Mon 2 Apr 2007
DONALD HAMILTON: Death Confirmed.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV , Obituaries / Deaths Noted[10] Comments
I refrained from posting this yesterday, in case it would be considered a particularly cruel April Fool’s joke if we were wrong. I also waited until we had obtained as much information as we could about what we have discovered, we being Al Hubin, Marv Lachman, Victor Berch and myself.
First came an email from Al:
Although I don’t recall any word about Donald Hamilton’s passing, it certainly appears that he has. Contemporary Authors gives his birth date as 3/24/1916, and there’s a Donald B. Hamilton in the Social Security death benefit records with this birth date who died 11/20/2006 in Ipswich, MA.
From Marv Lachman:
I think I can confirm that it was THE Donald (Bengtsson) Hamilton who died. He formerly lived in Santa Fe and was listed in our phone book as Donald B. Hamilton, though no street address was given. I checked our phone book today and there is [only] a Donald R. Hamilton, with a street address. I then spoke to someone at the library who knew him, and she says that he moved “back east.” That would account for his death in Ipswich, Mass.
From Victor Berch:
There was no obituary for Donald Hamilton in the Boston papers. There was even no death notice. This can happen since someone has to pay in order for a death notice to be inserted in the newspapers. If Hamilton was in a nursing home at the time or a hospital, neither institution would pay for such a notice.
At any rate, I did find some information about Donald Hamilton. He was born in Upsala, Sweden. Came to the US aboard the SS Droltingholm on the 6th of October in 1924. He was the son of Bengt and Elise Hamilton. His father was a doctor and at that particular time was associated with the Childrens’ Hospital in Boston. He was also a professor at Harvard (probably Harvard Medical School). By 1930, the family had moved to Baltimore, MD.
That’s about all I could dig up on his early years.
From Al Hubin:
I think it must be “our” Donald Hamilton, though it is surprising his passing went unnoticed for so long.
So here is where we stand. You now know as much as we do. Obviously there are many questions as yet unanswered. Victor also suggested getting the death certificate of the Donald Hamilton who died, but at this point in time we have not done so.
For a long retrospective look by John Fraser into the mystery and espionage fiction of Donald B. Hamilton, best known as the creator of secret agent Matt Helm, go to https://mysteryfile.com/Hamilton/Hamilton.html.
Highly recommended also is a followup piece that Doug Bassett did for Mystery*File, a nicely done in-depth comparison of Matt Helm with Travis McGee, the colorful series character created by John D. MacDonald.
Cover art by Tim Gabor.
[UPDATE] Early this afternoon Charles Ardai confirmed the death of Donald Hamilton. Charles is the man behind Hard Case Crime, who reprinted Hamilton’s Night Walker in January 2006. […] Charles has now left a comment to this effect. In a separate email to me he added, “We are very proud to have worked with Don and to have published one of his books. He was one of the giants, and he’ll be missed.”
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:18 am
I thought Hamilton was living in Scandinavia, but I suppose he could have returned to the U.S. I’m very sorry to hear of his passing.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I’m sorry to say I can confirm that Donald Hamilton did die (though I thought it happened in Sweden, where he was living with his son, rather than in Massachusetts). He died peacefully, in his sleep, from complications relating to an infection. He was 91. Don’s son chose to keep the news of his father’s death private, but is slowly starting to let people know about it.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
[…] After the news of Donald Hamilton’s death late last year was confirmed two days ago, the world of mystery fiction has been rocked a second time this week upon learning that Michael Dibdin, creator of Venetian police detective Aurelio Zen, passed away last Friday, March 30th, only eight days after his 60th birthday. […]
April 4th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
What a terrible year for hard-boiled writers. Three of the giants, Spillane, Prather, and Hamilton, all passing within months of each other.
Interestingly, all were associated, in a sense, with Fawcett’s Gold Medal line. Prather and Hamilton, of course, wrote for Gold Medal, and the line itself was started in response to Spillane’s popularity in paperback.
It really feels like the passing of an era.
Any word on whether or not the last Helm novel, THE DOMINATORS, might be published?
April 4th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Looking back, the three deaths are chilling in their synchronicity, to use a big word, that’s for sure. An era IS coming to a close.
They had long, full lives, though, and their ultimate reward was in knowing how many people read their work and who kept coming back for over 50 years. In the long run, that might be about the best a writer can ask for.
