Authors and Creators
John D. MacDonald
Also wrote as John Wade Farrel, Robert Henry, John Lane, Scott O'Hara, Peter Reed, Henry Reiser
(1916-1986)

Best known as the creator of Travis McGee, John Dann MacDonald was one of the last of the old pulpsters to continue writing fiction successfully, making a name for himself in the burgeoning paperback market of the fifties, and continuing to appear on the bestseller lists well into the eighties in fact. In his long career, he produced over seventy books, mostly in the hardboiled/crime vein, although he did produce some decent work in science fiction, romance and other genres. He even produced some notable non-fiction, particularly No Deadly Drug, a true crime book, and The House Guests, a cat's eye view of the world.

He was born in Pennsylvania, and received his MBA at Harvard, but moved to Florida after World War II. While stationed in the Far East, to amuse himself he wrote a short story, and sent it to his wife. His wife loved it, and supposedly without MacDonald's permission, submitted it to the prestigious slick, Story, where it was accepted. Inspired by this success, MacDonald decided to become a writer, and upon his return Stateside, he wrote hundreds of stories, mostly for the pulps. He continued to pump them out, until, as he put it, "the last of them were shot out from under me."

Fortunately, just as the pulps were dying out, MacDonald was able to catch the rising wave of the paperback boom. From 1950 until he released his first Travis Mcgee novel, he published over forty PBO's, all stand-alones. His crime novels of this period are masters of the form -- spare, tight, often dark and even nasty tales of desperate men in way over their heads; taut morbid fables with psychological underpinnings and a burgeoning environmental awareness, often set in his adopted state of Florida. It was these books that served him well when he finally unleashed his series character, the colourful and larger-than-life Travis McGee. What could have been merely a string of cheesy paperbacks about a mouth-breathing pseudo-Robin Hood beach bum instead became, in many ways, a chronicle of America's own growing awareness of social issues. And, oh yeah, simply as pure adventure, they kicked ass.

MacDonald served as president of The Mystery Writers of America, and was elected a Grand Master in 1972. He also received the Benjamin Franklin Award for Short Story in 1955, the French Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere in 1964 and the American Book Award in 1980.

UNDER OATH

• "(He was) the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller."
  (Stephen King)
  .
• "Most readers loved MacDonald's work because he told a rip-roaring yarn. I loved it because he was the first modern writer to nail Florida dead-center, to capture all its languid sleaze, racy sense of promise, and breath-grabbing beauty...For me and many natives (of Florida), some of McGee's finest moments were when he paused, mid-adventure, to inveigh against the runaway exploitation of this rare and dying paradise. If a cypress swamp got plowed to make way for another shopping mall, he took it personally: "This was instant Florida, tacky and stifling and full of ugly and spurious energies." Every McGee saga guarantees such splendidly mordant commentary. The customary targets are greedhead developers, crooked politicians, chamber-of-commerce flacks, and the cold-hearted scammers who flock like buzzards to the Sunshine State. For John D. MacDonald, these were not just useful fictional villains; they were villains of real life. When he passed away unexpectedly in 1986, millions of fans worldwide wondered what would become of Travis McGee. Not me. I wondered what would become of Florida without him...."
  (Carl Hiaasen, from an intro to The Deep Blue Goodbye)

