Malcolm Braly, whose first novel *Felony Tank* was one of
the few
paperback originals ever nominated for an Edgar (until the
Paperback
Original Novel category was inaugurated in '69), did time.
In fact,
like E. Richard Johnson, he started wrting while still a
prisoner.
O.Henry, the most popular short story writer of the early
20th
Century, was also an ex-con who started his writing career
while still
doing time. Though not generally regarded as a mystery
writer, quite
a few of his stories concern crime and detection.
Paul Erdman, who wrote best-selling mysteries with an
international
finance ackground and who received a Edgar for *The
$1,000,000,000
Sure Thing*, did time in a Swiss prison for some bank
scam.
And there's been at least one death-row crime writer, Carl
(?)
Chessman, who tried to fight his controversial
execution
(unsuccessfully as it happened) by writing a non-fiction
account of
his case called, I think, *Try To Kill Me*. He also wrote
one novel,
a paperback original, the title of which escapes me. - Jim
Doherty
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