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.

Ivalo

   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.”

Man Who Wasn't There

   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.”

Prince Ombra

   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:

   MacLeish worked as a news director for WBZ radio in Boston in the early 1950s and later moved to London, where he was assigned the job of establishing a foreign news department for Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. He also worked for CBS News in Washington in the early 1970s, doing political commentary, and was a commentator and news analyst for NPR [during the early days of Morning Edition.]

   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.