Space Exploration

Yesterday the space shuttle Discovery had a successful launch. It's the first shuttle mission since the Columbia Disaster happened in 2003. I'm hoping that Discovery can make it home safely and that its astronauts return unharmed. I have always been a big supporter of the space programme, but then given that I was born in the Sixties, it would perhaps be surprising if I wasn't.

By the time I was born, the "Space Race" was well underway. The United States' space programme was largely born out of the Cold War. On October 4, 1957, the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik I, the first man made satellite to orbit planet Earth. Fearing that the Soviets could well develop technological superiority to the U. S., the government created NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and hence the American space programme. The Space Race had begun. Indeed, it would be on May 5, 1961 that the first American would be sent into space. On that date Alan Shepherd Jr. rode Mercury Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight into space. It was not long after that historic flight that President John F. Kennedy would make the space programme a national priority for the United States. In a speech he made on May 25, 1961, Kennedy pledged that we should put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

One of the first steps towards that goal was launching the first American into orbit around the Earth. On February 20, 1962, Mercury Friendship 7 was launched, carrying John Glenn. Glenn would orbit the earth three times. It would not be long before the United States would be swept up by an absolute craze for outer space. This craze can easily be seen in the television shows of the era. Space travel, either to or from this world, played a central role in a few TV shows in the Sixties. Both My Favorite Martian and The Invaders featured aliens coming to Earth. Both Star Trek and Lost in Space dealt with space travel itself. The topic of space even appeared on many sitcoms of the era. Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, Bewitched, and many other shows had at least one episode with a space age theme. I Dream of Jeannie topped them all. Jeannie's master, Tony Nelson, was an astronaut!

Even TV commercials during the Sixties touched upon space travel in some way, shape or form. The perfect example of this was Tang, which was first used on the Gemini flights in 1965. For literally years Tang capitalised on the space programme in its advertising campaigns. Naturally, there were food products which capitilised on the space craze. Pillsbury developed "Space Food Sticks" for NASA. And as might be expected, Pillsbury made Space Food Sticks available to the general public as well. In 1965 Quaker Oats even introduced a cereal with a space age theme. The spokesman for Quisp was was an alien with a propeller atop his head, named, appropriately, Quisp.

Not surprisingly, toys with a space theme were extremely popular in the Sixties. Boys during that decade could choose from a wide array of toy ray guns, robots, spaceships, and so on. Mattel created a line of "Major Matt Mason" action figures which capitalised on the space programme. Major Matt Mason was not the only action figure with a space theme, by any means. Marx came out with its own "Johnny Apollo" line of action figures which did the same. In 1965 Gilbert came out with Moon McDare. Eldon came out with Billy Blastoff. Even a G. I. Joe action figure was issued with a space suit and space capsule!

Of course, action figures weren't the only space oriented toys around in the Sixties. Both Ideal and Remco came out with their own "space bases." Remco produced a Voice Controlled Astronaut Base, complete with rocket, astronaut vans, and so on. Ideal's Astro Base came with a scout car, astronaut figure, and so on. Ideal seems to have favoured space oriented toys. They came out with a Space Belt and Helmet set, so that kids could pretend to be astronauts. In 1968 they introduced a line of four battery powered robots called Zeroids, whose mission was the exploration of space.

Towards the end of the decade, the American space programme saw its crowning achievement. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 reached the Moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on it. Unfortunately, as the Apollo missions progressed, the American public lost interest in the space programme, although it maintains many supporters to this day. Of course, even after that first lunar landing, there would still be in milestones in the American space programme. In 1973 and 1974, the Skylab missions took place. Skylab was the United States' first space station. The Skylab missions marked the most extensive amount of time American astronauts spent in space (84 days on the last mission). On April 12, 1981, Columbia became the first space shuttle launched into orbit around the earth.

While NASA has seen many successes, it has also seen its share of disasters. On January 27, 1967, a fire on the launch pad would destroy Apollo 1, killing all three astronauts on board. Apollo 13 nearly ended in disaster. Launched on Apr. 11, 1970, an oxygen tank exploded before the astronauts could even reach the moon. For a time it looked as if the astronauts might be stranded in space, but fortunately both Mission Control and the astronauts figured out a means to bring Apollo 13 home. The space shuttle has also seen its share of disasters, as is well known. On January 31, 1986, Challenger exploded on lift off, killing everyone on board. Only a little over two years ago, on February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas.

