January 19, 2010
Robert B. Parker is Dead
At the age of 77, “just sitting at his desk” at his home in the Boston area, according to his U.K. publisher Quercus, Robert B. Parker is dead. I’m really not sure how to process this. Not at all. I suppose it’s exactly the way the author best known for his Spenser private detective novels, who by the latter portion of his career was up to publishing three novels a year, working at a five to ten page-a-day clip, should die – doing exactly what he was doing, day in, day out.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, and his sons, David, a choreographer, and Daniel, an actor. Several more novels will be published in 2010, including SPLIT IMAGE, the newest Jesse Stone novel (out February 23) and BLUE-EYED DEVIL, an Appaloosa novel (out on May 4). Much, much more soon, and something tells me a whole lot of tributes will be rolling in over the next day or two. In the meantime, some choice tributes and links:
- Bullets & Beer – the in-depth RBP site
- Robert B. Parker’s blog, last updated in May
- The Thrilling Detective on all of RBP’s P.I. novels
- Don Swaim interviews RBP in 1984 and 1986
- Mystery Ink’s RBP Tribute, in honor of his Gumshoe Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Bill Crider on “a writer I’ve followed faithfully since the appearance of his very first book.”
- Laura Ann Gilman, who used to work at Putnam, which was Parker’s longtime American publisher
Posted via web from 52 novels.
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