author
Evan Hunter
1926–2005
A prolific American novelist and screenwriter, he created the hard-edged 87th Precinct mysteries under the name Ed McBain and wrote the acclaimed novel The Blackboard Jungle. His work also reached the screen through films such as The Birds and High and Low.
4 Audiobooks
Welcome, Martians!
by Evan Hunter
The Plagiarist From Rigel IV
by Evan Hunter
A Planet Named Joe
by Evan Hunter
Reaching for the moon
by Evan Hunter
About the author
Born Salvatore Albert Lombino in New York City, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before graduating from Hunter College. He worked briefly as a vocational high-school teacher, drawing on that experience for The Blackboard Jungle (1954), his breakthrough novel.
He later adopted the name Evan Hunter for his general fiction and Ed McBain for crime writing. The 87th Precinct series, which began with Cop Hater in 1956, helped define the modern police procedural and eventually grew to more than 50 novels. He also wrote under several other pen names and worked as a screenwriter, including on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
Hunter received major honors for his crime writing, including the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award and the British Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger. He died in Weston, Connecticut, on July 6, 2005, aged 78.