New Year Message and Updates

Donald E. Westlake (1933 – 2008)

New Year’s Eve marked five years of life on Earth sans the creative genius and ebullient personality of Donald Edwin Westlake, etc, etc. I have not and will not make a practice of recognizing that date in publishing and personal infamy on this site, which, in itself, stands as a daily tribute to his memory. Instead, I will tend to honor his birthday (July 12) and otherwise continue with the work of updating this site from the extensive record found in Don’s personal library at the family home in New York City.

That work has proceeded on a slightly different tack in recent months. In amongst the hundreds of editions of books in Don’s library is a small treasure trove of periodicals in which his work was published — short stories, articles, serials and even complete (or almost complete) novels. Below is a list of the pages that have been enhanced or added since the last update.

Interesting tidbits to note. It’s not uncommon for a story originally published under a pseudonym to be reprinted under the Westlake name but the reverse is not something I expected. And then along came Death for Sale, by Donald Westlake, reprinted in the same magazine (Mystery Digest) the following year as Down-Payment for Murder by Richard Stark. I know only one person who may be able to account for that sequence and that would be Don’s first wife, Nedra Henderson, who may also be able to shed light on Don’s stint as a staffer for Mystery Digest (she also being credited at the same time in a few issues).

I haven’t had a chance to highlight the mystery weekends at Mohonk Mountain House but Don has already partially filled that gap with an article he wrote in 1984 for Geo magazine (A Little Time to Kill). I recommend the read and, for those of you playing at home, the late-winter weekend in the mountains solving a custom-made mystery. It’s loads of fun.

Lastly, while the work on building a new, more comprehensive bibliography from scratch continues, I haven’t neglected updating the one currently on the site. All the new story pages have hyperlinks on the bibliography page and I’ve added some text characters to points of interest: Dortmunder, Parker, Grofield and Starship Hopeful stories have been indicated and pages with sample chapters or complete short stories available for your reading pleasure have been indicated.

A hearty thank you to the fans who have visited and to those who have added a humbling array of wonderful comments. I’ve been running this site for a little more than two years now and there’s still a mountain of work ahead but the joy and appreciation from all of you has been a truly rewarding experience.

Happy New Year!

Updates

Newly transcribed:

• Arrest (Short)
• Dream a Dream (Short)
• The Joys of Traveling Heavy (Article – with Abby Adams)

New Pages:

• Anatomy of an Anatomy (Short)
• The Blonde Lieutenant (Short)
• Come Back, Come Back… (Short)
• The Curious Facts Preceding My Execution (Short)
• Good Night, Good Night (Short)
• A Little Time to Kill (Mohonk Article – available in original format)
• Man… of Action (Short)
• Never Shake a Family Tree (Short)
• The Perils of the Sky Rangers (Serial – available in original format)
• A Pseudonym Returns from an Alter-Ego Trip (Article – excerpt with link to NYT page)
• The Risk Profession (Short)
• Unproud Papas (Article – available in original format)

Existing Pages:

• Bibliography (new indicators and links)
• Reviews & Tributes (WGA Awards added)
• The Black Ice Score (new images)
• Death for Sale (new images)
• The Green Eagle Score (new images)
• Heaven Help Us (new images)
• The Hunter (new images)
• Journey to Death (new images)
• The Jugger (new images)
• The Rare Coin Score (new images)
• The Score (new images)
• Somebody Owes Me Money (new images)
• The Sour Lemon Score (new images)
• Who Stole Sassi Manoon? (new images)
• The World’s a Stage (new images)