SHORT STORIES

• Yeah, I know...I'll get to it....Suffice it to say that in his lifetime, MacDonald sold over six hundred stories in his liftime, to all sorts of magazines, in all kinds of stories. He was published in crime pulps such as Detective Tales, Dime Detective, Dime Mystery, Doc Savage, Justice, Mammoth Mystery, The Shadow Magazine and even Black Mask, and in slicks such as Collier's, Esquire, Liberty, Playboy, This Week and Cosmopolitain. he wrote sports stories, science fiction, adventures, romances, westerns and mysteries. Often more than one of his stories would appear in the same magazine, often under some pseudonym. The July 1949 issue of of Fifteen Sports Stories, for example, has four stories by MacDonald in it. No wonder he resorted to pseudonyms.
  .
• "Conversation on Deck" (January 1946, The American Courier)
• "The Game" (February 1946, The American Courier)
• "Cash on the Coffin" (May 1946, Detective Tales)
• "A Handful of Death" (June 1946, Doc Savage; as Peter Reed)
• "Blame Those Who Die" (June 25, 1946, Short Stories)
• "Bury the Pieces!" (July 1946, Dime Mystery)
• "The Flying Elephants" (July 10, 1946, Short Stories)
• "Interlude in India" (July-August 1946, Story)
• "The Dry Mouth of Danger" (August 1946, Doc Savage)
• "The Dead Dream" (September 1946, The Shadow)
• "Justice in the Sun" (October 1946, Doc Savage)
• "Female of the Species" (October 1946, Dime Detective)
• "Get Dressed for Death" (October 1946, Mammoth Mystery)
• "he Little People" (November 1946, Doc Savage)
• "The Scarred Hand" (November 1946, Doc Savage Magazine; AKA "I Accuse Myself"; as John Farrell)
• "The Startled Face of Death" (November 1946, Doc Savage, November 1946; as Scott O'Hara)
• "The Whispering Knives" (November 1946, The Shadow)
• "Coward in the Game" (November 25,1946, Short Stories)
• "Private War" (December 1946, Doc Savage)
• "You Got to Have a Good Lip" (December 1946, Esquire)
• "Redheads Won't Wait" (December 1946, The Shadow, December 1946; as Peter Reed)
• "I Ain't So Dumb" (December 1946, The Shadow, December 1946; as Robert Henry)
• "A Bat in the Hall" (December 1946, The Shadow)
• "Muddy Gun" (Best Stories, January 1947)
• "The Hands of an Artist" (January 1947, The Shadow)
• "The Fixed Smile of Death" (January 1947, The Shadow; as Robert Henry)
• "The Bright Flash of Vengeance" (January 1947, The Shadow; as Peter Reed)
• "Eight Dozen Agents." (January 1947, Doc Savage)
• "Hole in None" (January 4,1947, Liberty)
• "Dead to the World" (February 1947, Dime Detective; AKA "No Business for an Amateur")
• "Bonded in Death" (February 1947, Doc Savage; as Harry Rieser)
• "The Deadly Game of Darts" (February 1947, Doc Savage)
• "The Anonymous Letter" (February-March 1947, The Shadow)
• "Backlash" (February-March 1947, The Shadow; as Peter Reed)
• "Nor Iron Bars" (March-April 1947, Doc Savage)
• "You've Got to Be Cold" (April-May 1947, The Shadow; AKA "The Night Is Over")
• "The Notched Ears" (May 1947, Best Stories)
• "The Pay-Off" (May 1947, Cosmopolitan)
• "Suicidal Journey" (June 1947, Dime Detective)
• "Crooked Circle" (1947, Fight Stories)
• "The Pendans Box" (July 1947, Bluebook)
• "They Let Me Live" (July-August 1947, Doc Savage)
• "To Cut the Cards" (July-August 1947, Doc Savage)
• "North on the Parkway" (August 1947, Esquire)
• "Never Marry Murder" (August-September 1947, The Shadow)
• "Manhattan Horse Opera" (September 1947, Black Mask; AKA "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose")
• "Design for Dying" (September 1947, Dime Detective)
• "The Chinese Pit" (September-October 1947, Doc Savage)
• "he Gentle Killer" (September 1947)
• "Oh, Give Me a Hearse!" (October 1947, Dime Detective; AKA "A Place to Live")
• "Begin Again" (November 1947, Liberty, November 1947)
• "My Mission is Murder" (November 1947, Dime Detective; AKA "Death For Sale")
• "Or the World Will Die" (November-December 1947, Doc Savage)
• "Second Visitor" (November-December 1947, Doc Savage; as Peter Reed)
• "Worse Than Murder" (November-December 1947, Doc Savage; as Henry Rieser)
• "That Old Grey Train" (November 1947, Super Sports)
• "What About Alice?" (December 1947, The Sign)
• "Big John Fights Again" (December 1947, Super Sports)
• "Punch Your Way Home" (December 1947, Sports Fiction)
• "Even Up the Odds" (January 1948, Detective Story Magazine)
• "Come Die with Me!" (January 1948, New Detective, January 1948)
• "Even Up the Odds" (January 1948, Detective Story Magazine)
• "Cosmetics" (February 1948, Astounding Science Fiction)
• "The Pastel Production Line" (February 1948, Bluebook)
• "Pickup" (February 1948, Cosmopolitan)
• "The High Walls of Hate" (February 1948, Dime Detective; AKA "The High Gray Walls of Hate")
• "With Soul So Dead" (March 1948, Dime Detective)
• "One Vote for Murder" (March 1948, New Detective)
• "Her Black Wings" (March 1948, Shock)
