author
Evan Hunter
1926–2005
Best known for the 87th Precinct novels written as Ed McBain, this hugely productive American writer helped define the modern police procedural. He also moved easily between crime fiction, screenwriting, and mainstream novels, with work that reached both bestseller lists and the screen.
3 Audiobooks
Welcome, Martians!
by Evan Hunter
The Plagiarist From Rigel IV
by Evan Hunter
A Planet Named Joe
by Evan Hunter
About the author
Born Salvatore Albert Lombino in New York City on October 15, 1926, he later legally changed his name to Evan Hunter and wrote under several pen names, most famously Ed McBain. He studied at Hunter College and went on to build an unusually wide-ranging career as a novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and teacher.
As Evan Hunter, he wrote novels including The Blackboard Jungle, a breakout success that drew on his experiences teaching in New York schools. As Ed McBain, he became one of crime fiction’s most influential voices through the long-running 87th Precinct series, which helped shape the police procedural into one of the genre’s defining forms.
His work reached far beyond books: he also wrote for film and is especially remembered for scripting Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Over the course of his career, he earned major honors in mystery writing, including the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master award and the Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger. He died on July 6, 2005, in Weston, Connecticut.