by Tom Nolan
“ ‘You will write the Ulysses of the tecs yet’ ”: Kenner to Millar, date not given, cited in “JOSEPH THE PROVIDER/BOOKS: Catalogue Fifty-Seven” (1995).
“ ‘Ken’s working quota’ ”: Kenner interview with TN.
“ ‘We never talked a lot about writing’ ”: Al Stump interview with TN.
“This head dodge would help Lew Archer”: e.g., Macdonald, The Chill (Knopf, 1963): “He threw a punch at my face. I shifted my head. His fist crunched into the plaster wall.”
“ ‘a more human book than either of the others’ ”: Millar to Boucher, September 18, 1950, Indiana.
“ ‘As it’s a long time since Hammett’ ”: James Sandoe (uncredited), “Mystery,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 12, 1950.
“ ‘He told me he was a best-seller in France’ ”: Kenner interview with TN.
“the Millars’ total combined income”: tax forms, UCI.
“ ‘Being a woman and less responsible economically’ ”: Millar to Thorpe, December 11, 1950, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“and took notes of the guest speaker”: Millar notebook, UCI.
“Linda’s ‘maladjustment’ ”: School counselor’s report cited in Superior Court documents, The People of the State of California vs. Linda Jane Millar, “Application for Probation,” August 27, 1956.
“ ‘he thought it was normal’ ”: Ibid.
“ ‘The clothes, without Jessie in them’ ”: Margaret Millar, The Cannibal Heart (Random House, 1949).
“Linda asked if she could go to Michigan too”: Millar, “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“The Saturday Review”: Kathleen Sproul, “The Criminal Record,” Saturday Review, August 25, 1951.
“ ‘The problem is the age-old one’ ”: Millar to Knopf, August 28, 1951, HRHRC.
“ ‘The chairman of the graduate committee’ ”: Donald Pearce interview with TN.
“Millar joked to Boucher”: Millar to Boucher, July 9, 1951, Indiana.
“not wanting to be like the men on his doctoral committee”: Millar to Bruccoli, January 10, 1970, MJB Collection, UCI.
“ ‘in crisp black funeral silks’ ”: Macdonald, The Way Some People Die (Knopf, 1951).
“ ‘Macdonald can write really well’ ”: James Sandoe, “Mystery and Suspense,” New York Herald Tribune, August 19, 1951.
“ ‘The tough ones don’t come any better than this’ ”: Lenore Glen Offord, “The Gory Road,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 5, 1951.
“ ‘Macdonald has the makings’ ”: Anthony Boucher, “Criminals at Large,” New York Times Book Review, August 5, 1951.
“ ‘An element of smugness enters in’ ”: Millar to Boucher, July 9, 1951, Indiana.
“done under the conscious influence of Nelson Algren’s The Man with the Golden Arm”: Millar interview with Paul Nelson, UCI.
“ ‘He spent quite a bit of time explaining to me’ ”: Pearce interview with TN.
“might break his back”: Millar to Thorpe, December 13, 1952, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan: “I haven’t told you, or anyone else but M., but last year the combined strain of my novel (THE IVORY GRIN) and my dissertation almost broke my back.”
“ ‘1000 pages longhand’ ”: Millar to Knopf, July 25, 1951, HRHRC.
“a Santa Barbara household in turmoil”: Details from “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“ ‘Please don’t worry about me going to pieces’ ”: Margaret to Kenneth Millar, June 18, 1951, UCI.
“ ‘The accident was pretty ghastly and mysterious’ ”: Margaret to Kenneth Millar, July 30, 1951, UCI.
“ ‘We’re getting bloody sick of each other’ ”: Ibid.
“ ‘attempted suicide’ ”: Millar, “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“ ‘Grant’s words were much in his mind’ ”: Ibid.
“escaped hospitalization by the skin of his teeth”: “I myself escaped hospitalization by the skin of my teeth,” Millar to Steven Carter, April 24, 1968, courtesy of Steven Carter.
“ ‘he saw the necessity’ ”: Millar, “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“ ‘happily rusticating’ ”: Millar to Boucher, August 27, 1951, Indiana.
“ ‘He was sitting in a chair’ ”: Hugh Kenner interview with TN.
“ ‘Archer never in the book’ ”: Knopf to Millar, July 15, 1951, HRHRC.
“ ‘I am quite as eager’ ”: Millar to Knopf, July 25, 1951, HRHRC.
“ ‘With all due respect’ ”: Millar to Dave Herrmann, September 10, 1951, HRHRC.
