“Integrity
is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the
weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a
man who won't cheat, then you know he never will.” – John
D. MacDonald
Born on this date in 1916, crime/suspense
novelist and short story writer MacDonald achieved the highest accolade in his
genre, named Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America shortly before his
death in 1986. A self-proclaimed “accidental writer,” he also
was the winner of a National Book Award and is perhaps best-known for his critically acclaimed Travis McGee
series.
MacDonald's literary career began in 1945 while in the Army. Waiting in the Pacific for his ship home, he
wrote a short story and mailed it to his wife Dorothy. She loved it and submitted it to Esquire - which promptly rejected it. So, she sent
it to Story magazine, which accepted it for $25, pretty good payment for the
time.
MacDonald decided to give writing a further try. After getting hundreds of rejection slips, he had another short story accepted by Dime
Detective, this time paid $40. Encouraged,
he re-worked other stories and was off and running. Ultimately, he sold more than
500 stories to detective, mystery and adventure magazines.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yxrFDwo2wmfksuOye9BtIWqB84HQQQz-O8s-K9sANks_PFM_eKGFwx0YZYptz7TAP4BxFXJM_LQ0zWpzYJcmhRb3FT7s4bMc_WUQhIf8Vbu2QJ8lE0iqIc_mPA9oOJovZ8mK9KXPUAmk/s400/th_004.jpg)
500 stories to detective, mystery and adventure magazines.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yxrFDwo2wmfksuOye9BtIWqB84HQQQz-O8s-K9sANks_PFM_eKGFwx0YZYptz7TAP4BxFXJM_LQ0zWpzYJcmhRb3FT7s4bMc_WUQhIf8Vbu2QJ8lE0iqIc_mPA9oOJovZ8mK9KXPUAmk/s400/th_004.jpg)
His first novel came out in 1950, but it was his 1957 book The Executioners that put him on the map. An almost
continuous best-seller since, it
also holds the distinction of being the focus of two feature films, both box
office successes.
McGee made his first appearance in The Deep Blue Good-bye, starting a run of 21 "McGee" bestsellers. Each title includes a color, the last being The Lonely Silver Rain. In 2016, Nathaniel Philbrick - author of In The Heart Of The Sea and Mayflower - said: "I recently discovered John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series … and it's as prescient and verbally precise as anyone writing today can possibly hope to be."
McGee made his first appearance in The Deep Blue Good-bye, starting a run of 21 "McGee" bestsellers. Each title includes a color, the last being The Lonely Silver Rain. In 2016, Nathaniel Philbrick - author of In The Heart Of The Sea and Mayflower - said: "I recently discovered John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series … and it's as prescient and verbally precise as anyone writing today can possibly hope to be."
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