Mary Willis Walker
Mary Willis Walker | |
---|---|
Born | Mary Willis (1942-05-24)May 24, 1942 Fox Point, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Died | November 4, 2023(2023-11-04) (aged 81) |
Occupation | Author |
Alma mater | Duke University |
Genre | Crime fiction |
Notable works | Zero at the Bone, The Red Scream, Under the Beetle's Cellar |
Notable awards | Zero at the Bone: Agatha Award (1991), Macavity Award (1992) The Red Scream: Edgar Award (1995) Under the Beetle's Cellar: Macavity Award (1996), Anthony Award (1996), Martin Beck Award (1998) |
Spouse | Lee Walker (1967–1993) |
Mary Willis Walker (May 24, 1942 – November 4, 2023)[1] was an American crime fiction author.
Life
Walker graduated from Duke University in English and took up high school teaching.[2] She married in 1967 to Lee Walker who became president of Dell Computers, living in New York and Virginia before moving to Austin, Texas. They had two daughters, Amanda and Susannah. The couple divorced when she was 51. She returned to her maiden name of Mary Willis, but continued to published as Mary Willis Walker, which, she wrote in an article for the New York Times Magazine, she considered a pen name.[3] She continued to live in Austin.[4]
Walker died November 4, 2023.[5]
Writing
She began writing in her mid-forties, which she characterized as "pretty late to start".[6] She spent two years writing her first published thriller, Zero at the Bone, which was published in 1991.[6] Her second Texas-based mystery, Red Scream, was Walker's first to feature sleuth Molly Cates.[6] Red Scream won the Best Mystery Edgar Award in 1993.[6] Under the Beetle's Cellar, published in 1995, was Walker's third mystery.[6]
Bibliography
- Zero at the Bone (1991)
- "Molly Cates" series
- The Red Scream (1994)
- Under the Beetle's Cellar (1995)
- All the Dead Lie Down (1998)
Selected awards
- 1991: Agatha Award for best first novel for Zero at the Bone
- 1992: Macavity Award for best first novel for Zero at the Bone
- 1995: Edgar Award for Best Novel for The Red Scream
- 1996: Macavity Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
- 1996: Anthony Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
- 1998: Martin Beck Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
Footnotes
- ^ Embden, Nico van. "Mary Willis Walker". embden11.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ "Lars Eighner's US Bookstore Presents The Texas Institute of Letters Authors: Mary Willis Walker". larseighner.com. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Willis, Mary (November 1, 1994). "Too important to sign away: Divorce underlines value of maiden name". The StarPhoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ page 253, Great Women Mystery Writers, 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, 2007, publ. Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33428-5
- ^ Barnes, Michael (December 7, 2023). "'Ecstatic, fervent literacy': Award-winning Austin mystery writer Mary Willis dies at 81". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Doug J. Swanson (November 15, 1995). "Author works from fears". Baca Raton News. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
References
- Marilyn Stasio (October 1, 1995). "Crime". New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
External links
- How I Gave Up My Alias by Mary Willis, The New York Times, October 16, 1994
- v
- t
- e
- Elizabeth George (1988)
- Jill Churchill (1989)
- Katherine Hall Page (1990)
- Mary Willis Walker (1991)
- Barbara Neely (1992)
- Nevada Barr (1993)
- Jeff Abbott (1994)
- Jeanne M. Dams (1995)
- Anne George (1996)
- Sujata Massey (1997)
- Robin Hathaway (1998)
- Donna Andrews (1999)
- Rosemary Stevens (2000)
- Sarah Strohmeyer (2001)
- Julia Spencer-Fleming (2002)
- Jacqueline Winspear (2003)
- Harley Jane Kozak (2004)
- Laura Durham (2005)
- Sandra Parshall (2006)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2007)
- G. M. Malliet (2008)
- Alan Bradley (2009)
- Avery Aames (2010)
- Sara J. Henry (2011)
- Susan M. Boyer (2012)
- Leslie Budewitz (2013)
- Terrie Farley Moran (2014)
- Art Taylor (2015)
- Cynthia Kuhn (2016)
- Kellye Garrett (2017)
- Dianne Freeman and Shari Randall (2018) (tie)
- Tara Laskowski (2019)