“ ‘Is the hardboiled mystery on the way out . . . ?’ ”: Millar to Boucher, August 27, 1951, Indiana.
“prodded Knopf”: von Auw to Knopf, August 24, 1951, HRHRC.
“ ‘After the first ten books’ ”: Millar to Thorpe, December 13, 1952, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“ ‘He had a mansion’ ”: Robert Wade interview with TN.
“Some traveled long distances”: The Third Degree, MWA newsletter, 1952.
“ ‘God, they got black guys, servants, all around’ ”: William Campbell Gault interview with TN.
“ ‘Between us we’ve had about the best critical receptions of the year’ ”: Millar to H. N. Swanson, Margaret Herrick Library.
“ ‘He wasn’t keen on my doing it’ ”: Margaret Millar interview with TN.
“ ‘To many Santa Barbarans’ ”: Verne Linderman, “Good Mysteries Demand Characterization Based on Sound Psychology, Say Millars of Cliff Drive,” Santa Barbara News-Press, March 30, 1952.
“ ‘It’s a long wait’ ”: Millar to Henry Branson, August 8, 1952, UCI.
“an Archer short story (‘The Guilty Ones’) structured like a TV play”: Published in Manhunt, May 1953; later rewritten extensively for inclusion in The Name Is Archer.
“ ‘If it makes the splash I expect it to’ ”: Millar to H. N. Swanson, April 18, 1952, Margaret Herrick Library.
“ ‘I like it immensely’ ”: Knopf to Millar, August 5, 1952, HRHRC.
“Knopf quoted the Pocket Books honcho”: Knopf to Millar, August 21, 1952, HRHRC.
“ ‘Do you think the book needs rewriting?’ ”: Millar to Knopf, August 28, 1952, HRHRC. The lines quoted are from the letter Millar actually sent Knopf. A slightly different draft (UCI) was printed as “Farewell to Chandler” in Inward Journey.
“ ‘I am all for the writer’ ”: Knopf to Millar, September 3, 1952, HRHRC.
“ ‘And good luck to all of us’ ”: Knopf to Millar, October 16, 1952, HRHRC.
“ ‘We talked about all the current issues’ ”: Harris Seed interview with TN.
“ ‘Margaret and I always had a very guarded relationship’ ”: Hugh Kenner interview with TN.
“ ‘She would roll her cigarette holder’ ”: Pearce interview with TN.
“ ‘My God that guy has crust’ ”: Margaret to Kenneth Millar, July 15, 1951, UCI.
“ ‘I flunked sewing’ ”: Claire Stump interview with TN.
“ ‘M. J. [Mary Jo], who is seven months pregnant’ ”: Kenner to Pearce, November 1, 1952, courtesy of Donald Pearce.
“ ‘We saw a civilization taking shape’ ”: Millar to Adlai Stevenson, November 6, 1954, handwritten copy, UCI.
“ ‘I see the mystery in all its varying degrees’ ”: Millar to Richard C. Boys, December 29, 1952, the Richard C. Boys Correspondence, Special Collections Library, University of Michigan.
“ ‘to impart first-class standards’ ”: Millar to Thorpe, December 13, 1952, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
“ ‘U.S. Removes Library Books’ ”: Associated Press story, June 23, 1953.
“ ‘In response to numerous inquiries’ ”: The Third Degree, Mystery Writers of America, Inc., August 1951.
&nbs
p; “ ‘He was a hot number right then’ ”: Pearce interview with TN.
“ ‘Ace Writer of Mysteries Talks Today’ ”: Becky Conrad, Michigan Daily, July 1, 1953.
“ ‘I’ll do my damnedest’ ”: Millar to Boys, January 11, 1953, the Richard C. Boys Correspondence, Special Collections Library, University of Michigan.
“ ‘The last occasion I had’ ”: Kenneth Millar, “The Scene of the Crime: Social Meanings of the Detective Story,” lecture given at Auditorium A, Angell Hall, University of Michigan. Transcribed from a recording, University of Michigan. Later, Millar rewrote and expanded his remarks as an essay (“The Scene of the Crime”), eventually printed in Inward Journey.
“ ‘He was awfully pleased’ ”: Pearce interview with TN.
“ ‘Ken was proud of the fact’ ”: Kenner interview with TN.
“ ‘No, I haven’t been drinking, much’ ”: Margaret Millar, Do Evil in Return (Random House, 1950).
“ ‘Mussey was my darling’ ”: Margaret Millar interview with TN.
“ ‘But I don’t mean sexual love’ ”: Millar to Branson, July 8, 1953, UCI.