• "High Dive to Oblivion" (April 1948, Dime Detective)
• "The Corpse Rides at Dawn" (April 1948, Ten-Story Western)
• "The Spiralled Myth" (April 1948, Spectator Club)
• "The Mechanical Answer" (May 1948, Astounding Science Fiction)
• "Death Sleeps Here!" (May 1948, New Detective)
• "Blood of the Vixen" (May 1948, Shock)
• "Satan's Angel" (May 1948, Shock; as Scott O'Hara)
• "The Cold Trail of Death" (May-June 1948, Doc Savage)
• "The Tin Suitcase" (May-June 1948, Doc Savage; AKA "She Cannot Die"; as by Peter Reed; )
• "Homicidal Hiccup" (June 1948, Detective Tales)
• "Call Your Murder Signals!" (June 1948, Dime Detective)
• "Venomous Lady" (July 1948, Shock)
• "Sepulchre of the Living"(July 1948, Shock)
• "So Sorry" (July 1948, Sports Fiction)
• "Cavaliers Make Good Corpses" (August 1948, Dime Detective)
• "Loser Take All" (August 1948, Sports Novels)
• "Fatal Accident" (Fall 1948, The Shadow)
• "The Case of the Carved Model" (September 1948, Black Mask)
• "Nicky and the Tin Finger" (September 1948, Bluebook)
• "Red-Headed Bait" (September 1948, Detective Tales)
• "Scene of the Crime" (September 1948, Detective Tales)
• "Just a Kill in the Dark" (September 1948, New Detective)
• "Trial by Fury" (September 1948, New Detective; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Tune in on Station Homicide" (September 1948, New Detective; AKA "A Time For Dying"; as Peter Reed)
• "Dance of a New World" (September 1948, Astounding Science Fiction)
• "Runaway Cleats" (September 1948, Sports Novels)
• "Thunder King" (September 1948, Sports Novels; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Shenadun" (September 1948, Startling Stories)
• "Deep Death" (October 1948, Doc Savage)
• "My Husband Dies Slowly" (October 1948, Dime Detective)
• "They Never Quit" (October 1948, Sports Fiction)
• "Death Is the Answer" (October 1948, Thrilling Detective)
• "That Mess Last Year" (October 1948, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "School for the Stars" (October 1948, Astounding Science Fiction)
• "Blonde Bait for the Murder Master" (November 1948, Crack Detective Stories)
• "Glory Blaster" (November 1948, Sports Novels)
• "Ring Around the Redhead" (November 1948, Startling Stories)
• "No Grave Has My Love" (December 1948, Dime Detective)
• "Buzz-Saw Belter" (December 1948, New Sports)
• "A Child Is Crying" (December 1948, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "Successful Season" (1948)
• "When You Got a Pigeon" (December 1948-January 1949, The Shadow)
• "Murder in Mind" (Winter 1949, Mystery Book)
• "Hot-Seat on the Aisle" (January 1949, Detective Tales)
• "Damsels of the Deep" (January 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Take the Bum Out!" (January 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Three's a Shroud" (January 1949, New Detective)
• "Flaw" (January 1949, Startling Stories)
• "The Great Stone Death" (January 1949, Weird Tales)
• "Blackmail Breeds Bullets" (February 1949, All-Story Detective)
• "Killer's Nest" (February 1949, Detective Tales)
• "A Coffin a Day" (February 1949, FBI Detective)
• "Fight, Scrub, Fight!" (February 1949, New Sports)
• "Killing All Men!" (March 1949, Black Mask)
• "Kiss the Corpse Goodbye" (March 1949, Black Mask; as Scott O'Hara)
• "I'll Drown You in My Dreams" (March 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Danger -- Death Ahead!" (March 1949, New Detective)
• "Last Chance Cleats" (March 1949, Sports Novels)
• "A Corpse in His Dreams") (Spring 1949, Mystery Book)
• "The Widow Wouldn't Weep" (April 1949, All-Story Detective)
• "His Own Funeral" (April 1949, Detective Tales; as John Lane)
• "The Corpse Belongs to Daddy" (April 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Loot for the Unlucky Lady" (April 1949, FBI Detective)
• "Death Quotient" (April 1949, Super Science Stories)
• "All Our Yesterdays" (April 1949, Super Science Stories; as John Wade Farrell)
• "Delusion Drive" (Super Science Stories, April 1949) (as Peter Reed)
• "Three's a Shroud" (January 1949, New Detective; AKA Verdict)
• "A Corpse in His Dreams" (February 1949, Mystery Book Magazine)
• "Killer's Nest" (February 1949, Detective Tales; AKA Neighbourly Interest)
• "Killing All Men" (March 1949, Black Mask; AKA Deadly Damsel)
• "A Corpse in His Dreams" (Spring 1949, Mystery Book Magazine)
• "You'll Never Escape" (May 1949, Dime Detective; AKA "State Police Report That...")
• "Murder in One Syllable" (May 1949, Black Mask)
• "You'll Never Escape" (May 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Get Out of Town" (May 1949, New Detective)
• "Immortality" (May 1949, Startling Stories)
• "Somebody Has to Do the Job" (May 14, 1949, Toronto Star Weekly)
• "But Not to Dream" (May 1949, Weird Tales)
• "You Remember Jeanie" (May 1949, Crack Detective Stories)
• "Three Strikes -- You're Dead!" (June 1949, All-Story Detective)
