Missing Barbara Parker and others who have passed
by Oline H. Cogdill
March 11th, 2009During the last year, the mystery community has lost more than its share of authors, who have enriched our lives with their wonderful stories.
South Florida author Barbara Parker died Saturday, March 7, after a long illness.
Here’s link to the tribute I wrote for the Sun Sentinel.
There also is an online registry for people to leave a note for the family.
A writer to th
e end, she had asked that instead of flowers, send donations to help writers. Donations can be sent to the Author Sponsorship Fund, Mystery Writers of America, 1140 Broadway, New York, NY 10001.
Barbara joins Donald Westlake, James Crumley, Tony Hillerman, Elaine Flinn, and Ed Hoch, each of whom passed away during the last year.
There must be a heck of writers group going on in heaven.
Each of these authors made a difference among their fans. Each brought a different perspective to the genre.
Donald with his combination of serious, hard-boiled novels and comic capers.
James who will forever be remembered for one of the best opening lines ever with his 1978 The Last Good Kiss: “When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.”
Tony’s mysteries about the American Indian culture inspired other authors to write about other regions and other cultures.
Elaine had a lively series about an amateur sleuth.
Ed was the master of the short story.
I was fortunate to have met each of these authors and had at least a speaking relationship with each.
While I had met each of these authors, but living in South Florida I knew Barbara.
Her novels about Miami lawyers Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana illustrated how South Florida has changed, showing long-time Miami residents with the influence of Cuban-Americans.
I reviewed each of her novels – favorably – and found her vision about South Florida so perfectly tuned.
We also served on several panels, discussing anything from the
South Florida setting, plotting and romance in the mystery.
One of our last panels was about Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, which was The Big Read at that time for Broward
County.
Barbara, Jonathan King, Les Standiford and myself discussed the novel for an audience at the Florida Center for the Book. She was better prepared than any of us.
Each death diminishes our lives a little. People who mattered in our lives leave a void.
Sure, there will be other novelists who will capture our imagination; other stories that will keep us up at all hours of the night.
But in their way, each of these novelists – and one wonderful short story writer – is irreplaceable.
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