16 Facts About Trevanian

1.

Trevanian published the nonfiction book The Language of Film under his own name.

2.

Trevanian's real name was a closely held secret until 1998, when a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman published it.

3.

Trevanian lived for several years in Albany, New York, as a youth.

4.

Trevanian taught at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, where he was chairman of the communications division.

5.

Trevanian served in the US Navy during the Korean War.

6.

Trevanian wrote many bestselling novels in different genres, which received highly favorable critical reviews.

7.

Trevanian described the movie as "vapid" in a footnote in his later novel Shibumi.

8.

Trevanian requested a screenwriting credit as Rod Whitaker.

9.

Trevanian originally intended to publish The Main under the pen name Jean-Paul Morin.

10.

The wide diversity of genres led to a popular theory that "Trevanian" was a collective pen name for a group of writers working together.

11.

Trevanian's last published novel, written while he was in declining health, was The Crazyladies of Pearl Street, an autobiographical coming-of-age story of a boy surviving with his mother and sister in the slums of Albany, New York, in the years preceding and during World War II.

12.

Trevanian refused to grant interviews or contribute to the publicity efforts of his publishers.

13.

Trevanian's first known interview was granted to Carol Lawson of The New York Times for a June 10,1979 article coinciding with the release of Shibumi.

14.

Trevanian used method-acting techniques to imagine himself as the author to work into the story he wanted to tell.

15.

In later years, Trevanian was more outspoken about the reasons surrounding his voluntary exile from the country of his birth; he cited US material obsession as one of the main reasons behind the declining quality of life in the United States.

16.

Trevanian said that one day Americans would wake up and realize that cheaper is not necessarily better.