“ ‘I should like to see [the mystery’s] philosophic possibilities explored’ ”: Millar, “The Scene of the Crime.”
“ ‘the present state of the fiction market’ ”: Knopf to Millar, June 3, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘THROUGH HAROLD OBER IN 1949’ ”: MacDonald to Max Wilkinson, Western Union form (undated), Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Florida Libraries.
“ ‘An “agreement” to which Mr. MacDonald refers’ ”: Millar to von Auw, March 16, 1953, typed copy, University of Florida.
“ ‘Could you have mistaken . . . ?’ ”: Millar to MacDonald, August 31, 1953, University of Florida.
“ ‘I was not implying’ ”: MacDonald to Millar, September 5, 1953, UCI.
“Saul David, a fan of Millar’s since reading Blue City”: Saul David interview with TN.
“ ‘I’m sure you can understand’ ”: Knopf to Millar, October 30, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘I expect to write a mystery novel every year’ ”: Millar to Knopf, November 2, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘If we like them, we will show them to Bantam’ ”: Knopf to Millar, October 30, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘I leaned over backwards a bit’ ”: Millar to Knopf, November 2, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘We’re in a somewhat awkward three-cornered situation now’ ”: Knopf to Millar, November 9, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘We’d like to see Kerrigan beaten up’ ”: Saul David to Millar, November 24, 1953, UCI.
“ ‘I’d like to say how pleased we are’ ”: Ibid.
“ ‘a crowning stupidity’ ”: Millar to Branson, November 15, 1953, UCI.
“ ‘like hell’ ”: Millar to Boucher, December 6, 1953, Indiana.
“ ‘in a way I regret that I was ever persuaded to leave you’ ”: Chandler to Knopf, July 16, 1953; in Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, ed. Frank MacShane (Columbia University Press, 1981).
“ ‘I’d like to ditch that character’ ”: Millar to Branson, November 28, 1953, UCI.
“ ‘partly because there were so many Kenneth and Margaret Millar titles on the market’ ”: “Kenneth Millar/‘John Ross Macdonald,’ ” Wilson Library Bulletin, December 1953.
“ ‘I don’t suppose any harm has been done’ ”: Knopf to von Auw, December 4, 1953, HRHRC.
“ ‘I wouldn’t have redone the book’ ”: Millar to Knopf, January 5, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘I think this sort of thing should not appear’ ”: Knopf to Millar, January 15, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘I’ve no wish to offend anyone’ ”: Millar to Knopf, January 23, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘Mr. John Ross Macdonald must be ranked high’ ”: Julian Symons (unsigned), “Criminal Practices,” (London) Times Literary Supplement, November 20, 1953.
“ ‘Reasonable Facsimile’ ”: Unsigned review, “Reasonable Fascsimile,” Time, July 26, 1954.
“ ‘Annual Event’ ”: Unsigned review, “Annual Event,” Newsweek, September 6, 1954.
“ ‘Linda was an interesting girl’ ”: Kenner interview with TN.
“One woman complained”: People vs. Linda Jane Millar, Santa Barbara Probation Department report.
“ ‘I think she was mainly interested in experiencing life’ ”: Geoff Aggeler interview with TN.
“ ‘Most of his acting ability is in his fists’ ”: Quoted in Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present, 4th ed. (Ballantine Books, 1979).
“the Millars got a joint payment of seven hundred dollars”: Millar notebooks and tax forms, UCI; correspondence with Swanson, Margaret Herrick Library.
“ ‘As far as the future is concerned’ ”: Knopf internal memo, January 11, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘probably the handsomest and smartest’ ”: von Auw to Knopf, June 1, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘My best thanks’ ”: Knopf to von Auw, June 4, 1954, HRHRC.
“ ‘Falls somewhat below his best work’ ”: Lenore Glen Offord, “The Gory Road,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 29, 1954.
“ ‘A long haul here’ ”: Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1954.
“ ‘the best yet’ ”: Anthony Boucher, “Criminals at Large,” New York Times Book Review, August 1, 1954.
“ ‘I had difficulties with publishers’ ”: Millar to Boucher, August 9, 1954, Indiana.
“New York Times best-of-the-year list”: Anthony Boucher, “Boucher’s Choices: The Best Mysteries of 1954,” New York Times Book Review, December 5, 1954.
“ ‘Bantam at least seems solidly behind me’ ”: Millar to Boucher, August 9, 1954, Indiana.
“ ‘vastly enthusiastic’ ”: David to Millar, August 16, 1954, UCI.
