Stuart M. Kaminsky
Encyclopedia
Stuart M. Kaminsky was an American
mystery writer and film professor. He is known for three long-running series of mystery novels featuring the protagonists Toby Peters, a private detective
in 1940s Hollywood
; Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, a Moscow
police inspector; and veteran Chicago police officer Abe Lieberman. A later series followed Lew Fonesca, a process server from Sarasota, Florida
.
Kaminsky's Inspector Rostnikov novel A Cold Red Sunrise received the 1989 Edgar Award
for Best Novel. He earned six other Edgar nominations, most recently for the 2005 non-fiction book Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed, which was also nominated for an Anthony Award
, a Macavity Award
, and an Agatha Award
. In 2006 Kaminsky received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America
.
and a Ph.D. in speech from Northwestern University
. He taught film studies
at Northwestern for 16 years, and then taught at Florida State
for six years.
Kaminsky's first novel was the 1977 Toby Peters mystery Bullet for a Star. He went on to write over 60 novels, as well as story collections and nonfiction works. Kaminsky was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Besides being one of America's most prolific mystery writers, Kaminsky inspired many other writers in the genre, including fellow Chicagoan Sara Paretsky
, who dedicated the first novel in her V. I. Warshawski
private-eye series to Kaminsky.
in March 2009 to await a liver transplant
to treat the hepatitis
he contracted as an army medic
in the late 1950s in France
. He suffered a stroke
two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mystery writer and film professor. He is known for three long-running series of mystery novels featuring the protagonists Toby Peters, a private detective
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
in 1940s Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
; Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, a Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
police inspector; and veteran Chicago police officer Abe Lieberman. A later series followed Lew Fonesca, a process server from Sarasota, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Kaminsky's Inspector Rostnikov novel A Cold Red Sunrise received the 1989 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Novel. He earned six other Edgar nominations, most recently for the 2005 non-fiction book Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed, which was also nominated for an Anthony Award
Anthony Award
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
, a Macavity Award
Macavity Awards
The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The award is given in four categories -- best novel,...
, and an Agatha Award
Agatha Award
The Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write via the same method as Agatha Christie...
. In 2006 Kaminsky received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
.
Life and career
Kaminsky, who grew up in Chicago, earned a B.S. in journalism and an M.A. in English from the University of IllinoisUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
and a Ph.D. in speech from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. He taught film studies
Film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to films. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies...
at Northwestern for 16 years, and then taught at Florida State
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
for six years.
Kaminsky's first novel was the 1977 Toby Peters mystery Bullet for a Star. He went on to write over 60 novels, as well as story collections and nonfiction works. Kaminsky was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Besides being one of America's most prolific mystery writers, Kaminsky inspired many other writers in the genre, including fellow Chicagoan Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction.-Life and career:Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa and raised in Kansas, graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in...
, who dedicated the first novel in her V. I. Warshawski
V. I. Warshawski
Victoria Iphigenia “Vic” “V. I.” Warshawski is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories written by Sara Paretsky. She is a gritty, independent private investigator from Chicago...
private-eye series to Kaminsky.
Death
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in March 2009 to await a liver transplant
Liver transplantation
Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with a healthy liver allograft. The most commonly used technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and replaced by the donor organ in the same anatomic location as the original...
to treat the hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
he contracted as an army medic
Combat medic
Combat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
in the late 1950s in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Novels
|
(also published as Death of a Dissident)
Denial (novel) Denial is a mystery novel written by Stuart M. Kaminsky, a Grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America. This is a Lew Fonesca mystery and was released last July 8, 2005.-The Two Mysteries:This novel has two mysteries.... (2005) |
|
Story collections
- Hidden and Other Stories (1999)
- The Man Who Beat the System and Other Stories (Audio) (2000)
Other fiction
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker
- Fever Pitch (graphic novel, with Christopher Jones and Barbara Schulz) (2003)
- Kolchak the Night Stalker, Volume 1 (graphic novel, with Joe Gentile and Jeff Rice) (2004)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles (story anthology, includes "The Night Talker" by Kaminsky) (2005)
As editor
- Opening Shots (1991)
- Mystery in the Sunshine State (1999)
- Show Business Is Murder (2004)
- On a Raven's Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe (2009)
Non-fiction
- A Biographical Study of the Career of Donald Siegel and an Analysis of His Films (1972)
- Clint Eastwood (1974)
- American Film Genres: Approaches to a Critical Theory of Popular Film (1974)
- Don Siegel, Director (1974)
- Ingmar Bergman: Essays in Criticism (1975)
- John Huston: Maker of Magic (1978)
- Coop: The Life and Legend of Gary Cooper (1979)
- Basic Filmmaking (with Dana H Hodgdon) (1981)
- Writing for Television (with Mark Walker) (1988)
- American Television Genres (1991)
- Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed (Interviews by Kaminsky; photographs by Laurie RobertsLaurie RobertsLaurie Roberts is a news columnist for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. The Republic is the largest newspaper in Arizona, and azcentral.com is the state's largest news Web site....
) (2005)
Filmography
- Once Upon a Time in AmericaOnce Upon a Time in AmericaOnce Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
(1984) - Enemy TerritoryEnemy Territory (film)-Plot summary:At night the tenants of a housing project lock their doors and pray. For now their building is ruled by a savage gang called the Vampires. But one night they meet their match and the night becomes an eternity.-Release:...
(1987) - Woman in the Wind (1990)
- Hidden Fears (1993)
- A Nero Wolfe MysteryA Nero Wolfe MysteryA Nero Wolfe Mystery is a television series adapted from Rex Stout's classic series of detective stories that aired for two seasons on the A&E Network. Set in New York City in the early 1950s, the stylized period drama stars Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin...
— "Immune to Murder" (2002)
External links
- Video clips of Pony R. Horton's interview with Stuart M. Kaminsky (2008)
- Stuart M. Kaminsky Mysteries website video teaser
- "Stuart M. Kaminsky, Mystery Writer, Dies at 75"; The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, October 13, 2009 - Stuart Kaminsky radio interview with Doug Miles WSRQ 2004