A Strand Magazine On-line Exclusive

Ten Questions for Robert B. Parker

with

Andrew McAleer

In 2006, I had the honor of interviewing Edgar winner Robert B. Parker, creator of some of crime fiction’s most iconic detectives such as, Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall.

The interview first appeared in issue number 15 of my fledgling magazine Crimestalker Casebook, which boasted about six loyal subscribers. The interview has rarely been seen by Parker’s millions of loyal fans and appears for the first time on-line anywhere exclusively for readers of The Strand Magazine blog.

Enjoy!

* * *

McAleer:  Your Jesse Stone novels and movie series are a real hit.  Tom
Selleck is not only staring in the role as Jesse, but he is doing some
of the screenplay work as well.  Does Selleck ever consult you on what
Jesse might do or not do?

Parker:  Rarely.  

McAleer:  Say or not say?

Parker:  Rarely.

McAleer:  One backstory concerning Jesse Stone is that he was a great short stop.  If
Jesse and Spenser were in their prime, what are the chances that
Spenser could slip single past Jesse?

Parker:  Spenser would hit it high and far, and it wouldn’t be an issue.

McAleer:  The “boss of bullet-lettres,” George V. Higgins thought very highly
of your work.  Did you and George ever talk shop?

Parker:  George and I were friends, and talked a lot but rarely shop.  Most
writers talk deals, and book tours, and movie rights, as well as the
usual sex and baseball.  But almost never do we talk about writing.

McAleer:  Raymond Chandler fans are indebted to you for completing Chandler’s
unfinished manuscript, Poodle Springs.  But even though the end result
was McCoy, was stepping into Chandler’s shoes a daunting task?

Parker:  I don’t daunt very much.  I was aware that it might be challenging,
and I suspected that critics would talk about how presumptuous I was;
but I expected to do it well.

McAleer:  In The Godwulf Manuscript Spenser consumes five McDonald’s
hamburgers while on stakeout.  How might Susan Silverman react if she
got the dope on this?

Parker:  With Horror.

McAleer:  Not too long ago Helen Hunt thought she might like to bring your
Boston-based PI, Sunny Randall to the big screen.  Any scoops here?

Parker:  Nope, Helen has talked of producing it (though not starring) for TV.
We’ll see. We do have a deal with Ed Harris to do Appaloosa. Ed would
direct and play Virgil Cole. Viggo Mortensen is attached to play Hitch,
and Diane Lane is attached to play Allie.  I’ve seen the screenplay and
its very good. They are working at the moment on financing.

McAleer:  If Sherlock Holmes ever came out of retirement as a beekeeper do
you think he could ever spread shoe leather with Hawk?  (Assume for
this question that the Baker Street Irregulars cannot work because of
child labor laws and that Watson is lost on the Tube.)

Parker:  Hawk would find Sherlock amusing . . . for a junkie.

McAleer:  Do you think Spenser could ever cook a meal that might survive
Nero Wolfe’s scrutiny?

Parker:  No.

McAleer:  What advice might you give new authors?

Parker:  Same old advice, write your novel and send it to someone who can
publish it . . . maybe they will.
  
McAleer:  Good advice.  So many new writers tell me about their “idea” for a novel.  Talking about it doesn’t get it written.  We look forward to the movie Appaloosa.  Great book, too.

* * *

As the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing observed, “Parker’s novels are noted for their humor…” and that, “Spenser is a master of the wisecrack and flippant one-liner…” There can be no question about it that Parker’s pithy responses to my questions are very much in the Spenser tradition – it was an honor to interview them both!

Andrew McAleer is the author of many books including the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists and the forthcoming A Casebook of Crime (January 2025 Level Best Books), featuring detective Henry von Stray, a character created in 1937 during the Golden Age of Mystery by his father, Edgar winner John McAleer and appearing in Edgar & Shamus Go Golden. He taught classic crime fiction at Boston College and served in Afghanistan as a U.S. Army Historian before returning to public service in the criminal justice system.