“ ‘grand’ ”: David to Millar, September 26, 1954, UCI.
“One of the great turning points in my life’ ”: Joe Gores interview with TN.
“Bill Pronzini . . . ranked Macdonald’s anthology”: In Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller, 1001 Midnights: The Aficionado’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction (Arbor House, 1986). Pronzini’s ranking was for Lew Archer, Private Investigator (Mysterious Press, 1977), the expanded version of The Name Is Archer.
“Douglas G. Greene went further”: Douglas G. Greene, “The Fifteen Greatest Detective Short Story Volumes Since Poe,” included in The Fine Art of Murder: The Mystery Reader’s Indispensable Companion, eds. Ed Gorman, Martin H. Greenberg, Larry Segriff, with Jon L. Breen (Carroll & Graf, 1993).
“ ‘the joint conclusion—believe it or not’ ”: Millar to the Bransons, June 5, 1954, UCI.
“a Gore Vidal play based on the same subject”: Gore Vidal, Dark Possession, performed February 15, 1954, on Studio One (CBS). This was the first of several original plays Vidal wrote for live TV.
“ ‘Every sound was a threat’ ”: Margaret Millar, introduction to International Polygonics, Ltd. paperback edition of Beast in View (Random House, 1955), 1983.
“ ‘We had to pioneer a novel land’ ”: Millar, “To M.,” notebook, UCI.
“ ‘a place where our cultural conflicts are worked out’ ”: Millar, “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“ ‘the somatic expression of a spiritual malaise’ ”: Millar to Henry Branson, February 18, 1955, UCI.
“ ‘3 were killed’ ”: Linda to Kenneth Millar, March 25, 1955, UCI.
“sat for a newspaper photographer”: “Former KCI Teacher Urges New Library/Wife With Him,” Kitchener-Waterloo Record, April 7, 1955.
“ ‘Linda is usually a cheerful soul’ ”: Millar to Sandoe, April 25, 1955, the James Sandoe Collection, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Brigham Young University.
“ ‘first rate’ ”: Knopf to Millar, October 10, 1955, HRHRC.
“ ‘ . . .
I want you to take me seriously, Lew’ ”: Ross Macdonald, The Barbarous Coast (Knopf, 1956).
“The Millars’ late friend M. M. Musselman”: Author of several books and screenplays, Musselman was a boyhood friend and sparring partner of Ernest Hemingway’s; in 1920, the two budding men of letters collaborated on Hokum: A Play in Three Acts (Wellesley Hills: Sans Souci Press, 1978).
“ ‘I do find myself wondering’ ”: Knopf to Millar, October 10, 1955, HRHRC.
“he’d gross nearly fourteen thousand five hundred dollars”: Millar tax forms, UCI.
“ ‘thoughtful and friendly warning’ ”: Millar to Knopf, October 15, 1955, HRHRC.
“ ‘If [the new book] has enough success’ ”: Millar to von Auw, January 13, 1956, Princeton.
“ ‘stupidity’ ”: Ray Bond to Millar, December 28, 1955, UCI.
“Someone at the firm made a list”: “Suggested titles for THE DYING ANIMAL, John Ross MacDonald [sic],” Knopf in-house communiqué, November 22, 1955, HRHRC.
“ ‘wit, impact, and the all-important element of class’ ”: Millar to Knopf, December 9, 1955, HRHRC.
“ ‘Agreed’ ”: Knopf to Millar, December 14, 1955, HRHRC. The Cosmopolitan magazine condensation of this book, though, was published as The Dying Animal (March 1956).
“ ‘the dissolution of my marriage of inconvenience’ ”: Millar to von Auw, February 20, 1956, Princeton.
“ ‘My imaginative identification’ ”: Notes for “Confessions of a Constant Reader,” February 1956, Santa Barbara Library talk, Millar notebook, UCI.
“ ‘That made me think of a half-built life’ ”: Linda Millar, Rorschach test reaction, March 7, 1956, quoted in documents appended to People vs. Linda Jane Millar, “Application for Probation.”
“he caught Linda smoking”: This and other details of Linda’s behavior from documents attached to probation application, ibid.
“ ‘We knew what Linda was up to’ ”: Stump interview with TN.
“ ‘to be loved on any terms, by anyone’ ”: Millar, “Notes of a Son and Father,” UCI.
“ ‘the fairly normal incestuous content’ ”: Ibid.
“Linda’s big and little problems”: Ibid.
“ ‘It isn’t true . . .’ ”: Kenneth Millar, “Find the Woman.”
