bals@nutmeg.DEC (Once, accident. Twice, coincidence. Three times is enemy action.) (02/03/86)
Some information and requests on John D. MacDonald ... I'm posting corrections
here too since my mail messages keep on being bounced.
>Before I get flamed, is it correct as Travis Magee or is it Travis McGee?
It's McGee. "Call me Travis or McGee. Don't call me Mac."
In reference to the MacDonald Booklist, one missing is a paperback original
entitled, (I believe) "I Could Go On Singing." You'll sometimes see this
title listed in the front of pre-`70s MacDonald paperbacks. What little
information I've been able to glean about it is that the book is loosely
based on the life of Judy Garland, that MacDonald hates it passionately
for unnamed reasons, and when his publisher did a mass reissue of his earlier
books MacDonald specifically requested that "I Could Go On Singing" *not* be
included. The book is never listed in later lists of MacDonald's titles.
Thus we rewrite our personal histories.
I've been searching for a copy of this book for 15 years now. If anyone
has a copy, I'd be very interested in purchasing it. I think there
may be at least one other deleted MacDonald book, but, if so, the title
escapes me.
His two recent collections of old short stories, "Good Old Stuff" and "More
Good Old Stuff" are also missing from the list. As, of course, is the most
recent book in the McGee series, "The Lonely Silver Rain." A review of this
one will follow as a separate posting.
"No Deadly Drug" and "The House Guests" are interesting as they're the only
two non-fiction works that MacDonald has ever published. Both were reissued
relatatively recently, and should be locatable. "No Deadly Drug" deals with
a real-life murder case. "The House Guests" is about the pets (notably cats
and a goose) that the MacDonalds have had over the years. This latter book is
especially enjoyable, and will probably be very interesting to those wanting
to know more details about MacDonald himself.
On Travis McGee. An interesting piece of trivia is that McDonald has completed
and locked away the final book of the series, "A Black Border for McGee."
Gossip has it that MacDonald had planned to kill McGee off a few years back,
but his publisher convinced him to wait, due to the series growing hard
cover popularity.
More requests... I'm trying to locate a VHS copy of the only McGee
novel ever filmed (circa 1971-72), "Darker Than Amber," and a VHS copy of
an episode from the 1960s television series, "Run For Your Life," that was
based on a MacDonald novel. I think it was "The Crossroads," if that's the
one where the plot revolved around a massive traffic accident on the
interstate. (I apologize for my vagueness.)
A final request that would probably resolve the above two: Does anyone have
the full address/information for a subscription to the John D. MacDonald
fanzine published in Florida? Are they still in business?
Sorry for the length of this. I'm a rabid MacDonald fan, and would enjoy
corresponding with others who share my interest in him. Thanks.
Fred Bals (DEC -- Merrimack, NH)