RARA-AVIS: Re: Macdonald vs. MacDonald

From: Kevin Burton Smith ( kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com)
Date: 16 Dec 2002


>Thanks for the final answer on the name dispute. Why did Millar decide to
>use a pseudonym in the first place? Does Nolan's bio say why he picked
>Macdonald, when he must have known of JDM?

Because he didn't want to be confused with his wife, Margaret Millar, who was already an established mystery writer. He didn't want to appear to be cashing in on her name.

Some people (including, I think, Ed Gorman) actually feel she was the better writer. Certainly, she was no slouch. Her books are pretty complex, and offer a bit more psychological depth than usual. Not exactly hard-boiled, but definitely tough-minded at times.

Macdonald was his father's name, I believe.

-- 

Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site The 2002 Cheap Thrill Awards are here! Vote now, vote often... And win a copy of Elmore Leonard's latest. -- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .



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