Tuesday, July 18, 2006

RIP Mickey Spillane


Mickey Spillane died yesterday. He was 88 years old and had cancer, so the news shouldn't come as quite a shock. It's just that Mickey Spillane was one of those guys that seemed like he could live forever.

Although Mr. Spillane started his career as a comic book writer, it was his Mike Hammer novels that made him a superstar. The first, "I, the Jury" was a hit with readers everywhere, critics be damned. Spillane followed up with 12 other Mike Hammer books... 9 other novels... and a bunch of short stories. Most folks don't realize that Mr. Spillane also wrote two young adult novels [one which won a prize from the Junior Literary Guild].

As much as I enjoyed Spillane's books, I liked his attitude even more. He considered himself a writer, not an author. Spillane was more concerned with royalty checks than reviews... and his fans dearly loved him.

I miss him already.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mickey Spillane's family, friends and fans.

1 comment:

Craig Zablo said...

Great writer doubtful - brilliant storyteller definitely.

I agree with the sentiment and so would Mickey!

Thanks for jumping over to the blog, Papa!