Burl Barer
Encyclopedia
Burl Barer is an American
author and literary historian. He is best known for his fiction and non-fiction writings about the character Simon Templar
, also known as "The Saint".
for this book, which is a chronological examination of The Saint in all media. In 2010, McFarland and Company, Publishers, requested Barer to write an updated second edition covering 1992-2012.
Considered a leading expert on Simon Templar and the work of the character's creator, Leslie Charteris
, Barer has also written two novels, both published in 1997, based upon the character. The first was a novelization of the screenplay
for the 1997 film adaptation of The Saint
starring Val Kilmer
, although the film itself was only loosely based upon Charteris' creation. This was followed by Capture the Saint
, which was published by The Saint Club (an organization founded by Charteris) to mark the 70th anniversary of the character's first appearance, in Meet - The Tiger!. It is the most recent Saint story to have been published . In June of 2010, Barer began writing " The Return of the Saint"," a new novel set in the U.K. in which Simon Templar takes a personal interest in combating international human trafficking. In collaboration with producer William J. Macdonald, Barer penned a two hour screenplay, The Saint in New Orleans, as the pilot episode for a new Saint television series that was set to begin filming in July 2011. Unexpected delays, including changes in the lead actor, delayed production. As of September 2011, the two hour pilot by Barer & Macdonald was being cut down to one hour by another writer, and a search was on for a new lead actor.
books and was praised by Pulitzer Prize
nominee Jack Olsen
for "writing true crime at its best."
Barer is also known for using real people in his fiction books, and using the names of fiction characters from his novels as "replacement names" in his true crime books for people who don't want their real names used. Barer, who was once also a well-known "distance reader" (psychic/mentalist), appears in his own true crime book, Body Count, as psychic/mentalist/true crime author Jeff Reynolds, the name of his fictional protagonist in his novel Headlock. Chet Rogers, Travis Webb, and Donna McCooke are other real people who appear in both his works of fiction and his non-fiction books. Rogers and Webb are both journalists, and McCooke is a prominent health care
professional in the UK. Rogers appears as a newsman in Barer's novelization of The Saint, and McCooke appears as a love interest for a jet pilot in the novelization of Stealth
, published only in Japan
.
In 2011, Barer and famed attorney Don Woldman began hosting True Crimes on the American Horrors channel, featured as part of the basic tier of channels offered on filmon.com, and syndicated world wide by Hart D. Fisher.
. He began his broadcast career on KUJ in Walla Walla, Washington, KTEL in Walla Walla, KYAC (Soul Radio)Seattle, KJR Seattle, KOL AM & FM Seattle, KIRO Seattle, KQUIN Burien, Washington, KZOK-FM and other stations in the Pacific Northwest. In partnership with Terry McManus, Barer wrote and produced national radio commercials for many touring performers, including Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. He also created electronic media campaigns for such cult classic films as Harold and Maude, Orson Welles' F for Fake, the theatrical re-release of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Len Russell's Mahler. A long time friend and collaborator with Billboard Award winner Allen Goldblatt, Barer frequently contributed to the Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week. He is the recipient of Gold Records for Knights in White Satin, Layla, and Walk on the Wild Side. A compilation by Burl Barer, Selections from the Holy Qur'an: Translations and Emendations by Shoghi Effendi
, appeared as an appendix in James Heggie's Bahá'í References to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was Barer's first contribution to an internationally distributed reference work. Returning to Walla Walla in 1990's, Barer termed with Thomas D. Hodgins to launch several radio stations for Hodgins broadcast company, with Barer handling programming and/or on air talent. Among these were Lucky 98, Power 99, and KUJ-FM. Barer returned to the Seattle area from 1999-2002 before relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada until 2005.
In 2007, Barer became a regular participant on the long running Internet radio
program, Outlaw Radio, hosted by Matt Alan. In March 2008, Barer teamed with attorney Don Woldman for their own show, with a focus on crime. True Crimes won the 2009 In Cold Blog Detective Award for Best True Crime Radio Program. The title was changed to "True Crime Uncensored" in 2010. In May 2011. famed media maven Howard Lapides, Executive Producer of Celebrity Rehab joined the show as co-host when Don Woldman went on indefinite hiatus.