I remember both disasters quite well, particularly that of Columbia. My brother, who lives in Texas, had the misfortune to see the shuttle on its reentry. He told me that when he saw it, he knew something was wrong. Both the Challenger disaster and the Columbia disaster had a huge impact on me. Growing up, among my heroes numbered the astronauts of the American space programme, so I naturally mourned the passing of the astroanauts of both Challenger and Columbia.

The American space programme has been in existence now for nearly 50 years. In that time NASA has made some great achievements. We placed a man on the moon and developed a reusable spacecraft (the space shuttle). NASA has also had its share of disasters (Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia). It is hard to say what the future holds in store for the American space programme. I have heard that NASA is developing a new reusable spacecraft, one that will be capable of reaching both the Moon and Mars. The international space station will serve not simply the United States and Russia, but many other nations as well. It seems to me that we could be approaching a time when space travel will be routine. I can only hope that I live to see that time.

News Bulletin...This Just In....

The heat wave just broke here in Randolph County. It's now a nice 67 degrees (very cool for a mid-Missouri July evening). The drought may break as well. We've had a fairly steady, but gentle rain since about 4:30 this afternoon. I hope the heat wave breaks for everyone else it has affected!

Heat Wave

The past week the big news stories have centred on Karl Rove, Harry Potter, John Roberts, and Lance Armstrong, but it seems to me that this weekend the biggest news story here may have been the heat wave that is just now hitting the eastern part of the United States. In much of the West, including my home state of Missouri, it has already been with us for a week (farther west it has been around a lot longer). Now it always gets fairly hot in Missouri during July. Temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) are not unusual here this time of year. But the past week we have seen temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius).

Of course, anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I do not like hot weather, and summer is my least favourite time of year. And in this case I definitely believe that I have a right to complain. At 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with the usual high humidity of Missouri summers, the heat becomes more than uncomfortable, it becomes deadly. I have already heard about two deaths in Missouri from the extreme heat--one being a 77 year old Bonner Springs woman, the other an 83 year old St. Louis woman. I am surprised that I have not read of more deaths. In the heat wave of 1980, in Kansas City alone, 108 people died.

As intense as heat waves can be, it surprises me that they do not play a larger role in pop culture, especially where North America is concerned. It seems to me that when heat does play a role in a novel or movie, it is usually set in the South. I guess it is not surprising, then, that heat figures prominently in the plays of Tennessee Williams, as the vast majority of them are set in the South (A Streetcar Named Desire in New Orleans, Summer and Smoke and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Mississipi, and so on). Heat also figures prominently in William Faulkner's works, much of which are also set in the Deep South. Indeed, when The Hamlet was adapted as a motion picture, it was retitled The Long, Hot Summer.

Perhaps the worst period of extreme heat in North America began in 1933, when seven years of drought struck the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. These were the years of the Dust Bowl, a term referring not only to those parts of the U. S. where soil erosion and drought reduced them to aridity, but to the time for which it lasted as well. In fact, record high temperatures from 1934 still stand. The Dust Bowl does figure in several books and movies, the most significant perhaps being John Steinbeck's novel the Grapes of Wrath and John ford's classic movie adaptation of the novel. Several other movies have been set in the Dust Bowl, among them Bound for Glory (based on folk singer Woody Guthrie's biograhy) and The Stars Fell on Henrietta.

I can't think of too many novels or motion pictures which portray heat waves set in the North, perhaps because they don't take place there as often. The first novel in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct, Cop Hater, is set during a heat wave, as is the 1958 movie based on the novel. One movie set in the North during a heat wave which does come to my mind is Do the Right Thing. It is set in Brooklyn and accurately shows the discomfort and even the irritability (to put it mildly) which can arise from extreme temperatures.

As to songs, I can only think of two which invovle the phrase "heat wave" off the top of my head. One is Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave." The other is "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" by The Supremes. Both are happy songs, even though heat waves are anything but happy. The song "Summer in the City" by the Lovin' Spoonfull does not mention the phrase "heat wave," although it does describe summer heat perfectly. In that song the sidewalk is "hotter than a match head."

Anyhow, perhaps the reason that there aren't that many movies or books set in heat waves is that they are just too unpleasant for people to think about. It is one thing for it simply to be hot and uncomfortable. It is another thing for it to be hot, oppressing, and downright deadly. Fortunately, the heat wave is supposed to break here in Missouri tomorrow. It will drop down to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. The next few days after that will be absolutely cold--the highs are only going to be in the Eighties! Quite frankly, it can happen soon enough as far as I am concerned.

