Joe Gores passed away Monday, 50 years to the day after Dashiell Hammett died. His Memorial Mass will be held Friday, January 21 at 11:30, St. Sebastian Catholic Church, Greenbrae, CA.
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I really admired Joe Gores, a prolific writer of the old school. I met him on several occasions at MWA chapter meetings, the Stockton Mystery Conference and other mystery gatherings. He was a fabulous raconteur.
Joe Gores was a three-time winner of the Edgar Award, won the Maltese Falcon Award (Japan's highest award in the mystery field), and was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Gores worked as a logger, a carnie, a teacher at a boys' school in Kenya, and for twelve years, as a detective. Gores' novels and stories about detective agency Daniel Kearney Associates (KDA) were based on his own experiences as a San Francisco private eye.
Gores also wrote scripts for Kojak, Columbo, Magnum P.I., Mike Hammer, Remington Steele, and other television series. Francis Ford Coppola produced a movie based on Gores' novel Hammett. Gores wrote Spade & Archer, the authorized prequel to The Maltese Falcon.
Kelli Stanley posted on the MWA NorCal newsgroup that Joe Gores passed away. I'll expand this post as more information becomes available. My heart goes out to the family at this time.
Read Mark Coggins' wonderful post about Joe Gores at the Rap Sheet.
Other Tributes:
Bill Pronzini / Steve Lewis
Ed Gorman
Nicolas Pillai
What sad, sad news.
ReplyDeleteI just read of this on Bill Crider's blog. I liked Joe, he was a fine writer, I love the DKA books and he even wrote me into one of them as a villain. I didn't know he was in ill health, though the last time I saw him he did look less hale. The mystery writing and reading world has lost a great one.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed Joe's stories. One of the great ones. Sorry to see him go.
ReplyDeleteSuch a loss, but a legacy for all of us to admire and continue to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteGores was another of my favorites from a while ago. May he rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteOh no, not another one. Joe wrote the sweetest notes in my books. I love the DKA novels. They are wonderfully funny and show me a trade, repossession of cars, that I know nothing about. But he made the repo guys so endearing.
ReplyDeleteMeeting and becoming friends of mega-talent Joe Gores and his wonderful wife, Dori, back in the mid-80s was a privilege and a delight. Whenever we had dinner together, Joe regaled us with stories, and, of course, we read everything he wrote. One special memory was the time we went with them to Bouchercon in Monterey -- the lineup of fans to get his signature on their books seemed to extend for a mile. He was a writer's writer and a terrific person. HIs loss is a big loss to the writing world. We will miss him.
ReplyDeleteLeo Ruth and Deborah Dashow Ruth