Robert Parker died

[TheDustyZebra]

Not sure where this belongs, really.

Sad news indeed. Hate to lose a good author.

 

[j d worthington]

Sad news indeed. Here are some links, for those who wish further information:

Crime novelist Robert B. Parker dies at 77 - Yahoo! News

Robert B. Parker left a mark on the detective novel - latimes.com

Robert B. Parker, creator of Spenser, dead at 77

 

[GOLLUM]

Yes, I confess I had heard of the Spenser detective series but was not aware of who was behind it.

R.I.P. Mr. Parker.

 

[DarrellR]

Wow...what a loss. This was one of my favorite writers and it was really his works that triggered me more deeply into fiction writings. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next Spenser novels. May he rest in peace. He definitely left his mark on his genre.

 

[Vladd67]

Another of my favourite authors dies

 

[blacknorth]

Read in the latest Interzone that Christopher Anvil had died too - I enjoyed a good few of his stories through the years. RIP.

 

[dask]

Read in the latest Interzone that Christopher Anvil had died too - I enjoyed a good few of his stories through the years. RIP.

Sorry to hear about Christopher Anvil; another chip in the foundation of science fiction. Always told a good story.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I was sorry to read about this. I've always liked the Spenser novels. They've always made me hungry when I read them, though; have any of you who've read them ever realized just how much food, and how much food preparation, there is in them?

 

[Warlocker]

Robert B. Parker was one of the great literary writers of this century.
He re-invented the tough guy pulp detective genre.
He gave it a depth and a charm that far outweighed the same type of novels by other authors.
His writing was a flawless combination of elegance and directness.
His characters of Spenser and Hawk were superb creations, a breath of fresh air in fictional circles.
The wry humour and wit found in all his stories was another aspect of his novels that made reading them so pleasurable.
The Spenser novels are a lot more than simple detective stories. They contain a continual thread of moral behaviour; that many aspire to but few manage to live up to.
Parker was also the author of the Jesse Stone police novels.
Spenser, Hawk and Jesse Stone were all brought to TV and movies. Robert Urich playing Spenser and Tom Selleck playing Jesse Stone.
Robert B. Parker is a great author and he will be missed.

 

[dask]

His characters of Spenser and Hawk were superb creations

I remember watching HAWK on tv with Burt Reynolds. Good show.

 

[Vladd67]

I remember watching HAWK on tv with Burt Reynolds. Good show.

Different Hawk I think

 

[Warlocker]

A very different Hawk indeed.

Avery Brooks (Commander Sisko from Deep Space Nine) played the lead role in the TV show: A man called Hawk.
A much watered down version of the the character Hawk in the Spenser novels.

Hawk appaered in book four Promised Land.
Possibly his best appearence was in Judas Goat, when Spenser hires him to tag along as a back-up shooter when Spenser is pursuing terrorists across Europe.
The snappy dialogue between Spenser and Hawk was always one of the best things about the novels and Judas Goat in particular.

Hawk was a black man and for my money he was cooler than the Shaft character created by Ernest Tidyman.
The Hawk as described in the novels was a streetwise self-educated hardman for hire. Sometimes employed as an assassin. His normal occupation a standover man for criminal organisations.
He had a shaven head back before the look became popular. He and Spenser were both ex-boxers and lifetime iron pumpers. (Back before working out in a gym to build muscle became popular as well)
Hawk was a snappy dresser and normally drove around in a Jaguar.
A cold blooded killer for hire whose loyalty to his freinds, be they of any colour or race, made him a unique character in modern fiction.

First appearing as Hawk in the TV series Spenser for Hire, Avery Brooks played A man called Hawk in what is probably the best portrayl of a black man in an action TV series. It only ran for 13 episodes, despite being a quality show.