• "Too Many Sinners" (June 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Make Mine Murder!" (June 1949, FBI Detective)
• "Like a Keepsake" (June 1949, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "A Corpse-Maker Goes Courting" (July 1949, Dime Detective; AKA "Unmarried Widow")
• "Heritage of Hate" (July 1949, Black Mask; AKA "Secret Stain" and "Triple Cross")
• "Death Is a Lap Ahead" (July 1949, Adventure)
• "Tank-Town Matador" (July 1949, Argosy)
• "Swing-Time Sucker" (July 1949, Detective Tales)
• "The Glory Punch" (July 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Bye, Bye, Backfield" (July 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories; as John Wade Farrell)
• "The Thunder Road" (July 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories; as Peter Reed)
• "Blue Water Fury" (July 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories; as Scott O'Hara)
• "The Cold, Cold Ground" (July 1949, New Detective)
• "The Hunted" (July 1949, Super Science Stories)
• "Bedside Murder" (Summer 1949, Mystery Book)
• "Trojan Horse Laugh" (August 1949, Astounding Science Fiction)
• "Looie Follows Me" (August 27, 1949, Collier's)
• "What Makes Sammy Laugh?" (August 1949, Detective Tales)
• "Amphiskios" (August 1949, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "Poor Little Rich Corpse" (September 1949, Detective Tales)
• "Murder Run-Around" (September 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Mad About Murder" (September 1949, Dime Detective; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Six Points to Remember" (September 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Dead -- As in Darling" (September 1949, New Detective, September 1949)
• "A Condition of Beauty" (September 1949)
• "Minion of Chaos" (September 1949, Super Science Stories)
• "The Miniature" (September 1949, Super Science Stories; as Peter Reed)
• "Blue Stars for a Dead Lady" (October 1949, Detective Tales)
• "Target for Tonight" (October 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Last Rendezvous" (October 1949, Dime Mystery)
• "Warrant for an Old Flame" (October 1949, FBI Detective)
• "A Young Man of Promise" (November 1949, Argosy)
• "The Durable Corpse" (November 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Run the Man Down" (November 1949, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Hang the Man High!" (November 1949, Fifteen Western Tales)
• "Half Past Mayhem" (November 1949, New Detective)
• "Appointment for Tomorrow" (November 1949, Super Science Stories)
• "The Sleepers" (November 1949, Super Science Stories; as John Wade Farrell)
• "Love, Inc." (November 1949, Today's Woman)
• "Case of the Burning Blonde" (December 1949, Detective Tales)
• "Take a Powder, Galahad!" (December 1949, Dime Detective, December 1949)
• "Nine Coffins for Rocking H" (December 1949, Dime Western, December 1949)
• "Murder in Mind' (Winter 1949, Mystery Book Magazine)
• "Blue Water Fury" (1949; AKA The Big Blue)
• "Looie Follows Me" (1949)
• "Moonlit Sport" (January 1950, The American Magazine)
• "Swing and Slay" (January 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Stand Up and Slug!" (January 1950, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Stop, Look -- and Die!" (January 1950, New Detective)
• "The First One" (January 1950, Startling Stories)
• "Spin, Devil!" (January 1950, Super Science Stories; as John Wade Farrell)
• "Spectator Sport" (February 1950, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "The Filly from Philly" (February 25,1950, Toronto Star Weekly)
• "Man-Stalk" (March 1950, Argosy)
• "The Judas Chick" (March 1950, Detective Tales)
• "A Corpse on Me!" (March 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Fall Guy" (March 1950, New Detective)
• "A Trap for the Careless" (March 1950, Detective Tales)
• "The Ultimate One" (March 1950, Super Science Stories)
• "The Sitting Duck" (April 1950, Detective Tales)
• "Blood on the Midway" (April 1950, Dime Detective; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Pigskin Patsy" (April 1950, Fifteen-Story Detective)
• "The Plunder Five" (April 1950, New Sports)
• "Journey for Seven" (April 1950, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "Portrait of a Murderess" (Spring 1950, Detective Book Magazine)
• "Breathe No More, My Lovely" (May 1950, Detective Tales; AKA "Breathe No More")
• "This One Will Kill You" (May 1950, New Detective; AKA Death "Writes the Answer")
• "Night Watch" (May 1950, Detective Tales; AKA "Check Out At Dawn"; as Scott O'Hara)
• "The Long, Red Night" (May 1950, Detective Tales; as John Lane)
• "Yes, Sir, That's My Slay-Babe!" (May 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Vanguard of the Lost" (May 1950, Fantastic Adventures)
• "Money Green" (May 1950, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "This One Will Kill You" (May 1950, New Detective)
• "Wine of the Dreamers" (May 1950, Startling Stories)
• "By the Stars Forgot" (May 1950, Super Science Stories)
• "Gift of Darkness" (May 1950, Super Science Stories; as Peter Reed)
• "College-Cut Kill" (June1950, Dime Detective; 2001, Pulp Masters)
• "Sir Lancelot's Crime Wave" (June1950, Dime Detective; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Dead on the Pin" (Summer 1950, Mystery Book Magazine)
• "Jukebox Jungle" (July 1950, Black Mask)
• "Run, Sister, Run!" (July 1950, Detective Tales)
• "Dead Men Don't Scare" (July 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Five-Star Fugitive" (July 1950, Dime Detective; as Scott O'Hara)
• "Half-Past Eternity" (July 1950, Super Science Stories)
• "Escape to Fear" (July 1950, Super Science Stories; as Peter Reed)
• "Make One False Move" (August 1950, Argosy)
• "His Fatal Fling" (August 1950, Dime Detective)
• "The Lady Is a Corpse!" (September 1950, Detective Tales; AKA "From Some Hidden Grave")
• "Exit Smiling" (September 1950, Dime Detective)
• "The Homesick Buick" (September 1950, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
• "Too Early to Tell" (October 1950, Adventure)
• "Miranda" (October 1950, Fifteen Mystery Stories)
• "Shadow on the Sand" (October 1950, Thrilling Wonder Stories)
• "The Paw of the Cat" (November 1950, Detective Tales)
• "Tri-Kill Cutie" (Dime Detective, November 1950)
• "For Murder -- or Worse" (November 1950, New Detective)
• "Final Mission" (November 1950, Planet Stories)
• "The Big Contest" (December 1950, Worlds Beyond)
• "Jukebox Jungle" (December 1950, Black Mask)
• "I Love You (Occasionally)" (December 31,1950, This Week)
• "Hand From the Void" (January 1951, Super Science Stories)
• "Death for the Asking" (January 1951, Detective Fiction)
• "Susceptibility" (January 1951, Galaxy Science Fiction)
• "Hand from the Void" (January 1951, Super Science Stories)
• "Destiny Deferred" (January 1951, Super Science Stories; as John Wade Farrell)
• "Over My Dead Body!" (February 1951, Detective Tales)
• "The Curse of the `Star'" (February 1951, Short Stories)
• "Get Thee Behind Me" (March 1951, Detective Fiction)
• "Case of Nerves" (March 1951, Detective Tales)
• "The Deadliest Game" (April 1951, Detective Tales)
• "Death Is My Comrade" (April 1951, New Detective)
• "Salute to Courage" (April 1951, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "Violence Inherited" (May 1951, Detextive Fiction)
• "Nothing Must Change" (June 1951, Redbook)
• "Escape to Chaos" (June 1951, Super Science Stories)
• "Cosmic Knot" (June 1951, Super Science Stories; as Peter Reed)
• "Path of Glory" (July 1951, Adventure)
• "Lay Me Down and Die" (July 1951, Detective Fiction)
• "Common Denominator" (July 1951, Galaxy Science Fiction)
• "Crime of Omission" (August 1951, Detective Tales)
• "Death Runs in the Family" (August 1951, Dime Detective)
• "Dateline -- Death" (August 1951, New Detective)
• "Who Stopped That Clock?" (August 12,1951, This Week)
• "The White Fruit of Banaldar" (September 1951, Startling Stories)
• "Big League Busher" (October 1951, Sport Magazine)
• "Case of the Gorgeous Gams" (October 1951, Detective Tales)
• "The Cloob from Glasgow" (October 1951, Fifteen Sports Stories)
• "The Cardboard Star" (December 1951, The American Legion Magazine)
• "The Girl Who Wanted Money" (December 1951, Dime Detective)
• "The Man Who Died" (December 1951, Toronto Star Weekly)
• "Betrayed" (March1952, The American Magazine; also July 1964, MSMM)
• "All That Blood Money Can Buy" (April 1952, Detective Tales; AKA "Murder For Money")
• "Noose For aTigress" (August 1952, Dime Detective)
• "The Man From Limbo" (1952, Dime Detective)
• "The Innocent Victims" (1953, Bluebook; also 1999, Pure Pulp)
• "The Trouble With Erica" (1953)
• "I Always Get the Cuties" (1954)
• "The Killer" (January 1955, Manhunt)
• "Scared Money" (October 1955, Justice)
• "Long Shot" (1955)
• "The Bear Trap" (1955)
• "Hangover" (1956)
• "Romantic Courtesy" (1957)
• "Man In a Trap" (1958, EQMM)
• "Taint of the Tiger" (March 1958, Cosmopolitan)
• "Black Cat in the Snow" (1958, Manhunt)
• "The Fast Loose Money" (1958)
• "The Trap of Solid Gold" (1960)
• "End of the Tiger" (1963, This Week)
• "The Legend of Joe Lee" (1964, Cosmopolitain)
• "The Straw Witch" (1964, This Week)
• "Blurred View" (1964, This Week)
• "The Loveliest Girl in the World" (1964, This Week)
• "Funnyman" (1966, The Saturday Evening Post; AKA Afternoon of the Hero)
• "Quarrel" (1967, Playboy)
• "Double Hannenframmis" (1970, Playboy)
• "Hit and Run" (1973, A Treasury of Modern Mysteries)
• "Finding Anne Farley" (1978, Best Detective Stories of the Year)
• "Homicidal Hiccup" (1979, Alfred Hitchcock P:resents: The Master's Choice)
• "Squealer!" (Manhunt)
• "There Hangs Death!"
• "The Random Noise of Love"
• "Dear Old Friend" (Playboy)
• "The Willow Pool"
• "Woodchuck"
• "The Annex" (Playboy)

COLLECTIONS

• End of the Tiger and Other Stories (1966)
• S*E*V*E*N (1971)
• Other Times, Other Worlds (1978)
• The Good Old Stuff (1982)
• More Good Old Stuff (1984)

NOVELS

• The Brass Cupcake (1950)
• Murder For the Bride (1951)
• Judge Me Not (1951)
• Weep For Me (1951)
• Wine of the Dreamers (1951)
• The Damned (1952)
• Ballroom of the Skies (1952)
• The Neon Jungle (1953)
• Dead Low Tide (1953)
• Cancel All Our Vows (1953)
• All These Condemned (1954)
• Area of Suspicion (1954)
• Contrary Pleasure (1954)
• A Bullet For Cinderella (1955; AKA On the Make)
• Cry Hard, Cry Fast (1955)
• You Live Once (1954)
• April Evil (1955)
• Border Town Girl (1956)
• Murder In The Wind (1956)
• Death Trap (1957)
• Hurricane (1957; unverified)
• The Price of Murder (1957)
• The Empty Trap (1957)
• A Man of Affairs (1957)
• The Deceivers (1958)
• Soft Touch (1958)
• The Executioners (1958; AKA Cape Fear)
• Clemmie (1958)
• Deadly Welcome (1958)
• Please Write For Details (1959)
• The Crossroads (1959)
• The Beach Girls (1959)
• Slam The Big Door (1960)
• The End of the Night (1960)
• The Only Girl In The Game (1960)
• Where Is Janice Gantry? (1960)
• One Monday We Killed Them All (1961)
• A Key To the Suite (1962)
• A Flash of Green (1962)
• The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything (1962)
• On the Run (1963)
• I Could Go On Singing (1963)
• The Drowner (1963)
• The Deep Blue Goodbye (1964; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• A Purple Place for Dying (1964; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Quick Red Fox (1964; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Nightmare in Pink (1964; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Darker Than Amber (1966; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• One Fearful Yellow Eye (1966; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Last One Left (1966)
• Pale Gray for Guilt (1968; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Long Lavender Look (1970; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• A Tan and Sandy Silence (1971; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Dress Her in Indigo (1971; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Scarlet Ruse (1973; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Turquoise Lament (1973; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1974; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Condominium (1977)
• The Empty Copper Sea (1978; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Green Ripper (1979; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Free Fall in Crimson (1981; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• Cinnamon Skin (1982; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• The Lonely Silver Rain (1984; Travis McGee) ...Buy this book
• One More Sunday (1984)