Scotty Journeys to His Final Frontier

James Doohan, best known for playing Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek, died yesterday of pneumonia at the age of 85. Doohan had suffered from Parkinson's disease for many years and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease last August.

James Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 3, 1920. At age 19 he enlisted in the Canadian military, eventually rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery. During World War II he led forces at D-Day, where he was wounded in the leg and finger. Following World War II, Doohan attended the veteran's school in London, Ontario. He won a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Among his classmates were Richard Boone (later famous for Have Gun--Will Travel), Tony Randall (best known for the TV series The Odd Couple), and fellow Canadian Leslie Nielsen.

Doohan's gift for dialects and voices made him very much in demand as an actor. He appeared in films, radio, and television in both Canada and the United States. Perhaps fittingly, his first significant television appearance was on a science fiction series, appearing in an episode of Tales of Tomorrow in 1952. Also perhaps fittingly, his first regular role was on a science fiction series; he played Phil Mitchell on Space Command. Doohan's first film role was in the 1957 Canadian film Strike in Town.

James Doohan made many guest appearances in television before receiving the role of Scotty on Star Trek. Among the shows he appeared on were Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, The Viriginian, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Bewitched. He appeared in the films The Wheeler Dealers, Jigsaw, and Pretty Maids All in a Row.

In 1966 James Doohan auditioned for Gene Roddenberry for the role of the engineer on Star Trek. Doohan did several different dialects for Roddenberry, including a Scottish brogue. Roddenberry asked Doohan which dialect he preferred and Doohan said that he always thought that all the world's greatest engineers had been Scottish. The character of Lt. Commander Montogery Scott, also known as "Scotty," was then born. Initially, Scotty was conceived as a semi-regular. This changed very soon when it became apparent that many of the series' plots required action on the part of the Chief Engineer. Scotty not only became a regular, but third in command of the starship Enterprise. Doohan not only played Scotty on the original run of Star Trek, but in the animated series and seven of the movies based on the show. On the animated version of Star Trek, Doohan not only provided Scotty's voice, but many other voices as well.

Following the original run of Star Trek, Doohan continued to make guest apperances on television, including a memorable appearance as Scotty on Star Trek: the Next Generation. He was a regular on the Saturday morning TV series Jason of Star Command. On August 31, 2004, James Doohan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I am very, very sad to hear of James Doohan's death. I have alwyas thought it was regrettable that following Star Trek he was somewhat typecast as the Scottish engineer. Before playing Scotty on Star Trek, he was a guest star on many TV series, playing a variety of roles. He even played heavies and played them well. There can be little doubt that much of the reason Scotty was such an interesting and three dimensional character was due to the talent of Doohan. Doohan portrayed Scotty as a fantastic enginner, yet at the same time very eccentric and very human. Besides McCoy, Scotty was always my favourite charaacter on Star Trek. Quite simply, James Doohan was one of the most gifted character actors on televison.

Doohan's last wish was for his ashes to be sent into space. Space Services Inc. will be sending Doohan's ashes into Earth's orbits aboard a Falcon I rocket. Given that Doohan was most famous for playing the engineer of a starship and his devotion to space exploration, I find this very fitting. At any rate, James Doohan will most certainly be missed.

Ice Cream

On hot, July days like today, I think there can be only a few things better than a nice, cold bowl of ice cream. I'm probably not alone in this, as it appears to be one of the most popular treats in the English speaking world (and probably much of the non-English speaking world as well).

The origins of ice cream are obscure. From all appearances it dates back to the 1600s. It is known that the ill fated Charles I of England enjoyed ice cream prepared by his chef. It is also known that by the 1700s much of the nobility and the rich ate ice cream. Recipes for ice cream accompanied the Colonists to the New World. Indeed, it seems to have been a favourite with the founding fathers of the United States. One summer George Washington paid $200 for ice cream. Thomas Jefferson paid a pretty penny for a recipe for vanilla ice cream. Ice cream was also served at James Madison's second inaugural ball. Throughout the 1700s, for the most part ice cream remained a treat that only the rich and the nobility could enjoy.

All of this changed in 1846 when a woman named Nancy Johnson invented the world's first hand cranked ice cream maker. The ice cream maker, not terribly different from hand cranked ice cream makers today, required lots of ice, salt, cream, and hand cranking. Nancy Johnson patented her ice cream maker, although she sold the rights to one William Young for a mere $200. While it would be William Young who would make all the money off the revolutionary device, it would be named for its inventor--"Johnson Patent Ice-Cream Freezer." Growing up on the farm, my parents owned an old ice cream maker (I believe it belonged to my maternal grandfather). I can remember many a hot summer evening spent turning the crank on the maker to be rewarded with nice, creamy, vanilla ice cream in the end. It was one case where something home made actually was better than the stuff bought in a store.

