"S" is for Spillane, Frank Morrison (1918-2006)

"S" is for Spillane, Frank Morrison (1918-2006). Author. Nicknamed “Mickey” by his Irish Catholic father, Spillane was born in Brooklyn. In 1940 he began work for Gunnies, Inc., a Manhattan comic-books producer. After service in World War II, he returned to New York and the comic-book business. Needing money for a house, he turned out his first novel, I, the Jury, (1947), in three weeks. The protagonist, Mike Hammer, a hard-drinking investigator fond of buxom women and vigilante justice became a household name. Spillane and his family moved to Murrells Inlet in 1953. The Mike Hammer character was developed for radio, movies, and television. In 1995, Spillane was the recipient of the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. By the time of his death, Frank Morrison Spillane’s books had sold more than 140 million copies.