On “Strike Zone,” George Hagenauer gets the MVP—he knew Bill Veeck and kept me honest in my depiction. Newspapers of the day were consulted, and a number of books, including Bill Veeck: A Baseball Legend (1988) by Gerald Eskenazi; Munchkins of Oz (1996) by Stephen Cox; The Story of My Life (1989) by Hank Greenberg; and Veeck—As in Wreck (1962; revised 1976) by Bill Veeck with Ed Linn.
My thanks to the original editors of these short novels, Louis Wilder, Doug Greene, and Otto Penzler.
Original publication:
“Dying in the Post-War World,” Dying in the Post-War World: A Nathan Heller Casebook (1991), Foul Play Press.
“Kisses of Death,” Kisses of Death: A Nathan Heller Casebook (2001), Crippen & Landru.
“Strike Zone,” Murderer’s Row (2001), New Millennium Press.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo Credit: Bamford Studio
Max Allan Collins was hailed in 2004 by Publisher’s Weekly as “a new breed of writer.” A frequent Mystery Writers of America “Edgar” nominee in both fiction and nonfiction categories, he has earned an unprecedented sixteen Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991), receiving the PWA life achievement award, the Eye, in 2007.
His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) is the basis of the Academy Award–winning 2002 film starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Daniel Craig, directed by Sam Mendes. It was followed by two acclaimed prose sequels, Road to Purgatory (2004) and Road to Paradise (2005), with a graphic novel sequel, Return to Perdition, forthcoming. He has written a number of innovative suspense series, notably Quarry (the first series about a hired killer) and Eliot Ness (four novels about the famous real-life Untouchable’s Cleveland years). He is completing a number of Mike Hammer novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane, with whom Collins did many projects; the fourth of these, Lady, Go Die!, is a 2012 publication. No One Will Hear You, a serial-killer thriller written with Matthew Clemens, was published in 2011.
His many comics credits include the syndicated strip “Dick Tracy”; his own “Ms. Tree” (longest-running private eye comic book); “Batman”; and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, based on the hit TV series for which he has also written video games, jigsaw puzzles, and ten novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide.
Termed “the novelization king” by Entertainment Weekly, his tie-in books have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list nine times and the New York Times list three. His movie novels include Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster, the latter winning the Best Novel “Scribe” Award in 2008 from the International Association of Tie-in Writers.
An independent filmmaker in the midwest, Collins has written and directed five features and two documentaries, including the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996) and a 1997 sequel, Mommy’s Day. He wrote The Expert, a 1995 HBO World Premiere, and The Last Lullaby, starring Tom Sizemore, a feature film based on Collins’ acclaimed novel, The Last Quarry; the latter film won numerous awards on the film festival circuit before its theatrical and home-video release.
His one-man show, “Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life,” was nominated for an Edgar for Best Play of 2004 by the Mystery Writers of America; a film version, written and directed by Collins, was released on DVD in 2008 and appeared on PBS stations in 2009. His documentary, Caveman: V.T. Hamlin & Alley Oop, was also released on DVD after screening on PBS stations.
His other credits include film criticism, short fiction, song-writing, trading-card sets, and a regular column in Asian Cult Cinema magazine. His nonfiction work has received many honors, with his coffee-table book The History of Mystery receiving nominations for every major mystery award and his recent Men’s Adventure Magazines (with George Hagenauer) winning the Anthony Award.
Collins lives in Muscatine, Iowa, with his wife, writer Barbara Collins; they have collaborated on six novels and numerous short stories, and are currently writing the successful “Trash ’n’ Treasures” mysteries—their Antiques Flee Market (2008) won the Romantic Times Best Humorous Mystery Novel award in 2009. Their son Nathan is a Japanese-to-English translator, working on video games, manga, and novels.
Triple Play: A Nathan Heller Casebook Page 18