Evan Hanter American writer Date of Birth: 15.10.1926 Country: USA

Biography of Evan Hunter

Evan Hunter, an American writer and screenwriter, was born in New York City to Italian immigrant parents. He was originally named Salvatore Albert Lombino. He attended Evander Child High School and served in the Navy during World War II on a destroyer in the Pacific Ocean, where he wrote several short stories. After the war, he returned to New York and enrolled in Hunter College.

During his time in college, he had a weekly column in the college newspaper. He worked various jobs before becoming a teacher for seventeen days in September 1950, an experience he later drew upon when writing his novel "The Blackboard Jungle". In 1951, he became a literary agent and worked with authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Paul William Anderson, and Pellam Grenville Woodhouse. That same year, he made his first publication under the pen name S.A. Lombino with the science fiction short story "Welcome, Martians".

Afterwards, Evan Hunter wrote under pseudonyms such as Evan Hunter and Hunt Collins. The name Evan Hunter was a combination of the names of the two educational institutions he attended: Evander Child High School and Hunter College. In May 1952, he officially changed his name to Evan Hunter after an editor told him that his works would sell better without an Italian name. Under Evan Hunter, he published his novel "The Blackboard Jungle" in 1954.

To maintain a serious writer reputation, Hunter published detective novels under various pseudonyms such as Kurt Cannon, Hunt Collins, and Richard Marsten. His most famous pseudonym, Ed McBain, was introduced in 1956 with the novel "Cop Hater". This was the first book in the 87th Precinct series, set in a fictional city resembling New York. It introduced detective Steve Carella and his colleagues, who became recurring characters throughout the more than fifty books in the series. Hunter admitted in 1958 that he was Ed McBain, but continued to sign his detective novels under that pen name, including a series about district attorney Matthew Hope with titles inspired by famous fairy tales.

Hunter published his serious literary works under his real name, including the novel "Snowfall" in 1973 and the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds" in 1963. He wrote ironic memoirs about his work with Hitchcock titled "Me and Hitch" in 1997. After 1960, he used two additional pseudonyms, aside from McBain. The novel "The Gutter and the Grave" in 1975 was signed as Ezra Hannon, and the novel "Scimitar" in 1992 was signed as John Abbott. In 2000, his novel "Candyland" was published, with the first part under the name Evan Hunter and the second part under the name Ed McBain.

In 2002, Hunter was diagnosed with throat cancer. He passed away in 2005 in Weston, Connecticut. Until his last day, he continued writing, and the final book in the 87th Precinct series was published posthumously. His books had a cumulative circulation of over 100 million copies.