The world lost a great author yesterday when Robert B. Parker died at his home in Massachusetts. Dr. Parker was the author of over 50 novels. He was 77 years old and is survived by his wife and two sons. Ever the working man, Dr. Parker died sitting at his desk.
Even if you weren’t a fan of Parker’s work you may very well know one of his characters – Spenser of Spenser For Hire fame brought to life by Robert Urich. Spenser was subsequently played by Joe Mantegna in several made for TV movies. Spenser is a wise cracking private detective in the Boston area.
In addition to Spenser, Dr. Parker created recurring characters Jesse Stone (now portrayed in TV movies by Tom Selleck) and Sunny Randall. Stone is a small town police chief and Randall is a female private detective also in the Boston area. While Spenser, Jesse and Sunny don’t directly interact, several of the secondary characters are present in all three series.
Robert B. Parker was my favorite author and I’m certainly saddened by his death. In addition to incredible storytelling, Parker’s control of the English language is second to none. The dialog in his novels kept me coming back and re-reading his novels multiple times. From a selfish perspective I hope he had a couple of novels completed before his death.
Rest in peace Dr. Parker – you will be missed. Thank you for everything.
