Bill Denton asks:
<< Speaking of academic stuff: Doug Levin, when's that
volume of literary
biography with your entry on Willeford (and Kathy
Harper's on Burnett, I
think) coming out? >>
I was going to wait for someone else to speak up on this, but
since Bill has asked, I'll answer. The volume (#226 of the
Dictionary of Literary Biography--large baby blue volumes in
academic and a lot of public libraries), "American
Hard-Boiled Crime Writers" just came out. American means
North American, it would seem, since Ross Macdonald makes it.
That one is by Rara-Avian Frederick Zackel, as is the piece
on E. Leonard. Kathy Harper did Nebel and Burnett. I have not
read the whole volume. It's a little hit and miss on which
authors made it, not so much by deliberate editorial omission
but because of challenges in finding contributors (no Rabe or
Whittington, for instance, but Steve Fisher makes it). I
haven't read the volume yet, but the entries are usually
relatively detailed (my Willeford entry is about 6,000 words)
and they have supporting artwork. The book is a library
reference work and it is pricey, $155 plus shipping. You can
order it from the Gale Group at 1-800-347-4253. Gale stuff is
also available in electronic form, often through academic
libraries and even some public libraries. I don't know if
this stuff is up yet.
On other semi-academic news, a lot of the Willeford archive
is now at the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts in Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida. (The other part of the archive is at
Boston University). If you're in Florida and you don't want
to golf or sit on the beach, you could go check ou the stuff.
Here's a URL.
http://www.co.broward.fl.us/lii12100.htm
When the collection was formally announced, there was a great
display of items (including a copy of Sideswipe with bullet
holes sent by an irate anonymous fan), a film screening, and
some talks.
Doug 3
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