David Morrell
Encyclopedia
David Morrell is a Canadian-American
novelist, best known for his debut 1972 novel
First Blood, which would later become the successful Rambo film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone
. He has written 28 novels, and his work has been translated into 26 languages. He has also written the 2007-2008 Captain America
comic book
miniseries
The Chosen.
. In 1966, Morrell received his B.A.
in English from St. Jerome's University
and moved to the United States
to study with Hemingway
scholar Philip Young at Pennsylvania State University
, where he would eventually receive his M.A.
and Ph.D.
in American literature
. During his time at Penn State he also met science fiction
writer Philip Klass, better known by the pseudonym William Tenn
, who taught the basics of writing fiction.
Morrell began work as an English professor at the University of Iowa
in 1970. In 1972, his novel First Blood was published; it would eventually be made into the 1982 film of the same name
starring Sylvester Stallone
as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Morrell continued to write many other novels, including The Brotherhood of the Rose, the first in a trilogy of novels, which was adapted into a 1989 NBC
miniseries
starring Robert Mitchum
. Eventually tiring of the two professions, he gave up his tenure at the university in 1986 in order to write full time.
Morrell's teenaged son Matthew died of Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer in 1987. The trauma of his loss influenced Morrell's work, in particular in his creative fiction memoir about Matthew, Fireflies. The protagonist of Morrell's novel Desperate Measures also experiences the loss of a son.
Morrell is the co-president of the International Thriller Writers organization.
for wilderness survival as well as the G. Gordon Liddy
Academy of Corporate Security. He is also an honorary lifetime member of the Special Operations Association and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
According to his website, he has been trained in firearms, hostage negotiation, assuming identities, executive protection, and anti-terrorist driving, among numerous other action skills that he describes in his novels. He recently received his FAA licence to pilot his own small plane.
Morrell lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Morrell was presented with the 2009 ThrillerMaster Award from the ITW
Canadian-American
A Canadian American is someone who was born or someone who grew up in Canada then moved to the United States. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in,...
novelist, best known for his debut 1972 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
First Blood, which would later become the successful Rambo film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
. He has written 28 novels, and his work has been translated into 26 languages. He has also written the 2007-2008 Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
The Chosen.
Early life and career
Morrell decided to become a writer at the age of 17, after being inspired by the writing in the classic television series Route 66Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
. In 1966, Morrell received his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English from St. Jerome's University
St. Jerome's University
Saint Jerome's University is a public Roman Catholic university in Waterloo, Ontario. It is federated with the University of Waterloo.St. Jerome's, within the University of Waterloo, combines academics and a residence. Students may both reside at and take classes through St...
and moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to study with Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
scholar Philip Young at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
, where he would eventually receive his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
. During his time at Penn State he also met science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer Philip Klass, better known by the pseudonym William Tenn
William Tenn
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass , a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.-Early life:...
, who taught the basics of writing fiction.
Morrell began work as an English professor at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1970. In 1972, his novel First Blood was published; it would eventually be made into the 1982 film of the same name
First Blood
First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
starring Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Morrell continued to write many other novels, including The Brotherhood of the Rose, the first in a trilogy of novels, which was adapted into a 1989 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
starring Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
. Eventually tiring of the two professions, he gave up his tenure at the university in 1986 in order to write full time.
Morrell's teenaged son Matthew died of Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer in 1987. The trauma of his loss influenced Morrell's work, in particular in his creative fiction memoir about Matthew, Fireflies. The protagonist of Morrell's novel Desperate Measures also experiences the loss of a son.
Morrell is the co-president of the International Thriller Writers organization.
Personal life
Morrell is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership SchoolNational Outdoor Leadership School
The National Outdoor Leadership School , is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, safety and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions...
for wilderness survival as well as the G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
Academy of Corporate Security. He is also an honorary lifetime member of the Special Operations Association and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
According to his website, he has been trained in firearms, hostage negotiation, assuming identities, executive protection, and anti-terrorist driving, among numerous other action skills that he describes in his novels. He recently received his FAA licence to pilot his own small plane.
Morrell lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Morrell was presented with the 2009 ThrillerMaster Award from the ITW
Fiction
- 1972 First Blood
- 1975 Testament
- 1977 Last Reveille
- 1979 The Totem
- 1982 Blood Oath
- 1983 The Hundred-Year ChristmasThe Hundred-Year ChristmasThe Hundred-Year Christmas is a fantasy novel by David Morrell who is best known for being the creator of John Rambo in his earlier novel First Blood. The Hundred-Year Christmas was first published in 1983 by Donald M...
- illustrated by R. J. Krupowicz - 1984 Brotherhood of the Rose
- 1985 Fraternity of the Stone
- 1985 Rambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part IIRambo: First Blood Part II is a 1985 action film. A sequel to 1982's First Blood, it is the second installment in the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo...
- novelisation of the film of the same name - 1987 The League of Night and Fog
- 1988 Rambo IIIRambo IIIRambo III is an American Action film released on May 25, 1988. It is the third film in the Rambo series following First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II...
- novelisation of the film of the same name - 1990 Fifth ProfessionFifth ProfessionThe Fifth Profession is a 1990 novel by David Morrell. It features the characters Savage and Akira, executive protectors - "no mere bodyguard[s] but.....
- 1991 The Covenant of the Flame
- 1993 Assumed identity
- 1994 Desperate Measures
- 1994 The Totem - unabridged
- 1996 Extreme Denial
- 1998 Double Image
- 1999 Black Evening (short stories)
- 2000 Burnt Sienna
- 2002 Long Lost
- 2003 The Protector
- 2004 Nightscape (short stories)
- 2005 CreepersCreepers (novel)Creepers is a 2006 novel written by David Morrell. Creepers is Morrell's twenty-fourth novel.-Plot introduction:On a cold October night, five people gather in a run-down motel on the Jersey shore and begin preparations to break into The Paragon Hotel...
- 2007 Scavenger
- 2008 The Spy Who Came for Christmas
- 2009 The Shimmer
- 2010 The Naked Edge (Kindle E-Book)
Nonfiction
- 1976 John Barth: An Introduction
- 1988 Fireflies
- 2002 Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft