I was guest speaker at a seniors' centre function the other day and someone asked me about Patricia Highsmith. Now there's a name from the past but she's regained new fame with the recent re-releases of her Ripley series, long after her death. I guess that's the thing about solid writing, it may dated but it's never out-of-date. New readers may be found and old flames ignited. Certainly the likes of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers are still widely-read and acquiring new, younger audiences each year.
There are several Canadian mystery writers we haven't heard from for years. Eric Wright, although I understand he is still writing, and Howard Engel come to mind first off. How about Medora Sale, Lyn Hamilton, Ted Wood and Alison Gordon? Then, searching back further there was L.R. Wright, Scott Young, Ross Macdonald, and Margaret Millar to name but a few. They all certainly left their marks on the Canadian scene as well as a much wider mystery reading arena, too. And we all, writers and readers, are indebted to them.
Who comes to mind when recalling mystery authors from the past?
On another note, I'm having great difficulty with Blogger these days as it won't allow me to insert the Events feature in the sidebar. I know, it's probably me not finding the right keystroke or something. Anything, until I get on top of it, I'll mention upcoming events at the bottom of each new blog. And by the way, next Friday there's a guest blog by Melodie Campbell. You won't want to miss it!
EVENTS:
Sat. Oct. 5, 1-3 p.m. BRENDA CHAPMAN signs her two new mystery novellas at Brittons in the Glebe, 846 Bank St.
No comments:
Post a Comment