Don Carpenter (March 16, 1931 – July 27, 1995) was an American writer, best known as the author of Hard Rain Falling.[1] He wrote numerous novels, novellas, short stories and screenplays over the course of a 22-year career that took him from a childhood in Berkeley, California and the Pacific Northwest to the corridors of power and ego in Hollywood. A close observer of human frailty, his writing depicted marginal characters like pool sharks, prisoners and drug dealers, as well as movie moguls and struggling actors.
Although lauded by critics and fellow writers, Carpenter's novels and stories never reached a mass audience and he supported himself with extensive work for Hollywood. Facing a mounting series of debilitating illnesses, Don Carpenter committed suicide in 1995.[2]
- ^ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (July 30, 1995). "Don Carpenter, 64, a Novelist Who Wrote About Bleak Lives". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Charles Taylor: "At Least, At Most: The Novels of Don Carpenter", in The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/least-most-novels-don-carpenter/