One of the greatest crime/mystery writers of all time. Had dinner and drinks with him, Stuart Kaminsky and others in Charlottesville Virginia back in 06 and I thought I was eating with Zeus and Apollo. Yeah, it was like that. If you don't know who Westlake is, then damn it look him up. Not just for the Parker and Starke mysteries...but also stories and books which became movies (of which he also penned the screenplays), from Point Blank, Payback, The Hot Rock and The Grifters, to Martin Lawrence in What's the Worst that could Happen.
The old masters die, and we are left with the morons and brain candy specialists. Lord, who's next? My mother loved his stuff, as they were Brooklynites and there's that bond only that borough brings, whether you're black or white, Puerto Rican, Dominican or Jamaican. Mick, Polack or Guinea. The place spawns genius, Don. By the way, how was the trip to heaven? There's a caper story somewhere here...
4 comments:
He was the king of the capers indeed. Your mother had good taste in authors!
Bravo for the tribute.
Nice tribute. I'll order a couple of his books
"Grifters" is one of my favorite "caper" movies.
If the "old masters" are fading away then people like you should step up and not take no for an answer!
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