According to the Internet Movie Database
, Barer is also credited with a small acting role in the 1991 film, The Last Ride. He also appeared in various independent films and documentaries by film director Karl Krogstad,
by religion. and has two grown children, Anea Barer and Jordan Barer.Burl's brother, Stan (an attorney and a Seattle community leader) serves on the University Of Washington Board Of Regents. Burl's sister, Jan Curran, who died in 2010, was also a well-known journalist formerly with the Desert Sun, and author of two books including2010's "Active Senior Living." Burl Barer is the uncle of authors Lee Goldberg
and Tod Goldberg
. His nieces, Linda Woods and Karen Dinino, are also well-known writers famed for their books on art and journaling. In addition, cousin Shlomo Barer, formerly with the BBC, is also a respected author of historical non-fiction. Cousin Helen Barer writes mysteries. A distant relative, Marshall Barer
composed the "Mighty Mouse" theme. Barer conducted human potential seminars in the 1970s and established ongoing programs in the Washington State Penitentiary to reduce recidivism. He was a founding member of Seattle Mayor Charles Royer's task force for education and prevention programs dealing with youth alcoholism and addiction, and was a founding member of the Walla Walla Race Unity Coalition, sponsors of the annual Race Unity Day Multicultural Arts Festival, and the annual Freedom From Discrimination Month.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and literary historian. He is best known for his fiction and non-fiction writings about the character Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
, also known as "The Saint".
The Saint
Barer's best-known work is The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Television, and Film which was first published in 1992 and republished in 2003. He received a 1994 Edgar AwardEdgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for this book, which is a chronological examination of The Saint in all media. In 2010, McFarland and Company, Publishers, requested Barer to write an updated second edition covering 1992-2012.
Considered a leading expert on Simon Templar and the work of the character's creator, Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."-Early life:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
, Barer has also written two novels, both published in 1997, based upon the character. The first was a novelization of the screenplay
The Saint (novel)
The Saint was the title of a mystery novel by Burl Barer published by Pocket Books in 1997. It was based upon the screenplay for the film The Saint, which in turn was loosely based upon the character Simon Templar, created by Leslie Charteris...
for the 1997 film adaptation of The Saint
The Saint (film)
The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as "The Saint." The film stars Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and Rade Šerbedžija...
starring Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
, although the film itself was only loosely based upon Charteris' creation. This was followed by Capture the Saint
Capture the Saint
Capture the Saint is the title of a 1997 mystery novel by Burl Barer, featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint" who was created by Leslie Charteris in 1928....
, which was published by The Saint Club (an organization founded by Charteris) to mark the 70th anniversary of the character's first appearance, in Meet - The Tiger!. It is the most recent Saint story to have been published . In June of 2010, Barer began writing " The Return of the Saint"," a new novel set in the U.K. in which Simon Templar takes a personal interest in combating international human trafficking. In collaboration with producer William J. Macdonald, Barer penned a two hour screenplay, The Saint in New Orleans, as the pilot episode for a new Saint television series that was set to begin filming in July 2011. Unexpected delays, including changes in the lead actor, delayed production. As of September 2011, the two hour pilot by Barer & Macdonald was being cut down to one hour by another writer, and a search was on for a new lead actor.
True crime
Barer is also a prolific author of true crimeTrue crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
books and was praised by Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
nominee Jack Olsen
Jack Olsen
Jack Olsen was an American journalist and author known for his thorough, scholarly approach to crime reporting. Olsen was Senior Editor and Chief for the Sun-Times in Chicago Illinois in 1954...
for "writing true crime at its best."
Barer is also known for using real people in his fiction books, and using the names of fiction characters from his novels as "replacement names" in his true crime books for people who don't want their real names used. Barer, who was once also a well-known "distance reader" (psychic/mentalist), appears in his own true crime book, Body Count, as psychic/mentalist/true crime author Jeff Reynolds, the name of his fictional protagonist in his novel Headlock. Chet Rogers, Travis Webb, and Donna McCooke are other real people who appear in both his works of fiction and his non-fiction books. Rogers and Webb are both journalists, and McCooke is a prominent health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
professional in the UK. Rogers appears as a newsman in Barer's novelization of The Saint, and McCooke appears as a love interest for a jet pilot in the novelization of Stealth
Stealth (film)
Stealth is a 2005 American science fiction action film starring Jessica Biel, Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepard. The film was directed by Rob Cohen, director of The Fast and the Furious and xXx....
