RIP Donald E. Westlake

Prolific mystery writer Donald E. Westlake has died.

Mr. Westlake, considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, received an Academy Award nomination for a screenplay, three Edgar Awards and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Since his first novel, “The Mercenaries,” was published by Random House in 1960, Mr. Westlake had written under his own name and several pseudonyms, including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West. Despite the diversity of pen names, most of his books shared one feature: They were set in New York City, where he was born.

Mr. Westlake used different names in part to combat skepticism over his rapid rate of writing books, sometimes as many as four a year, his friends said.

I have to admit that I didn't know who Mr. Westlake was until I realized that I had read several books by Richard Stark and Tucker Coe and enjoyed them very much. And then when I saw that he had written the screenplay for The Grifters, I remembered a beautifully crafted story it was with characters that I liked, and I appreciate what a talent he was. He also had a great sense of humor bordering on the absurd in such novels as "Bank Shot," which became a movie starring George C. Scott.

What also endears him to me and probably a lot of other writers is that he never traded up from a manual typewriter to a computer. There's something about someone who is so confident in his writing that he is willing to commit ink to paper without the safety net of the delete key or the software that lets you do all sorts of rearranging -- and second-guessing -- before you print it out. That's the mark of a great writer. He will be missed.