The literary world lost
more than a great creative mind when Warren Murphy left this world Friday
morning. You can read his bio elsewhere, and learn of his exciting life as a
journalist, journeyman writer, creator of iconic characters and effectively the
originator of a whole fictional subgenre that served as a bridge between pulp
magazine stories and today’s thrillers. For me the loss is far more personal.
For me, Warren Murphy was a friend, a mentor, briefly a co-writer, and one of
the finest gentlemen I’ve had the privilege to know.
I first met Warren at
Book Expo America in 2002. I was there with my first novel, Blood and Bone
published with a fledgling Print-On-Demand company. I recognized the creator of
The Destroyer series I had loved in college. He didn’t just stop and say hello.
He posed for a photo with me and accepted a copy of my novel. Of course he said
he’d read it, and of course since I didn’t really know him yet I was skeptical.
You can’t imagine my joy when I received a blurb form him!
"Blood and Bone is
a hair-raising roller coaster ride of a story, and Hannibal Jones bursts into
the world of the fictional private eye like a pack of high explosives. I can't
wait to see him in action again." -
Warren Murphy, two-time Edgar award winner and
creator of The Destroyer adventure series.
That year I was elected
president of the Maryland Writers Association and was eager to hold a
spectacular writers conference. I was a little nervous asking Warren if he’d
come talk to an auditorium full of aspiring writers but he was very gracious
and not only accepted my invitation, but gave one of the most inspiring keynote
addresses I’ve ever heard, before or since.
As we drove him back to
his hotel, Warren hit me with this idea he had… a detective agency staffed with
quirky characters that all looked just a bit like Warren’s own non-Destroyer
collection of characters, all dedicated to helping police in trouble. This
agency would be driven by the events of 9/11 and the title he had in mind was
Beyond Blue. I was naturally stunned when the great man proposed that we write
this book together.
My next great memory of
Warren was the Love is Murder conference in Chicago the following year. Imagine
sitting at a bar with my wife, telling people I was writing a book with Warren
Murphy. And I kept one photo with him there. I'm standing with a veritable pantheon of thriller gods: David Morrell, Warren, Barry Eisler and William Kent Kruger.
More importantly: We all sat at an art auction that was part of the
con. A particular painting caught our eyes, but we were in no position at that
time to participate. Days later
Of course much has
happened since then. Warren battled ill health and turned the Beyond Blue
project over to me to complete. He returned to writing when he could. He never
stopped dreaming or spinning his dreams into adventures we could all share.
It is easy for me to
imagine him up in the clouds chatting with his predecessors and peers. That
poker table would surely include Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson and
Jules Verne. They might let Ian Fleming sit in.
We are poorer for his
passing, but I can say that my life was greatly enriched for having known
him.