As for your question about the unpublished Matt Helm novel, I answered it in a later post, https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=148. I was told a little more, but I’ve agreed that this is all I should say. But if it turns out to be Charles who finally gets it into print, there certainly couldn’t be a better man.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:56 am
It is really sad news to hear of Don Hamilton’s passing. There are many of us who wrote hard-boiled fiction who considered Hamilton a major influence. There has rarely been a year when I haven’t re-read several of his Matt Helm stories, and I’m a big fan of his westerns, too.
What made Hamilton so good was the subtlety of his characterizations. He could express more emotion in a few words than some could in several paragraphs. I was queried several years ago for recommendations for the Library of America’s American Noir collection, and I made a forceful case for the inclusion of Hamilton’s LINE OF FIRE. Although that collection has a lot of fine work in it, I’ve always thought LOA really missed the boat when they didn’t include a Hamilton story. He was a quintessential noir writer who has only rarely gotten the critical appreciation he deserved.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I was saddened to hear of Donald Hamilton’s passing. Matt Helm was one of my favorite characters.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I have been keeping up with the very touching notes about Don Hamilton, and have smiled at the speculation about his demise, the confirmation thereof, and some attempts to provide a little biographical context. Let me help that along, as Don’s former son-in-law, crew on the Kathleen, shooting buddy and fan of his youngest offspring, Victoria Donaldsdotter. I have been silent until now, awaiting word from the family (okay, just his one living daughter, Vicky) that I am not invading privacy or, worse, presuming, by writing this.
Most of you know that Don turned out about a book a year during his productive years. His schedule, which I have spent thirty years trying to emulate, was to get up at around six, have a cup of very strong coffee, and go back to his studio to write. I say “back” because he slept and wrote in the same 350 square-foot space. He would hammer away, get agitated, cross the courtyard to the kitchen for some more coffee or a visit with whoever happened to be around, and then go back to get agitated again. At twelve sharp he and Kathleen would be in Booth One at The Palace, Santa Fe’s iconic and, sadly, defunct gathering place on Burro Alley. There, each would have a vodka martini, Kay would likely order the special, and Don would order the prime rib. And another martini.
Early afternoon called for nap for everyone who was involved in lunch, though not all of us could take the time. Then Don would take his dog for a walk. He loved his dogs. Not plural in the sense of a pack, because he only had a dog at a time, sequentially. His favorite of all time was a black Lab named Shad who had the annoying habit of mauling doves and ducks and geese in the process of retrieving them.
At five sharp, a difficult hour for those of us trying to be productive citizens in the non-literary world, there would be drinks, cheese and crackers, and a very jolly time under the portal. There were often fun guests; Dick Stearn, Richard Bradford, Ragnar Ulfung, Sally Wagner, Jack Schaefer. . .
By six-thirty Don was back in the studio, dog at the foot of the bed, reading one of your books. He read a book a day, and then Kay, a former librarian, would catalog it and try to find space to compress it into the shelves.
Since this is not intended to be a biography, I will end with few clarifying notes and what I hope is a not-so-sloppy farewell.
Don and Kay had four kids: Hugo, the eldest, is a graphic artist now living in Sweden; Elise is now deceased and survived by her son Michael; Gordon, whereabouts unknown; and Vicky – living happily in northern California. Don spent his last years in Sweden, some of them aboard a re-outfitted military craft of some sort with Gordon, then with Hugo, and ultimately in a nursing home.
I don’t miss Don Hamilton, because I’ve missed him and thought fondly about him for nearly thirty years now; its just part of my life. And yes, in the occasional fit of nostalgia, I read “The Big Country” again.
With regards to all his fans,
Ed Crocker
eec@crockerltd.net
June 19th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
[…] my email and discovered that Ed Crocker had posted a long comment about Donald Hamilton on the earlier post here on the blog when it was discovered that he had died. I’ve kept his comments there, but […]
August 2nd, 2013 at 4:54 pm
Some of my fondest memories were the time I spent with Don and Kay when I owned the El Farol, at the corner of Canyon Rd and The Camino! Kay would come down by herself when Don was off sailing or doing a lot of what his next Matt Helm would be doing. Don lived the way he wrote, one hell of A life! His son Hugo first introduced me to his father when he worked as my busboy at the Pink Adobe. Sometime it’s great to go down memory lane when you have had the great fortune to live around some of the most interesting people on the planet.