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
