---original message---
>Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 03:19:12 -0700 (PDT)
>From: "George C. Upper III" <
gcupper3@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: JDM biblio
[...]
>Bill-- [Denton]
>
>I've been meaning to tell you of these two for a
while
>now. I actually use a printed version of your
list
>both as a quick reference for my writing and as
a
>checklist when I'm out book-hunting.
>
>It also helps me keep the publication dates
straight.
>JDM wrote the first several McGee books, for
instance,
>before any of them were published, and I tend to
think
>of all of them as "1963" which, of course,
is
>incorrect. And did you know that his protagonist
was
>named Dallas McGee for the first several novels?
I'm
>not sure why he changed it to Travis, but in
the
>manuscripts, where Travis would be called
"Trav,"
>Dallas would be called "Dal." Now, I know that
JDM
>probably meant Dal to rhyme with gal, but when I
was
>reading it was hard not to read it as "Doll."
I
>wonder if that had anything to do with it.
George, you must be very young. <g>
"MacDonald began working on the series in 1962. First he had
to come up with a character and give him a name. MacDonald
called his detective Dallas McGee. He explained why in an
interview with Edgar Hirshberg, his biographer: 'I have a
friend here that I've had for a hundred years named Dallas
and the name intrigues me because it has a nice flavor about
it. I think lots of times geographical names are fun, and
easy to remember, like Tennessee Williams or Vermont
Royster....'" [pg. 109]
[...] "Then, on November 22, 1963, John Kennedy was
assassinated in Dallas, Texas. And MacDonald changed his
hero's name. The assassination "gave the name a resonance I
did not want. I wrote out twenty names and did not like a one
of them. MacKinlay Kantor suggested I look at a list of Air
Force Bases. He said they had pretty good names. And Travis
was a good name in California," [pg. 110]
---The
Red Hot Typewriter: The Life and Times of John D. MacDonald,
by Hugh Merrill [Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Minotaur;
NY; 2000; ISBN 0-312-20905-3]
...which I've had since it was first published, but just
read.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the most interesting
biography of a mystery writer I've ever read, with extensive
quotes from letters, dollar figures, and just why JDM was
approached to do a series character, and why he agreed, after
having previously rejected the concept.
And someone with more energy than I can compare the massive
bibliography with Bill D's posted version.
I wax enthusiastic-- but if you've any interest in JDM at
all, read this book!
-- Bill Bowers, USAF [1964-1968]
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