Robert B. Parker

Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works include the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. In the mid-1980s, based on the character of detective Spenser, ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire. A series of TV movies was also produced based on the same character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors, including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.

Parker also wrote nine novels featuring Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. The Jesse Stone books were adapted into a series of TV films starring Tom Selleck.

Following Parker's death, authorized continuations of his works have been penned by other authors.

Early life and education Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1956, Parker married Joan H. Parker, whom he claimed to have met as a toddler at a birthday party. They spent their childhoods in the same neighborhood.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Parker served as a soldier in the US Army Infantry in Korea. In 1957, he earned his master's degree in English literature from Boston University and then worked in advertising and technical writing until 1962. His dissertation, titled "The Violent Hero, Wilderness Heritage, and Urban Reality," discussed the exploits of fictional private-eye heroes created by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. For example, the Spenser series characters include Hawk and Chollo, African American and Mexican American, respectively, as well as Spenser's Jewish girlfriend, Susan, various Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese, a gay cop, Lee Farrell, and even a gay mob boss, Gino Fish. The homosexuality of both his sons gave his writing " sensibility," Ms. Nunez feels, "[which] strengthens Parker's sensibility [toward gays]." In 1985, Spenser was made into a successful television series, Spenser for Hire, which starred Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, and Barbara Stock.

In 1994, Parker collaborated with Japanese photographer Kasho Kumagai on Spenser's Boston, a coffee-table book that explores the city through Spenser's eyes via high quality, four-color photos. In addition to Parker's introduction, excerpts from several of the Spenser novels were included.

Parker created female detective Sunny Randall at the request of actress Helen Hunt, who wanted him to write a part for her to play. He wrote the first book, and the film version was planned for 2000, and children's books. Like Parker's Spenser series, his Westerns have received critical attention. Chris Dacus, who has written on other authors including Cormac McCarthy, has written of the intellectual depth and importance of Parker's Westerns in The Stoic Western Hero: Robert B. Parker's Westerns.

Parker and his wife created an independent film company called Pearl Productions, based in Boston. It was named after their German Shorthaired Pointer, Pearl.

Parker's favorite books were The Bear, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Maltese Falcon, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Dubliners, The Big Sleep, U.S.A. trilogy, and The Ambassadors.

Awards Parker received three nominations and two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He received the first award, the "Best Novel Award" in 1977, for the fourth novel in the Spenser series, Promised Land. In 1983, he received the Maltese Falcon Award, Japan, for Early Autumn. In 1990, he shared, with wife Joan, a nomination for "Best Television Episode" for the TV series B.L. Stryker, but the award went to David J. Burke and Alfonse Ruggiero Jr. for Wiseguy.

In 2002, he received the Grand Master Award Edgar for his collective oeuvre.

Parker received the 2002 Joseph E. Connor Memorial Award from the Phi Alpha Tau Fraternity at Emerson College. He was inducted into the fraternity as an honorary brother in spring 2003.

In 2008, he was awarded the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

Death Parker was 77 when he died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 18, 2010; discovered at his desk by his wife Joan, he had been working on a novel.

