Long acknowledged as "the dean of
American crime fiction," Robert B.
Parker is best known for his novels
featuring the wise-cracking,
street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser
and his sidekick "Hawk." R.W.B. Lewis
says of Parker in the NY Times Book
Review, “We are witnessing one of the
great series in the history of the
American detective story.” The Spenser
series achieved an even greater
audience when it was dramatized in
television series "Spenser: For Hire,"
on the ABC network during the late
1980s.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, Robert Brown Parker met his future wife, Joan, when both were three. They began dating while both were attending Colby College and were married in 1956. The couple has two sons, David and Daniel and a female German Shorthaired Pointer by the name of Pearl.
Mr. Parker received his Ph. D. in English literature from Boston University in 1971, for which he wrote a dissertation on the American Hero with a focus the private-eyes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. After receiving his degree, he worked as a technical writer and in advertising and later became a full professor at Northeastern University. He released several novels in the Spenser series before becoming a full-time writer in 1979. He and his wife separated in 1982 but reconciled in 1984, first living separately and since 1986 living on different floors of a house in Cambridge.
Parker was named Grand Master of the 2002 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, Robert Brown Parker met his future wife, Joan, when both were three. They began dating while both were attending Colby College and were married in 1956. The couple has two sons, David and Daniel and a female German Shorthaired Pointer by the name of Pearl.
Mr. Parker received his Ph. D. in English literature from Boston University in 1971, for which he wrote a dissertation on the American Hero with a focus the private-eyes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. After receiving his degree, he worked as a technical writer and in advertising and later became a full professor at Northeastern University. He released several novels in the Spenser series before becoming a full-time writer in 1979. He and his wife separated in 1982 but reconciled in 1984, first living separately and since 1986 living on different floors of a house in Cambridge.
Parker was named Grand Master of the 2002 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America.
