Mickey Spillane Died

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Jeff Timm

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Folks,

Mickey Spillane, the man who made the .45 Auto famous in millions of paperback books, died today.

All I can say is, I was much too young to read those books, but I enjoyed everyone of them.

Michael Avellone, Richard S. Prather, Mickey Spillane sigh. Gone all gone. Not to many multi-hundred-million sellers left.

Geoff
Who mourns the passing of a generation, pardon me while I crack a deck of Luckies, take the top off a real glass PBR with a church key and clean my .45. :(
 
My wife got me his complete works.

For my 32nd birthday, she got me his complete works. Best stuff I've read in a long time, with the possible exception of the Nightcrawler/Correia work in progress.

Between Spillaine, Elmore Leonard, and Ross, I'm good to go for months.
 
Donald Hamilton

was still around a year ago -- around Spain. An dhis later books were nothing to brag about, but the 50s (pre-MattHelm) and the first 10-12 Helm books were great.

James Bond wishes he was Matt Helm!

List relevance: Hamilton was a shooter and most of his gun stuff was technically correct.
 
"The guy was dead as hell."

perhaps my favorite opening line by Spillane. I much prefer Chandler and Hammet, but hey, you have to give props to the man.
 
I couldn't see through the crust on the window, but I knew they were coming. Coming fast, and coming hard, and the only way to finish it was to either give up, and die on the floor in a pool of my own blood, or to meet it standing. So as they started to hit the window, I went through the door, a .45 in each hand, roaring a death song that would make valkries proud.

We are diminished.
 
R.I.P. Mickey Spillane

I have ambitions to be a fiction writer. In my wildest dreams, I can't imagine myself having 1% of the talent or success that he enjoyed.

He is gone, but never will be forgotten.
 
Spillane was also a combat vet from WW II, I believe serving in the South Pacific, fighting the Japs.

He'd been there and done that!

L.W.
 
One good thing that will come out of it though...

...Just like the passing of my own personal favorite, John D. McDonald, we'll see new printings of his books over the next couple of years. Lets us complete our collections, and replace our worn copies...
 
...Just like the passing of my own personal favorite, John D. McDonald, we'll see new printings of his books over the next couple of years. Lets us complete our collections, and replace our worn copies...
Click to expand...

Now, if only they would reissue the JDMcD stories, I could replace the tattered copies that replaced my previous tattered copies. My favorite is still his cat who kept a frog as a pet. :D

Pops
 
John D McDonald

turned anti-gun as his writing evolved. I think it was in the early 70s, he came out with a coupld of books bashingguns -- except for Travis McGee, of course. I stopped reading him at that point.
 
I think everyone stopped reading him at that point. His real writing career ended generations ago. I must admit I thought he had died back in the 1980's. But he did create some memorable noir classics.
 
Plus one to what Dr. Rob said. I remember what a character Spillane was on the Tonight Show. "I write when I feel the urgent need for money."
 
I hadn't heard that he died. I'm really starting to hate the month of July.

I will look forward to reprints of his books to replace the duct taped books I've bought over the years for nickels and dimes, and have dragged over a couple continents. But I'd like to have gotten to read a new one.

I think his last book was "Black Alley", and Mike Hammer was showing his age in that book. I guess it was a pretty good swan song, someone let me know if I'm wrong and there is a newer one out that I've missed.
 
Mickey Spillane

Great writer read most all his books,William w Johnstone also wrote several
good series before he died in 2004.IN HIS Ashes series the maine character
always had his Thompson handy.
but since he died someone else has been writing new stories like he is still
alive
 
as a teen, i read every spillane book i could get my mitts on. 'i the jury' is a page turner if there ever was one.

i remember in one book, hammer shot someone and it wasn't a righteous shooting. he removed the barrel from his 1911 .45 ACP, replaced it, and put the barrel in a beer can and disposed of it. didn't want the rifleing in his .45 matching the slug in the guy he shot.

in another book he beat up a guy and needed to tie him up. couln't find a rope, so he used a hammer and nails and nailed the guy to the floor.

in other books, spillane also had a hero called tiger mann. he carried a .38 special. was't as good a character.
 
BDHAWK, don't forget...Mike didn't just replace the barrel, he replaced the firing pin and extractor - just to make sure the casings wouldn't match. That was criminal thinking way ahead of its time.
 
"Girl Hunters"

BDHawk:
Spillane acted in a couple of the movie versions of his books. In "The Girl Hunters", he has a knock-down, drag-out fight that leaves him exhausted. In order to secure his opponent, he uses the hammer and nail trick. There is an early scene where he (in his best bully routine) makes some snitch eat a .45 round that he has popped out of a spare magazine onto the bar.

I'm sure that some head-shrinker would discover that my affinity for the 1911 originated with "I, the Jury".
 
Plus one to what Dr. Rob said. I remember what a character Spillane was on the Tonight Show. "I write when I feel the urgent need for money."
Click to expand...
A few months ago, Turner Classic Movies showed the B&W movie where he starred as Mike Hammer. It was so bad it was good! It was one step removed from a "Naked Gun" movie. Pretty violent for its time too. I remember him nailing some guy's hand to the floor to keep him from getting away.
 
If you want a real treat...

...eBay the three Mark Schorr books about Red Diamond, Private Eye...The premise is great and the books are a lot of fun.
 
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