Speaking of store-bought ice cream, it was developed not long after the hand cranked ice cream maker. In 1851 milk dealer Jacob Fussell figured out a way to turn his cream into ice cream using a larger version of the hand cranked ice cream maker and a number of ice houses. Despite Fussell's ingenuity, it would be a number of years before store-bought ice cream would be common place. Indeed, it would take the invention of refrigeration before ice cream could be found in stores throughout North America. Once refrigeration had been invented, the production of ice cream took a quantum leap--from only 5 million gallons in 1899 to 150 million gallons in 1919.

One significant event in the history of ice cream was the development of the ice cream cone. Popular legend has it that it was invented at the 1904 St. Louis Fair by Ernest Hamwi, although this does not actually seem to be the case. A resident of New York City, Italo Marciony, filed a patent for an ice cream cone on September 22, 1903. He received that patent on December 15, 1903. This pre-dates Hamwi's claim to having invented the ice cream cone at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. That having been said, it is perhaps fair to say that Hamwi improved upon the ice cream cone (his cones resemble modern day cones more than those of Marciony) and that he popularised the ice cream cone at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Ice creem parlours started opening in the United States in the 19th century. The number of ice cream parlours would greatly increase with the invention of refrigeration. Ice cream was often served at soda fountains as well, often at the neighbourhood drugstore. Eventually there would develop chains of ice cream stores. In 1925, in Massachussetts, Howard Johnson bought a soda fountain. He did not particularly care for the way their vanilla ice cream tasted, so he replaced it with his own recipe. He met with such success that he eventually opened more stores and sold franchises to the "Howard Johnson" name. The Howard Johnson stores would also expand beyond ice cream to become full fledged restaurants. Eventually they would expand into the area of motor lodges as well. By 1970 there would be nearly 1000 Howard Johnson restaurants across the United States.

It was in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois that the first Dairy Queen was opened by Sherwood Noble, who had worked in dairy products all his life. By 1941 there were 10 Dairy Queen stores. By 1947 there would be 100. Not only was Dairy Queen one of the earliest companies to go into food franchising, they are also arguably one of the most successful. Another succes story is that of Baskin Robbins. The company was founded in 1946 in Glendale, California. Today there ae more than 2500 Baskin-Robbins stores across the United States.

Of course, with the chains of ice cream parlours also came innovations in ice cream flavours. Originally, there were only a few flavours of ice cream--vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry being most familiar. Howard Johnson would expand the number of choices to 28. Baskin Robbins went even further, making literally hundreds of different flavours. In fact, they had enough flavours to have a "Flavour of the Month." The past many years they have even developed new flavours associated with movies (the Shrek Sundae being an example). Nautrally, as the ice cream chains developed new flavours, new flavours of ice cream also became available in grocery stores. Today people have hundreds of different flavours of ice cream to choose from.

As a treat for the nobility and the wealthy, ice cream has been around for hundreds of year. It has been a treat that the common man could enjoy for over 150 years. I seriously doubt that ice cream will ever fall out of favour with the masses, especially on hot, summer days. I rather suspect that there will always be people somewhere in the world eating one of the hundreds of flavours of ice cream.

Billy Wilder's Golden Age

Billy Wilder is one of my all time favourite screenwriters and directors. Indeed, I doubt very many critics and film buffs would disagree with me when I say that he was one of the greatest directors of all time. By 1957 he had already co-written and directed a number of films now considered classics: Double Indemity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, and Sabrina. By that time he already had a clutch of Oscars for The Lost Weekend (Best Director and Best Screenplay) and Sunset Blvd. Even so, I believe that in 1957 Wilder entered his best period, when every single movie he co-wrote and directed was a classic.

Nineteen fifty seven saw the release of the first film which Wilder co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, Love in the Afternoon. Love in the Afternoon was a romantic comedy featuring Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn. Set in Paris, it centred on a rich playboy (Gary Cooper) who falls in love with the daughter (Audrey Hepburn) of the private eye hired to investigate him. Love in the Afternoon had all the hallmarks of Wilder and Diamond's comedies: sharp, witty dialogue; realistic characters; and impeccable timing. And Cooper and Hepburn's performances were great.

