John D. MacDonald

Birth Name:

John Dann McDonald

Birth Place:

Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States

Profession

Writer, Actor

Became the only mystery writer to win the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel "The Green Ripper․"
Served in the Office of Strategic Services, which would later become the CIA, during World War II
Won a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award in 1972
Won the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiere Award for the creation of the character Travis McGee in 1964
Graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Business in 1938 and earned his MBA from Harvard University in 1939
Began writing fiction during the war, when he would send short stories home to his wife
His first short story was published in Story magazine in 1945 by his wife while he was still serving in the war
Quote: "(On what motivated him to start writing during World War II): "The only kind of letters that would pass through censorship in those days made pretty dull reading, so instead of a letter, I wrote my wife a short story․""
Best known as an author who wrote the novels "The Executioners," which became the film "Cape Fear," and "The Empty Copper Sea," which became "Travis McGee․"
During his career he wrote 78 books and 500 short stories, with more than 75 million copies of these in print at the time of his death in 1986

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