Ross
Thomas in death continues to serve a dessert too rich for the ego,
but so good you can't get enough of it. His writing enters the blood
with an uncanny ease, and changes you. What he did when alive was as
close to real magic as a mortal being can conjure. And his power
lives on.
As
for the ego thing, most of us who read think we can write. I mean, it
can't be that hard, right? You can read, so you must be able to
write. That's what Thomas thought when, at age 40, he wrote his first
novel, The
Cold War Swap.
It
took him less than two months. The first publisher he sent it to,
William Morrow, bought it. Published in 1966, it won the Edgar Award
for best first novel.
YeahYeahYeah,
you might feel like saying, like I did before I read further. He had
an ace up his sleeve, I figured. The publisher was an old poker
buddy, they sang in the same choir. Had to be something, right?
Master of fine arts degree? Well...nuh uh. He did have a varied
background, the kind some writers have turned to profit: World War II
infantryman, public relations specialist, correspondent with the
Armed Forces Network, union spokesman, and political strategist—the
latter in the U.S., Germany, and Nigeria. Probably picked up a few
tricks writing jingles, memos and strategy papers. But...but is that
enough by itself to produce an award-winning novel first time out?
C'mon, I'm dying here!
