“The Mutilators,” by Basil Heatter

The Mutilators, by Basil Heatter (Gold Medal, 1962), featuring cover artwork by John McDermott.

According to a write-up on the Web site of Stark House Press (which has so far republished two of his novels), “Basil Heatter, the son of radio commentator Gabriel Heatter, was born on Long Island on March 26, 1918. He attended schools in Connecticut, then went abroad when was 16 for a two-year travel stint through Europe. Returning to America, he went to work for a New York advertising agency. He enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and during WWII served as a skipper on a PT (patrol torpedo) boat in the Southwest Pacific.

“Besides being a news commentator himself, Heatter wrote twenty novels of intrigue and adventure—beginning with The Dim View in 1946, the story of a young PT boat skipper—as well as several non-fiction works revolving around his love of the sea. In fact, he lived for years off Key West on his own self-built sailboat, The Blue Duck. He passed away June 12, 2009, in Miami, Florida.”

READ MORE: “Basil Heatter and the Great Comma Awakening,” by Robert Fromberg (Los Angeles Review of Books).

Perfect for Procrastinators

Obit Delayed, by Helen Nielsen (Dell, 1954), featuring a cover illustration by John McDermott.

Obit Deferred, by Louis Trimble (Ace Double, 1950). No artist credit is provided. By the way, the second novel contained in this volume is I Want Out, by Tedd Thomey.

The Lesser Look: “Bright Orange for the Shroud”

Part of a month-long celebration of Ron Lesser’s artistic legacy.



Bright Orange for the Shroud, by John D. MacDonald (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1965). This is the sixth entry in MacDonald’s Travis McGee series. The main cover art is by Ron Lesser, but the inset portrait of McGee was done by John McDermott.

MacDonald’s Century: “The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper”

Part of a two-week celebration of John D. MacDonald’s birthday.



The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper, by John D. MacDonald (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1968). Main illustration by Ron Lesser, Travis McGee portrait by John McDermott.

Florida Son

How did readers come by their image of Florida “salvage consultant”/investigator Travis McGee? Steve Scott answers that question in The Trap of Solid Gold:

Once John D. MacDonald made the decision to create the series character Travis McGee, he wrote three versions of the first novel before coming up with a person he could “live with.” He sent the book off to his editor at Fawcett Gold Medal, Knox Burger, with the request to hold off publishing it until he could come up with some additional adventures, and once he had three done the go-ahead was given to begin publishing. Then began the editorial preparations for publication, including cover art.

In what seems like an unusual move, Burger chose to have the early covers illustrated by two different artists: one for the main cover and one for an inset of a portrait of McGee himself. Why this was done is anybody’s guess at this point, although I’m sure there is evidence among the MacDonald papers at the University of Florida. Perhaps a clue can be found in the particular artists Burger chose to do these covers, Ron Lesser and, for the likeness of McGee, John McDermott.

Both had done work for Gold Medal up to that point in late 1963, but McDermott was responsible for doing the covers of another crime series, Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm. Beginning with the sixth entry in the series, The Ambushers, published in 1963, McDermott took over the cover duties and began adding an inset depiction of Helm. When Fawcett began reprinting earlier titles they had McDermott create new illustrations along with his version of Helm. This was right around the time that MacDonald was submitting his manuscripts of the McGee novels, and I guess Burger thought it a good idea to have McDermott do the same for McGee. Why he chose Lesser to do the covers proper—always a beautiful girl in some unusual pose—and not McDermott is not known. Perhaps he didn’t want the two series to become confused in the minds of his customers.

You can read Scott’s full piece here.