--- Mark Sullivan <
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net> wrote:
> While rereading Benjamin Schutz, I realized just
how
> much contemporary
> PI novels, from Parker on, have revolved
around
> protecting or saving
> kids.
> I'm tying to figure out how new this trend
is.
Mark--
Well, in some ways it's as old as hard-boiled. I've recently
discovered a number of "forgotten" Caroll John Daly stories
from the early- to mid-twenties. One of these, which
pre-dates what has up till now been considered Daly's first
published story by eight months, is about school kids and
their unconventional method for passing a standardized test
in order to save the reputation of their teacher.
Another of these "lost" stories involves a young girl, too,
who sort of redeems the ex-con protagonist with her love and
trust.
However, as I don't think anyone has read these stories for
decades, I doubt that they were in any way influential on
this more recent (thirty-year) trend.
Incidentally, I've just begun putting these works
"lost stories" together for an anthology, perhaps with a
handful of Daly's better-known work like "Three Gun Terry"
and "The False Burton Combs," along with some critical essays
on Daly and the origins of the genre.
(I'm a grad student, as you may know, so I tend to work
during school breaks.)
G.
===== George C. Upper III, Editor The Lightning Bell Poetry
Journal http://www.lightningbell.org/
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