Wed 16 May 2007
Death Noted: RODERICK MacLEISH (1926-2006).
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV , Obituaries / Deaths Noted[3] Comments
You probably won’t recognize Rod MacLeish, nephew of poet Archibald MacLeish and noted NPR commentator who died in 2006, as having written a novel that was nominated for an Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America, but as it happens, he did.
Here’s his complete entry in Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, only slightly expanded:
MacLEISH, RODERICK (1926-2006 )
* The Man Who Wasn’t There (n.) Random House, hc, 1976; Fawcett Crest, pb, 1977 [Washington, D.C.]
* Carnaby Rex (n.) Weidenfeld, UK, 1976; See: The Man Who Wasn’t There (Random House,1976)
* Crossing at Ivalo (n.) Little Brown, hc, 1990, as by Rod MacLeish. Zebra, pb, 1992.
In case you may be wondering, it was the latter that caught the eye of the MWA. One online seller describes it thusly: “The principal architect of the Soviet ‘Star Wars’ system is kidnapped and his abductors offer him for sale to the Soviets and Americans. The Russians don’t want anyone to have him and the Americans want to learn all that he knows.”
His earlier book having crime-related components, The Man Who Wasn’t There, is cryptically described by one seller thusly: “Millionaire film star, claiming to be his twin, reads of his death.” A second synopsis provided by another seller, probably from the back of the book itself, says: “From the quiet elegance of Georgetown to Hollywood and Paris, this novel moves inexorably toward the innermost recesses of a man’s mind. The suspense builds to a terrifying pitch in a climactic scene – a scene no reader will soon forget.”
Another book, this one with no criminous overtones, is A Time of Fear (Viking Press, 1958), the “story of a small town in the way of development.” Yet another, a science fiction fantasy thriller, is Prince Ombra (Congdon & Weed, hc, 1982; Tor, pb, 1983) in which the title character, “Prince Ombra is the lord of every mortal nightmare. He has appeared in the world a thousand times, and the rememberers have given him a thousand names – Goliath, the murderous Philistine; Mordred, enemy of Camelot. The heroes of legend have offered their lives in confrontation with the evil one. Among them have been David and Arthur, king of the Celts.”
Or in other words, a book about a boy with magic powers in modern-day New England. During his journalist days, Mr. MacLeish also wrote a non-fiction book, The Sun Stood Still, about the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
According to an National Public Radio [NPR] tribute to one of their long-time contributors:
When he wasn’t covering foreign conflicts, he traveled the country writing social and political commentaries, including producing a program focused on race relations, A Month in the Country, with Bernard Shaw.
MacLeish was also […] the broadcast voice of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and […] his documentary on the Hermitage in St. Petersburg was nominated for an Emmy.
May 17th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Does the Ivalo book take place in Finland? There’s Ivalo in the Finnish Lapland, not very far from the Russian border.
May 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
While I don’t have a copy of the book at hand, it certainly sounds like you’re right, Juri. There aren’t many Ivalo’s located anywhere else in the world, and the plot line certainly matches.
May 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
[…] And two of them were more relevant than others. In my recent post on Roderick MacLeish, for example, I tried to explain the plot line for The Man who Wasn’t There, but without the book in hand, I didn’t know what I was trying to convey, and so how possibly could you? […]