and bestselling authors such as Robert Crais, Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane as not only influencing their own work but reviving and changing the detective genre. Parker also wrote two other series based on an individual character: He wrote nine novels based on the character Jesse Stone and six novels based on the character Sunny Randall.
Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1956 Parker married Joan H. Parker, whom he claimed to have met as a toddler at a birthday party. They spent their childhoods in the same neighborhood.
After earning a BA degree from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Parker served as a soldier in the US Army Infantry in Korea. In 1957, he earned his master's degree in English literature from Boston University and then worked in advertising and technical writing until 1962. Parker received a PhD in English literature from Boston University in 1971. His dissertation, titled "The Violent Hero, Wilderness Heritage and Urban Reality," discussed the exploits of fictional private-eye heroes created by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald.
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