“Last fall, as part of the annual Bouchercon celebration of mysteries and their authors, one panel was devoted to discussing a writer who’s been dead for three decades and a character who last appeared in a book when Reagan was in the White House. One of the panelists, Ace Atkins (The Sinners) showed up in a T-shirt that proclaimed: “BASTARD CHILD OF TRAVIS MCGEE.” Immediately the other panelists all clamored for identical shirts. I was one of them.”

Editor’s Note: I have read, years ago, all of his Travis McGee books; I have one around now, in the garage collection.

Source: John D. MacDonald’s Mission to Save Florida | CrimeReads