Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark
Higgins Clark in 2012
Higgins Clark in 2012
BornMary Theresa Eleanor Higgins
(1927-12-24)December 24, 1927
New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 31, 2020(2020-01-31) (aged 92)
Naples, Florida, U.S.
Resting placeGate of Heaven Cemetery
Hawthorne, New York
OccupationNovelist
Alma materFordham University
Period1975–2020
Genre
Spouse
Warren Clark
(m. 1949; died 1964)
Raymond Ploetz
(m. 1978; ann. 1986)
John J. Conheeney
(m. 1996; died 2018)
Children5, including Carol Higgins Clark
Signature
Website
maryhigginsclark.com

Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins; December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020)[1] was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print as of 2015, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, in its 75th printing.

Higgins Clark began writing at an early age. After several years working as a secretary and copy editor, she spent a year as a stewardess for Pan-American Airlines before leaving to marry and start a family. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, Higgins Clark worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts until her agent persuaded her to try writing novels. Her debut novel, a fictionalized account of the life of George Washington, did not sell well, and she decided to exploit her love of mystery/suspense novels. Her suspense novels became very popular, and have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone.[2] Her former daughter-in-law Mary Jane Clark is also a writer, as was her daughter Carol Higgins Clark.

  1. ^ Great Women Mystery Writers, 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, page 40, 2007, Greenwood Press; ISBN 0-313-33428-5
  2. ^ "Mary Higgins Clark". Simon & Schuster. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2007.