skippy the bush kangaroo: rip robert parker

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

rip robert parker

one of the premiere mystery writers of our time, robert b. parker, has died:

robert b. parker, 77, a popular and prolific author of hard-boiled american crime fiction, best known for the 37-book spenser series which became an abc television show in the 1980s, died jan. 18, at his writing desk at home in cambridge, mass. a cause of death was not immediately known, but his longtime agent, helen brann, said it appeared to have been a heart attack.

mr. parker helped revive the detective fiction genre with his wise-cracking, street-smart and surprisingly literate boston private-eye spenser (no first name and with an "s" not a "c"). the character -- an ex-boxer and ex-state policeman -- is also a gourmet cook who grapples with his complex relationships with a witty female companion, an african american alter ego and a foster son. named for edmund spenser, shakespeare's contemporary, the character and series became a favorite of the literati who enjoyed crisp, witty prose.

mr. parker's work was notable for its quick pace, evocative descriptions, sharp dialogue and concentration upon themes that included the troubled status of adolescents, and of women in contemporary society. his protagonists, however, were tough guys, prone to violence, who nevertheless were true to a moral code as they protected a lesbian writer in "looking for rachel wallace" (1980), chased after international terrorists in "the judas goat" (1983) and investigated drug smuggling in "pale kings and princes" (1987) and "pastime" (1991).

well, we wouldn't call hawk an "african american alter ego," he's an actual character who sometimes helps spenser solve the mysteries (usually by looking menacing).

we'd also like to put in a word for one of mr. parker's other great characters, jesse stone, who is an ex-lapd cop (and alcoholic) that takes over the chief of police job in a small massachusettes town. stone is more complex a character than spenser, and therefore the books are more interesting, in our opinion.

and tho we enjoyed both robert urich and, later, joe montegna, as spenser on television, we always watch every episode of tom selleck as jesse stone.

the mystery/detective genre has lost one of its greats. we can only hope that, like mr. parker, we also pass off this mortal coil doing what we love to do.

rest in peace, robert b. parker.

posted by skippy at 3:23 PM |

2 Comments:

Robert B. Parker was not my favorite author writing in the crime thriller genre, but I was a big fan of both the TV series and the made-for-TV movies. Although Parker had a large following, I personally feel that the actors did more to give life to Parker's characters than Parker ever thought of doing.

commented by

Phil, 6:58 PM PST

There's also the recent spate of Westerns, and the Sunny Randall series which was written with Helen Hunt, the actress, in mind. That series has a gay male counterpart of Hawk.

Parker did good work. There was a lot of thought in what he wrote. Note that he died at his desk.

commented by

gmoke, 7:23 PM PST

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