David Ely

Born in Chicago on November 19, 1927, David Ely wrote novels and short fiction that blended suspense with speculative ideas. Sources found for this overview describe him as educated at the University of North Carolina, Harvard, and Oxford, and as a former newspaperman.

He began publishing fiction in the early 1960s. The Sailing Club won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, and Seconds became his best-known book after it was adapted into John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film starring Rock Hudson.

Ely published several novels and story collections across his career, writing in a style that could shift from crime to science fiction without losing its sharp sense of unease. Available sources also indicate that he died on February 5, 2021, at age 93.