, published only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Television
In the 1980s, Barer and Kenneth H. Thompson established a cable television advertising interconnect in Eastern Washington. Barer Cable Advertising, Inc., utilizing a proprietary method of inventory allocation, became the highest grossing interconnect in America, garnering over 1000 X the national average in dollar per subscriber household revenue per month. He personally wrote and directed thousands of local and regional television commercials, and won the Tri-City Advertising Federation Award for Outstanding Television Production. The markets were later sold to the Multi-System Operators in the various markets.In 2011, Barer and famed attorney Don Woldman began hosting True Crimes on the American Horrors channel, featured as part of the basic tier of channels offered on filmon.com, and syndicated world wide by Hart D. Fisher.
Radio
Before becoming an author, Barer was a prominent radio personality in the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. He began his broadcast career on KUJ in Walla Walla, Washington, KTEL in Walla Walla, KYAC (Soul Radio)Seattle, KJR Seattle, KOL AM & FM Seattle, KIRO Seattle, KQUIN Burien, Washington, KZOK-FM and other stations in the Pacific Northwest. In partnership with Terry McManus, Barer wrote and produced national radio commercials for many touring performers, including Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. He also created electronic media campaigns for such cult classic films as Harold and Maude, Orson Welles' F for Fake, the theatrical re-release of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Len Russell's Mahler. A long time friend and collaborator with Billboard Award winner Allen Goldblatt, Barer frequently contributed to the Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week. He is the recipient of Gold Records for Knights in White Satin, Layla, and Walk on the Wild Side. A compilation by Burl Barer, Selections from the Holy Qur'an: Translations and Emendations by Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
, appeared as an appendix in James Heggie's Bahá'í References to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was Barer's first contribution to an internationally distributed reference work. Returning to Walla Walla in 1990's, Barer termed with Thomas D. Hodgins to launch several radio stations for Hodgins broadcast company, with Barer handling programming and/or on air talent. Among these were Lucky 98, Power 99, and KUJ-FM. Barer returned to the Seattle area from 1999-2002 before relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada until 2005.
In 2007, Barer became a regular participant on the long running Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
program, Outlaw Radio, hosted by Matt Alan. In March 2008, Barer teamed with attorney Don Woldman for their own show, with a focus on crime. True Crimes won the 2009 In Cold Blog Detective Award for Best True Crime Radio Program. The title was changed to "True Crime Uncensored" in 2010. In May 2011. famed media maven Howard Lapides, Executive Producer of Celebrity Rehab joined the show as co-host when Don Woldman went on indefinite hiatus.
According to the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, Barer is also credited with a small acting role in the 1991 film, The Last Ride. He also appeared in various independent films and documentaries by film director Karl Krogstad,
Personal life
Barer is a Bahá'íBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
by religion. and has two grown children, Anea Barer and Jordan Barer.Burl's brother, Stan (an attorney and a Seattle community leader) serves on the University Of Washington Board Of Regents. Burl's sister, Jan Curran, who died in 2010, was also a well-known journalist formerly with the Desert Sun, and author of two books including2010's "Active Senior Living." Burl Barer is the uncle of authors Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter and producer, known for his work on several different TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk...
and Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg is an American author and journalist, best known for his novels Fake Liar Cheat and Living Dead Girl , and the short story collections Simplify and Other Resort Cities...
. His nieces, Linda Woods and Karen Dinino, are also well-known writers famed for their books on art and journaling. In addition, cousin Shlomo Barer, formerly with the BBC, is also a respected author of historical non-fiction. Cousin Helen Barer writes mysteries. A distant relative, Marshall Barer
Marshall Barer
Marshall Barer - Born Marshall Louis Barer, Astoria, New York City, 19 February 1923. Lyricist, librettist, singer, songwriter and director. Died Santa Fe, New Mexico, 25 August 1998....
composed the "Mighty Mouse" theme. Barer conducted human potential seminars in the 1970s and established ongoing programs in the Washington State Penitentiary to reduce recidivism. He was a founding member of Seattle Mayor Charles Royer's task force for education and prevention programs dealing with youth alcoholism and addiction, and was a founding member of the Walla Walla Race Unity Coalition, sponsors of the annual Race Unity Day Multicultural Arts Festival, and the annual Freedom From Discrimination Month.