The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 42

E-8 Tacoma Sun Oct 7 1984 The News Tribune Books Evan success came out of the By SHIRLEY MATHEWS Stamford Advocate NORWALK Conn Flipping and sliding laying on the couch doing the am cablevision jitterbug shuffle click sending John Agar king of the movies back into the ozone where he will mingle with MTV link dragging another image click down through the storm of radio waves waiting for the focus and snow to align Oh my itchy fingers But wait Glenn Ford is staggering sopping drunk in an alley walking talking laughing with another equally drunk man The night is dark The alley is darker and The Boys appear at the edge of the screen Ford and his companion flicker to attention before the first fists catch them but it is too late and after the blood the pounding the shouting the running feet and the final sirens Ford is lying with the garbage Ford a teacher trying to pound some English into his illiterate trade-school students has stumbled down that alley and been 1955 in a movie that still has the power to reach across 30 years and rivet the restless tastes of even today's overstimulated audience Evan The Blackboard Jungle dropped like a stink bomb on the New York City educational system sparking school administrators to lob their pious denials in the direction of The New Fork Times each other the author and Hollywood The Times quoted school administrators and wrote that things were fine at the Bronx Vocational High School which was the take-off point for the author There was a rush to correct the sordid image of work even to suppress it A committee of vocational high school teachers went to Hollywood to plead for the suppression (MGM) sure they were going to release he said had nothing to do with upsetting the school system it had to do with the black Because the black trouble-making student turns around at the end of the movie and book and saves the white teacher the studio was Hunter said Since that time he has become a master of detective Action with a series of more than 30 books on the fictional 87th Precinct winning praise for their realism and excitement and earning critical carpings for gore He hu written short stories plays screenplays and farce He is the son of Charles Lom-bino a retired mailman and wu born in New York City on Oct 15 1938 Twenty years later fresh from World War II destroyer service he entered Hunter College He wu one of the first men ever admitted and in 1981 became the first man in its 111-year history to receive its annual Professional Achievement Award It is coincidental that his chosen name and his college are the same just liked Hunter said of the name to me a good name for an aggressive young guy in pursuit of a He student-taught in a vocational school for six months while he wu in college After he graduated in 1950 he taught at the Bronx Vocational and found the hard way without benefit of any police experience and took his cues from the Dragnet television and radio programs wu just winging he said He winged It under the name of Ed McBain right into a successful series of novels centered on the fictional 87th Precinct In the city of Isola a city remarkably similar to New York City Fa almost 30 years fan have spent their free time with the people in the 87th: Detective Steve Carella whore life Is axes guns and knives during the day and a beautiful deaf wife at night Fat Ollie Weeks Eileen Burke Cotton Hawes Meyer Meyer a crowd of pouncing villains and pore Detective Bert Kling the most part when writing fiction a character will come to life you hope he does anyway a Hunter said when he comes to life he may want to do something that is contrary to what done in the outline and if smart let him do it let him go that way and see where it Which mean he never plots out an retire novel in advance Hunter writes about 10 pages a day five days a week and does not plot the work out before he starts would take all the surprise out of he said the fiin for Evan Hunter south he said was so startled by all the brouhaha I thought it (the conditions) were common Hunter said was just trying to write a book about a guy trying to do his job against overwhelming odds and when it came out that I was a hero on a white horse I wu mine surprised than anyone After paying Uncle Sam his agent ana Simon and Schuster the 28-year-old Hunter was left with just over 10000 but that wu all too made a reputation for beaten into that black corner since New character arrives afraid it do well in the at (87th High School academic atmosphere well lacking wu Just so thoroughly frustrated I really felt I had some-to offer there kids I wu well educated I wu intelligent I wu humorous I loved the English language and I wanted to teach it to Hunter said In The Blackboard Jungle the teacher survives the beating and frustrations and continues at the school He wu a hero Hunter said The autha wu not made of the same stuff After two months he left Hunter became an over-the-phone lobster ulesman in an office at 73nd Street and Columbus Avenue Fa every barrel he sold to a new restaurant Hunter would get $5 Leaving the invertebrates to more enthusiastic hands Hunter became a literary agent squiring the