NON-FICTION

• The House Guests (1965)
• No Deadly Drug (1968)
• A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald 1967-1974 (1986)

FILMS

• MAN-TRAP
  (AKA Deadlock, Restless)
  (1961)
  Black and white
  93 minutes
  Based on the story "Taint of the Tiger" by John D. MacDonald
  Screenplay by Ed Waters
  Directed by Edmond O'Brien
  Starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Stella Stevens, Elaine Devry, Arthur Batanides, Perry Lopez, Bernard Fein, Virginia Gregg, Mike Vandever, Hugh Sanders, Tol Avery, Bob Crane
  Two Korean War vets team up to rip off some central American revolutionaries. Rare directing job by actor O'Brien.
  .
• CAPE FEAR...Buy this video
  (1962)
  Black and white
  105 minutes
  Based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
  Screenplay by James R. Webb
  Directed by J. Lee Thompson
  Starring Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam, Lori Martin, Jack Kruschen, Telly Savalas
  Mitchum, in arguably his performance role ever, is evil incarnate here, positively repitilian, as an ex-con bent on revenge. Peck wrings his hands a lot.
  .
• KONA COAST
  (1968, Warner brothers/Seven Arts)
  93 minutes
  Based on the story "Bimini Gall" by John D. MacDonald
  Screenplay by Gilbert Ralston
  Directed by Lamont Johnson
  Produced by Lamont Johnson
  Original music by Jack Marshall
  Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle
  Starring Richard Boone, Vera Miles, Joan Blondell, Steve Ihnat, Chips Rafferty, Kent Smith, Sam Kapu Jr., Gina Villines, Duane Eddy, Scott Thomas, Erwin Neal, Doris Erikson, 'Lucky' Luck
  A stinky, cheesy but enjoyable Hawaiian romp as Capt. Sam Moran (Boone), a fishing boat skipper, searches for a missing party girl. Good local colour.
  .
• DARKER THAN AMBER
  (1970, National General)
  Based on the novel by John D. MacDonald
  Directed by Robert Clouse
  Starring Rod Taylor as TRAVIS McGEE
  
  
• A FLASH OF GREEN
  (1984)
  131 minutes
  Based on the novel by John D. MacDonald
  Screenplay by Victor Nunez
  Directed by Victor Nunez
  Starring Ed Harris, Blair Brown, Richard Jordan, George Coe, Helen Stenborg, John Glover
  .
• CAPE FEAR...Buy this video
  (1991, Universal)
  Based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald
  Screenplay by Wesley Strick
  Directed by Martin Scorsese
  Starring Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Illeana Douglas, Fred Dalton Thompson
  Cameos by Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam
  A big bucks remake of the 1962 original, full of special effects. Powerful film-making, for sure, but as great as DeNiro can be, in this one he just ain't no Mitchum.