- Erica Neubauer (2020)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2013)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2014)
- Margaret Maron (2015)
- Louise Penny (2016)
- Louise Penny (2017)
- Ellen Byron (2018)
- Ann Cleeves (2019)
- Louise Penny (2020)
- Carolyn G. Hart (1988)
- Elizabeth Peters (1989)
- Nancy Pickard (1990)
- Nancy Pickard (1991)
- Margaret Maron (1992)
- Carolyn Hart (1993)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1994)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1995)
- Margaret Maron (1996)
- Kate Ross (1997)
- Laura Lippman (1998)
- Earlene Fowler (1999)
- Margaret Maron (2000)
- Rhys Bowen (2001)
- Donna Andrews (2002)
- Carolyn Hart (2003)
- Jacqueline Winspear (2004)
- Katherine Hall Page (2005)
- Nancy Pickard (2006)
- Louise Penny (2007)
- Louise Penny (2008)
- Louise Penny (2009)
- Louise Penny (2010)
- Margaret Maron (2011)
- Louise Penny (2012)
- Rhys Bowen (2011)
- Catriona McPherson (2012)
- Caroline and Charles Todd (2013)
- Rhys Bowen (2014)
- Laurie R. King (2015)
- Catriona McPherson (2016)
- Rhys Bowen (2017)
- Sujata Massey (2018)
- Edith Maxwell (2019)
- Rhys Bowen (2020)
- Barbara D'Amato (1993)
- Jean Swanson and Dean James (1994)
- Alzina Stone Dale (1995)
- Willeta L. Heisin (1996)
- Willeta L. Heisin (1997)
- Alzina Stone Dale (1998)
- Daniel Stashower (1999)
- Jim Huang (2000)
- Tony Hillerman (2001)
- Jim Huang (2002)
- Elizabeth Peters and Kristen Whitbread (2003)
- Jack French (2004)
- Melanie Rehak (2005)
- Chris Roerden (2006)
- Jon Lellenberg (2007)
- Kathy Lynn Emerson (2008)
- Elena Santangelo (2009)
- John Curran (2010)
- Leslie Budewitz (2011)
- John Connolly (2012)
- Daniel Stashower (2013)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2014)
- Martin Edwards (2015)
- Jane K. Cleland (2016)
- Mattias Bostrom (2017)
- Jane Cleland (2018)
- Mo Moulton (2019)
- Christina Lane (2020)
- Robert Barnard (1988)
- Sharyn McCrumb (1989)
- Joan Hess (1990)
- Margaret Maron (1991)
- Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins (1992)
- M. D. Lake (1993)
- Dorothy Cannell (1994)
- Elizabeth Daniels (1995)
- Carolyn Wheat (1996)
- M. D. Lake (1997)
- Barbara D'Amato (1998)
- Nancy Pickard (1999)
- Jan Burke (2000)
- Katherine Hall Page (2001)
- Margaret Maron and Marcia Talley (2002)
- Elizabeth Foxwell (2003)
- Elaine Viets (2004)
- Marcia Talley (2005)
- Toni Kelner (2006)
- Donna Andrews (2007)
- Dana Cameron (2008)
- Hank Phillippi Ryan (2009)
- Mary Jane Maffini (2010)
- Dana Cameron (2011)
- Dana Cameron (2012)
- Art Taylor (2013)
- Art Taylor (2014)
- Barb Goffman (2015)
- Art Taylor (2016)
- Gigi Pandian (2017)
- Leslie Budewitz and Tara Laskowski (2018) (tie)
- Shawn Reilly Simmons (2019)
- Barb Goffman (2020)
- Cindy Callaghan (2018)
Young Adult Fiction
- Penny Warner (2001)
- Daniel J. Hale & Matthew LaBrot (2002)
- Kathleen Karr (2003)
- Blue Balliett (2004)
- Peter Abrahams (2005)
- Nancy Means Wright (2006)
- Sarah Masters Buckey (2007)
- Chris Grabenstein (2008)
- Chris Grabenstein (2009)
- Sarah Smith (2010)
- Chris Grabenstein (2011)
- Penny Warner (2012)
- Chris Grabenstein (2013)
- Penny Warner (2014)
- Amanda Flower (2015)
- Penny Warner (2016)
- Cindy Callaghan (2017)
- Frances Schoonmaker (2019)
- Richard Narvaez (2020)
for Lifetime Achievement
- Phyllis A. Whitney (1990)
- Mignon G. Eberhart (1994)
- Mary Stewart (1996)
- Emma Lathen (1997)
- Charlotte MacLeod (1998)
- Patricia Moyes (1999)
- Dick Francis (2000)
- Mildred Benson (2001)
- Tony Hillerman (2002)
- Barbara Mertz, Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels (2003)
- Marian Babson (2004)
- H.R.F. Keating (2005)
- Robert Barnard (2006)
- Carolyn Hart (2007)
- Peter Lovesey (2008)
- Anne Perry (2009)
- Mary Higgins Clark (2010)
- Sue Grafton (2011)
- Simon Brett (2012)
- Aaron Elkins (2013)
- Dorothy Cannell, Joan Hess and Margaret Maron (2014)
- Sara Paretsky (2015)
- Katherine Hall Page (2016)
- Charlaine Harris (2017)
- Nancy Pickard (2018)
Poirot Award
- David Suchet (2003)
- Ruth Cavin (2004)
- Angela Lansbury (2005)
- Douglas G. Greene (2006)
- Janet Hutchings and Linda Landrigan (2008)
- Kate Stine and Brian Skupin (2009)
- William Link (2010)
- Janet Rudolph (2011)
- Lee Goldberg (2012)
- Tom Schantz (2014)
- Barbara G. Peters (2016)
- Martin Edwards (2017)
- Brenda Blethyn (2018)