15 Facts About Evan Hunter

Evan Hunter is best known as the author of 87th Precinct novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain, which are considered staples of police procedural genre.

Evan Hunter wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds, based on the Daphne du Maurier short story.

Evan Hunter lived in East Harlem until age 12, when his family moved to the Bronx.

Evan Hunter attended Olinville Junior High School, then Evander Childs High School, before winning a New York Art Students League scholarship.

The name Evan Hunter is generally believed to have been derived from two schools he attended, Evander Childs High School and Hunter College, although the author himself would never confirm that.

Evan Hunter was advised by his agents that publishing too much fiction under the Hunter byline, or publishing any crime fiction as Evan Hunter, might weaken his literary reputation.

Consequently, during the 1950s Evan Hunter used the pseudonyms Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, and Richard Marsten for much of his crime fiction.

Evan Hunter revealed that he was McBain in 1958 but continued to use the pseudonym for decades, notably for the 87th Precinct series and the Matthew Hope detective series.

Evan Hunter retired the pen names Addams, Cannon, Collins, Marsten, and Taine around 1960.

Evan Hunter stated that the division of names allowed readers to know what to expect: McBain novels had a consistent writing style, while Evan Hunter novels were more varied.

Evan Hunter wrote the screenplay for the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds, loosely adapted from Daphne du Maurier's eponymous 1952 novelette.

Evan Hunter gave advice to other authors in his article "Dig in and get it done: no-nonsense advice from a prolific author on starting and finishing your novel".

Evan Hunter was long rumored to have written an unknown number of pornographic novels, as Dean Hudson, for William Hamling's publishing houses.

Evan Hunter had three sons: Richard Hunter, an author, speaker, retired advisor to chief information officers on business value and risk issues, and harmonica player; Mark Hunter, an academic, educator, investigative reporter, and author; and Ted Hunter, a painter, who died in 2006.

In 2005, Evan Hunter died in Weston, Connecticut from laryngeal cancer.