RIP Gregory McDonald (1937-2008)
The new issue of Entertainment Weekly reported that the great Gregory McDonald, creator of Fletch, author of 17 novels has died of prostate cancer. He died at his farm in Pulaski Tenn. on Sept. 7, The news was reported on Wednesday by Mr. McDonald's manager. Mr. McDonald was 71.
Here's an excerpt from Fletch. The book. Which is much better than the movie.
"What's your name?"
"Fletch."
"What's your full name?"
"Fletcher."
"What's your first name?"
"Irwin. Irwin Fletcher. People call me Fletch."
"Irwin Fletcher, I have a proposition to make to you. I will give you a thousand dollars for just listening to it. If you decide to reject the proposition, you take the thousand dollars, go away, never tell anyone we talked. Fair enough?"
"Is it criminal? I mean, what you want me to do?"
"Of course."
"Fair enough. For a thousand bucks I can listen. What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to murder me."...
Fletch said, "Sure."
And some quotes from the author, a favorite of mine.
"The magic I attempt is to point the finger, as concisely as possible set the scene, then pull back my hand, disappear as the author, leave the reader alone with the characters. Of course the result of this is, not typical of authors, that tens of millions more people know the names of my characters than know my name, which I don't mind a bit."
"I want the reader to hear with his eyes."
"Writing mysteries lets me get away with murder. I think 'the mystery' may be the greatest form for social criticism, simply because it is pedestrian."
So long Mr. McDonald. You made my early teenage years entertaining and you will be missed.
Fletch On
P
Here's an excerpt from Fletch. The book. Which is much better than the movie.
"What's your name?"
"Fletch."
"What's your full name?"
"Fletcher."
"What's your first name?"
"Irwin. Irwin Fletcher. People call me Fletch."
"Irwin Fletcher, I have a proposition to make to you. I will give you a thousand dollars for just listening to it. If you decide to reject the proposition, you take the thousand dollars, go away, never tell anyone we talked. Fair enough?"
"Is it criminal? I mean, what you want me to do?"
"Of course."
"Fair enough. For a thousand bucks I can listen. What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to murder me."...
Fletch said, "Sure."
And some quotes from the author, a favorite of mine.
"The magic I attempt is to point the finger, as concisely as possible set the scene, then pull back my hand, disappear as the author, leave the reader alone with the characters. Of course the result of this is, not typical of authors, that tens of millions more people know the names of my characters than know my name, which I don't mind a bit."
"I want the reader to hear with his eyes."
"Writing mysteries lets me get away with murder. I think 'the mystery' may be the greatest form for social criticism, simply because it is pedestrian."
So long Mr. McDonald. You made my early teenage years entertaining and you will be missed.
Fletch On
P