Works

Novels Title Year ISBN Series Notes The Godwulf Manuscript 1973 Spenser 01 God Save the Child 1974 Spenser 02 First appearance of Susan Silverman Mortal Stakes 1975 Spenser 03 Promised Land 1976 Spenser 04 Edgar Award, Best Novel; first appearance of Hawk The Judas Goat 1978 Spenser 05 Wilderness 1979 Looking for Rachel Wallace 1980 Spenser 06 Early Autumn 1980 Spenser 07 1983 Maltese Falcon Award A Savage Place 1981 Spenser 08 Ceremony 1982 Spenser 09 The Widening Gyre 1983 Spenser 10 Love and Glory 1983 Set at Taft University Valediction 1984 Spenser 11 A Catskill Eagle 1985 Spenser 12 Taming a Sea-Horse 1986 Spenser 13 Pale Kings and Princes 1987 Spenser 14 Crimson Joy 1988 Spenser 15 Playmates 1989 Spenser 16 Set at Taft University Poodle Springs 1989 Philip Marlowe 1 Completing the 1958 Raymond Chandler novel - The first four chapters are written by Raymond Chandler Stardust 1990 Spenser 17 Pastime 1991 Spenser 18 Perchance to Dream 1991 Philip Marlowe 2 Sequel to The Big Sleep Double Deuce 1992 Spenser 19 Paper Doll 1993 Spenser 20 Walking Shadow 1994 Spenser 21 All Our Yesterdays 1994 Thin Air 1995 Spenser 22 Chance 1996 Spenser 23 Small Vices 1997 Spenser 24 Night Passage 1997 Jesse Stone 1 Trouble in Paradise 1998 Jesse Stone 2 Sudden Mischief 1998 Spenser 25 Hush Money 1999 Spenser 26 Family Honor 1999 Sunny Randall 1 Perish Twice 2000 Sunny Randall 2 Hugger Mugger 2000 Spenser 27 Gunman's Rhapsody 2001 Wyatt Earp in 1879 Death in Paradise 2001 Jesse Stone 3 Potshot 2001 Spenser 28 Widow's Walk 2002 Spenser 29 Shrink Rap 2002 Sunny Randall 3 Back Story 2003 Spenser 30 Includes Jesse Stone Stone Cold 2003 Jesse Stone 4 Bad Business 2004 Spenser 31 Melancholy Baby 2004 Sunny Randall 4 Double Play 2004 Cold Service 2005 Spenser 32 Appaloosa 2005 Cole & Hitch 1 School Days 2005 Spenser 33 Hundred-Dollar Baby 2006 Spenser 34 Also published as Dream Girl Sea Change 2006 Jesse Stone 5 Blue Screen 2006 Sunny Randall 5 Includes Jesse Stone High Profile 2007 Jesse Stone 6 Includes Sunny Randall Spare Change 2007 Sunny Randall 6 Now and Then 2007 Spenser 35 Edenville Owls 2007 Stranger In Paradise 2008 Jesse Stone 7 The Boxer and the Spy 2008 Rough Weather 2008 Spenser 36 Resolution 2008 Cole & Hitch 2 Brimstone 2009 Cole & Hitch 3 Chasing the Bear 2009 Spenser 37 (prequel) "Young Spenser" Night and Day 2009 Jesse Stone 8 Includes Sunny Randall The Professional 2009 Spenser 38 Split Image 2010 Jesse Stone 9 Published posthumously, includes Sunny Randall Blue-Eyed Devil 2010 Cole & Hitch 4 Published posthumously Painted Ladies 2010 Spenser 39 Published posthumously Sixkill 2011 Spenser 40 Published posthumously Silent Night 2013 Spenser 41 Unfinished, completed by literary agent Helen Brann

Series continuations After Parker died, his family, together with Parker's publishers, chose to continue the Jesse Stone, Spenser, and Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch series. The book Parker was working on at the time of his death was completed by his literary agent Helen Bran.

Ace Atkins was selected to continue the Spenser novels following Parker's death. The Boston Globe wrote that while some people might have "viewed the move as unseemly, those people didn't know Robert B. Parker, a man who, when asked how his books would be viewed in 50 years, replied: 'Don't know, don't care.' He was proud of his work, but he mainly saw writing as a means of providing a comfortable life for his family." Mike Lupica wrote three more from 2020 to 2022. Christopher Farnsworth continued the series with two more books in 2025 and 2026.

Parker's Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch series was continued by actor and screenwriter Robert Knott.

The Sunny Randall series continued with Blood Feud (November 27, 2018), Grudge Match (May 4, 2020), Payback (2021), and Revenge Tour (2022). The books were written by Parker's friend, sports journalist Mike Lupica. The eleventh and twelfth books in the Sunny Randall series, Bad Influence and Buzzkill, were written by Alison Gaylin and published in 2023 and 2024.

Nonfiction Sports Illustrated Training with Weights (with John R. Marsh) (1974) Three Weeks in Spring (with Joan H. Parker) (1982) A Year At The Races (with Joan H. Parker) (1990) Spenser's Boston (with Kasho Kumagai) (1994)

Short fiction "Surrogate"' (1991)" A short story published in the crime anthology New Crimes 3