TELEVISION

• LINDA
  (1973, ABC)
  Based on a story by John D. MacDonald
  Teleplay by Merwin Gerard
  Directed by Jack Smight
  Produced by William Frye
  Cinematography by Leonard J. South
  Original music by John Cacavas
  Starring Stella Stevens, Ed Nelson, John McIntire, John Saxon, Ford Rainey, Joyce Cunning, Ross Elliott, John Fink, Alan Fudge, Gary Morgan, Mary-Robin Redd, Barbara Sammeth
  A woman kills her lover's wife, then sets out to frame her husband for the murder.
  .
• CONDOMINIUM
  (1980)
  Based on the novel by John D. MacDonald
  Directed by Sidney Hayers
  Produced by Gino Grimaldi
  Starring Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest, Ana Alicia, Richard Anderson, Ralph Bellamy, Macdonald Carey, Dane Clark, Linda Cristal, Elinor Donahue, Dan Haggerty, Pamela Hensley, Arte Johnson, Jack Jones, Dorothy Malone, Mimi Maynard, Stuart Whitman
  Here comes the story of a hurricane. And a tidal wave. A big, slick, cheesy melodrama, made for TV, featuring a big, shiny condo built right on the Florida beach, full of the usual MacDonald miscreants, versus Mother Nature. Cheer for the water.
  .
• THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH AND EVERYTHING
  (1980, Paramount)
  Based on the novel by John D. MacDonald
  Teleplay by George Zateslo
  Directed by William Wiard
  Cinematography by Jacques Haitkin
  Produced by Myrl A. Schreibman
  Executive producers: Arthur Fellows, Terry Keegan
  Original music by Hod David Schudson
  Starring Robert Hays, Pam Dawber, Zohra Lampert, Ed Nelson, Maurice Evans, Peter Brown, Macdonald Carey, Burton Gilliam, Jill Ireland
  Pleasant adaption of engaging fantasy about a young man who inherits a pocket watch with a pretty unusual feature.
  .
• The Empty Copper Sea
  AKA Travis McGee: The Empty Copper Sea
  (1983)
  Based on the novel by John D. MacDonald
  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglin
  Starring Sam Elliot as TRAVIS McGEE
  .
• LINDA...Buy this video
  (AKA Lust for Murder)
  (1993)
  90 minutes
  Based on a story by John D. MacDonald
  Teleplay by N.D. Schreiner
  Directed by Nathaniel Gutman
  Cinematography by Bryan England
  Produced by Bob Roe
  Original music by David Michael Frank
  Starring Virginia Madsen, Ted McGinley, Richard Thomas, Laura Harrington, David Dwyer, J. Don Ferguson, T.E. Russell, Paul Cowley
  Two couples, long-time friends, decide to go away together. But things soon head south when Madsen and McKinley spend far to much time together instead of with their respective spouses.

REFRENCE

• Campbell, Frank D.,
  John D. MacDonald and the Colorful World of Travis McGee
  San Bernardino: Borgo Press, 1977.
  .
• Geherin, David,
  John D. MacDonald...Buy this book
  New York: Ungar, 1982.
  .
• Hirshberg, Edgar W.,
  John D. MacDonald
  Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.
  .
• Shine, Jean and Walter,
  A Bibliography of the Published Works of John D. MacDonald
  Gainesville: University of Florida Libraries, 1980
  Manuscript collection at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.
  
  
• Merril, Hugh,
  The Red Hot Typewriter...Buy this book
  New York: St. Martin's/Minotaur, 2000.
  A new biography of the late, great John D. MacDonald.
  
  
• Moore, Lewis D.,
  Meditations on America: John D. Macdonald's Travis McGree Series and Other Fiction...Buy this book
  Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1994.
  An exploration of the McGee series, with "special emphasis on MacDonald's examination of the conflicts and joys of twentieth-century American culture and society."

RELATED WEB SITES

• John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee
  A great site by a parrothead who first discovered JDM through a Jimmy Buffet song. There are quotes, some slices of McGee's philosophy, and a reprint of Carl Hiaasen's excellent and thoughtful intro to the 1994 reissue of The Deep Blue Goodbye.
  .
• The Travis McGee Series by John D. MacDonald
  Another fan site, and a lot of fun. As well as the book-by-book breakdown, and a collection of quotes, there's also a selection of Boat bum Cuisine, complete with recipes for such treats as Meyer's Memorable Chili and McGee's Special Martini.
  .
• The John D. MacDonald Homepage
  Cal Branche's spopradically updated labour of love brags that it's nearly always under construction, and boy, do I sympathize.There is some info on how to subscribe to The JDM Bibliophile, and a few more intriguing bits of info, including the scoop on A Black Border For McGee.
  .
• Big Bill's John D. MacDonald Stuff
  A tasty and satisfying concoction of rumours, trivia, lists and various other spicy tidbits sure to whet the appetite of any JDM fan.
  .
• The Travis McGee Newsgroup
  Hello? Anyone out there?
  .
• McGee's Little Black Book
  Let's face it -- the dude got around.

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, Quatermass.

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