Evan Hunter

Evan Hunter
Hunter in March 2001
Hunter in March 2001
BornSalvatore Albert Lombino[1]
(1926-10-15)October 15, 1926
New York City, U.S.
DiedJuly 6, 2005(2005-07-06) (aged 78)
Weston, Connecticut, U.S.
Pen nameJohn Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Ed McBain, Richard Marsten, others
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • short story writer
  • screenwriter
Period1951–2005
GenreCrime fiction, mystery fiction, pornography, science fiction
Notable works87th Precinct series
SpouseAnita Melnick, 1949 (divorced)
Mary Vann Finley, 1973 (divorced)
Dragica Dimitrijevic, 1997 (until his death)
Children3 sons; 1 stepdaughter

Evan Hunter (born Salvatore Albert Lombino; October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author of crime and mystery fiction. He is best known as the author of 87th Precinct novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain, which are considered staples of police procedural genre.

His other notable works include The Blackboard Jungle, a semi-autobiographical novel about life in a troubled inner-city school, which was adapted into a hit 1955 film of the same name. He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds, based on the Daphne du Maurier short story.

Hunter, who legally adopted that name in 1952, also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon and Richard Marsten, among others.

  1. ^ Swirski, Peter (2016-07-15). American Crime Fiction: A Cultural History of Nobrow Literature as Art. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-30108-2.