Occupation Writer Name Joe Gores | Role Writer Movies Hammett | |
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Born Joseph Nicholas GoresDecember 25, 1931Rochester, Minnesota ( 1931-12-25 ) Awards Edgar Award for Best Short Story Books Spade & Archer: The Prequel t, 32 Cadillacs, A Time of Predators, Glass Tiger, Cons - scams & grifts Similar People Bill Pronzini, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Thomas, Wim Wenders, Abby Mann | ||
Joe gores and the maltese falcon part i
Joseph Nicholas "Joe" Gores (born December 25, 1931, in Rochester, Minnesota, United States; died January 10, 2011, in Greenbrae, California) was an American mystery writer. He was known best for his novels and short stories set in San Francisco and featuring the fictional "Dan Kearney and Associates" (the "DKA Files") private investigation firm specializing in repossessing cars, a thinly veiled escalation of his own experiences as a confidential sleuth and repo man. Gores was also recognized for his novels Hammett (1975; made into the 1982 film Hammett), Spade & Archer (the 2009 prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon) and his Edgar Award-winning or -nominated works, such as A Time of Predators, 32 Cadillacs and Come Morning.
Contents
- Joe gores and the maltese falcon part i
- Joe gores and the maltese falcon part ii
- Work
- Background
- Selected short stories
- Selected Screenplays
- Audio Drama
- References
Joe gores and the maltese falcon part ii
Work
Gores was a three-time Edgar Award winner, and only one of three authors (the other two being Donald E. Westlake and William L. DeAndrea) to receive Edgars in three separate categories; Gores won Best First Novel (for A Time of Predators (1969)—a story set in the San Francisco Bay Area and having to do with a Stanford University professor who re-learns his military commando skills in order to go after a gang of juvenile thugs who raped his wife), Best Short Story ("Goodbye, Pops," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Dec. 1969) and Best TV Series Segment (for writing an episode of the crime drama Kojak titled "No Immunity for Murder"—airdate Nov. 23, 1975). In addition, Gores received the 1986 Maltese Falcon Award (Japan's highest commendation in the mystery fiction field) and the Private Eye Writers of America lifetime achievement award (The Eye), and he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. His novels 32 Cadillacs and Come Morning were nominated for Best Novel Edgars. Gores and Donald E. Westlake wrote a chapter in each of their own respective books—Westlake's Drowned Hopes and Gores' 32 Cadillacs—having their characters being influenced by the same event. Beyond Kojak, Gores composed teleplays and screenplays for popular mystery-related series such as Remington Steele, B.L. Stryker, Mrs. Columbo, and Magnum, P.I..
Background
Gores lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a longtime resident. He obtained a degree in English Literature from Notre Dame University and received a master's degree, also in English Literature, from Stanford University in 1961. Gores worked for 12 years as a real-life private investigator for San Francisco's David Kikkert & Associates, and put in other stints as a truck driver, logger, assistant motel manager and an English teacher at a boys' school in Kenya. In his novels he used variations of the names of former associates—such as Stan Groner. According to The Thrilling Detective Web Site, "He has often relied on his former occupations, particularly his stint as a private eye, to lend an air of authenticity to his work, blasting through the 'glamour' of detective work, [and] showing the drudgery and grunt work of detection." Gores died in Marin County, California, hospital 50 years to the day after Dashiell Hammett died.
Selected short stories
EQMM = Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine; DKA = stories involving "Dan Kearney and Associates"
Selected Screenplays
Audio Drama
German Audio-Drama-Producer "Ohrenkneifer" releases "South of Market" on CD, a full-cast Audio Dramaversion of the Shortstory (in German language). August 2014.