works of authors around to editors and arranging if not meetings of the mind compromises of the prose The editors would tell Hunter what wu wrong with the work and he would tell the autha how to fix it It wu at this point that he began selling his own work wu taking editors to lunch all the time finding out what their needs were what they were buying and not buying and then go hone and write Hunter said And send it out uniter a He wrote detective states the Best sellers FICTION 1 The Fourth Protocol Frederick Forsyth 3 First Among Equals Jeffrey Archer 3 Tough Guys Don't Dance Norman Mailer 4 Lincoln Gore Vidal TO: PHYSICIAN INFORMATION SERVICE Humana HoapKal Tacoma Soutti ISA I Union Tacoma Waahlngton 9S4M 572-2323 Plaaaa eend ma tha namaa dphyalciana Family Practice aOtthopodlea Internal Medicine Ear Noaa and Other Home AdWaaa-City Homo Phono I prater a phyaldan with an office near my home dottier location etna neve ttnm amt lumana no connections and few clues to what appears to be a aerial murder when a third such victim is found Then the detectives go to work in both cases and the novel steams through to a surprising conclusion Lightning go down in the record books another Tale of Two Gtiea but a tale of one city that easy to forget McBain just gets better and better he settles into his role the author of the 87th Precinct series of which this is his 36th (plus 16 other detective states and two others uniter the MRain authorship) -JACK PYLE wife Teddy and their luting love liberally sprinkled The action cams when a woman is raped for the third time by the same man who entered her apartment this time to get at her Several other women also are raped and the investigation begins McBain imparting the realism of a police station that works on more than one case at a time corns up with the big case shortly after the rape case opens This is a caw where a young woman a track star is found hanging from a lamp post in another part of the precinct Then another woman is found hanging from a lamp post and she too is a runner There are Lightning Ed McBain Arbor House $1595 Ed McBain also known Evan Hunter hu a talent for making his characters come to life In Lightning his newest story in the 87th Precinct series McBain introduces a new guy everyone will enjoy in Detective Richard Genera a little scared of being a cop and not too anxious to forfeit his skin to the profession Genera comes on as Steve new partner and he figures in the action all the way McBain started writing these novels at slightly over 100 pages for a quick read as a hardcover and then a fut turnover in the The hesft time to choose a doctor is before you meed one Having a family doctor is essential to maintaining your family's health and well-being A personal physician can get to know you and your loved ones in ways that can be vital in a medical emergency If a visit to the emergency room or a doctor selected at random is your normal method of dealing with a medical problem you may not be receiving thorough medical care For your own peace of mind and for the sake of your family's health let Humana Hospital Tacoma help you select a personal physician with our Physician Information Service There are several good reasons for having a personal physician First is accessibility With your own doctor you are free to call him anytime and may receive advice over the phone since your doctor would know you and your family's medical background Second is affordability An office call at a doctor is normally less than a visit to an emergency room or a medical treatment center Third is understanding and trust Worrying about an ill child or with nagging symptoms of your own it is nice to be able to talk with someone you know who cares about you and your family and is prepared with knowledge of your medical background to step in with the proper treatment Fourth is regular checkups A regular checkup with your doctor is one of the best preventive medicines Your personal physician can be alerted to potentially serious medical problems early and steps can be taken to prevent unnecessary complications Humana Hospital Tacoma developed the Physician Information Sendee to help you select a personal physician and the service is absolutely free Clip and mail the coupon or call the Physician Information Service at 5 72-2323 paperbacks But he is one of this generation's most careful and prolific writers From the lengths of his earlier 87th Precinct works it appears the readers cared more for McBain's work than he did The most recent such works are longer more detailed have more action and intrigue and are more carefully researched than the earlier stories Lightning is one of the best he hu written It contains human contacts such as Meyer new wig and the attendant ridicule at the station house that goes with it It hu Genera and his fear of the night shift It hu Carella and his deaf-mute Jilr 5 JOB: A Comedy of Justice Robert Heinlein 6 Strong Medicine Arthur Hailey 7 Ladies of the Club Helen Hoovre Santmyer 8 God KnowsJoseph Heller 9 Role of Nona John Gardner 10 Crescent City Belva Plain In Via apadalty I have Indicated Mow Pedtetrice Throat OpMMnafcur Gynecology em me Mvmi tommy hmmbihh Hospital Tacoma kTwmwpa mpei.