Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) (1926-2005) was best known among crime
fiction fans -- and rightfully so - as the creator; who penned
the renowned ground-breaking 87th Precinct crime novels as well
as the Matthew Hope mysteries.
Ed McBain is just one of the numerous pseudonyms used by one
American prolific writer and film writer, Evan Hunter.
The name "Evan Hunter" was derived from Evander Childs High
School and Hunter College.
Born in New York October 15, 1926 as Salvatore A. Lombino, the
master of the police procedural has used many pen names,
including Richard Marsten, Ezra Hannon, and Curt Cannon, but he
is best known for his police novels written under the name Ed
McBain.
He wrote hundreds of books and a lot of screenplays, both under
his own name and under a number of the above pseudonyms.
Under the name Evan Hunter, which he legally adopted in 1952,
he wrote the original screenplay of The Birds for Alfred
Hitchcock. He also wrote books such as Lizzie, Come Winter, and
The Blackboard Jungle.
Ed McBain received an Edgar Award nomination for his novel
Money, Money, Money. He also holds the Mystery Writers of
America's coveted Grand Master Award, and was the first
American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime
Writers Association's highest award.
Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) passed away at the age of 78, of cancer
of the larynx in Weston, Connecticut July 6,
2005.