Although well known for his comedies, Wilder's next film would be a courtroom thriller. Released in 1958, Witness for the Prosecution was based on the Agatha Christie play of the same name. The movie was Tyrone Powers' last film, in which he played the alleged murderer whose only alibi is his wife. Witness for the Prosecution has one of the best casts for a film of its type, with Marlene Dietrich as the wife of Power's character, Charles Laughton as the defence attorney, and Elsa Lancaster as the nurse.

It would be with his next film, however, that Billy Wilder would reach the peak of his career. Released in 1959, Some Like It Hot was a comedy set in the Roaring Twenties, co-written by I. A. L. Diamond. It centred on two musicians (played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) who have the bad luck to witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. To avoid being killed, the duo dress in drag and join an all-girl band with a performance scheduled in Miami. Quite simply, Some Like It Hot is one of the funniest movies ever made. The comedy does not have a slow moment, with some of the best dialogue Wilder and Diamond had ever written. Curtis and Lemmon's performances are priceless, assisted quite well by one of the best casts ever assembled for a comedy. Indeed, Some Like It Hot topped the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest Comedies in American film.

Some Like It Hot would seem to be a difficult movie to top, but somehow Wilder and Diamond did it. Released in 1960, The Apartment featured Jack Lemmon as C. C. Baxter, an insurance company employee who loans his apartment to the company's executives for their various romantic rendevous. Unfortunately for Baxter, this set up (which had naturally gotten him in good with the higher ups) is complicated when he falls in love with elevator girl Miss Kublik (played by Shirley Maclaine). In m humble opinion, The Apartment is not only one of the funniest movies of all time, but one of the most romantic as well. Lemmon and Maclaine have a great rapport as Baxter and Kublik. and Fred Macmurray plays one of his few bad guys, the older, oily head of the company, Mr. Sheldrake. The Apartment boasts great dialogue, convincing performances, and a realistic plot that mixes comedy and drama. It's no wonder that it won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and so on.

Wilder's next film, One, Two, Three, released in 1961, would not match The Apartment, but it was inspired nonetheless. It featured James Cagney (in his last role until Ragtime) as a Coca-Cola executive in West Berlin who winds up taking care of the company president's daughter. The comedy came at a rapid pace, with more and more outrageous situations developing one on top of the other. The dialogue is some of Wilder and Diamond's best, with great lines coming almost non-stop and plenty of pop culture references. I have always thought that One, Two, Three was one of the funniest films of the Sixties.

With One, Two, Three, Wilder's streak of classic films came to an end. His next film, Irma La Douce, was released in 1963. An adaptation of the Broadway musical without the music, it is not equal to the films he had made in the previous years. Even reteaming Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine didn't spark the ususal Wilder magic.

Billy Wilder would create a few more classic films in his career, among them Avanti! and the 1974 version of The Front Page, but it seems to me that his career peaked from 1957 to 1961. It was during that period that he created five of his greatest films, all in a row. To me this was a most remarkable feat, perhaps matched only by Alfred Hitchcock in the Fifties and Stanley Kubrick in the Sixties. It is perhaps all the more remarkable given that Wilder co-wrote nearly all of his films (not that many screenwriters have written five classics in a row either...). I very seriously doubt that any director will match the run of classic films Billy Wilder made from 1957 to 1961 any time soon.

Evan Hunter AKA Ed McBain

It seems that July 2005 has not been a particularly good month for Alfred Hitchcock's screenwriters. Ernest Lehman, who wrote North by Northwest died this month. Now another man who wrote one of Hitchcock's movies has died as well. Evan Hunter, also known by his pen name Ed McBain, died July 6, 2005, of larnyx cancer at the age of 78. Among other things, Hunter wrote the screenplay for the classic Hitchcock horror movie The Birds, although he is perhaps better known for his series of 87th Precinct novels, which he wrote under the pen name "Ed McBain."

Evan Hunter was born as Salvatore Albert Lombino in New York City. He served in the Navy during World War II, which was when he also took up writing. In 1952, feeling that publishers were biased against writers with foreign sounding names, he changed his name to "Evan Hunter." His breakthrough novel was The Blackboard Jungle, drawn on experiences from his own life. It would be made into the motion picture of the same name in 1955. His greatest success, however, would come with the series of 87th Precinct novels, which he wrote under the pen name "Ed McBain." The series centred on a police precinct in New York City, focusing on both police work and the personal lives of the police themselves. In some respects the series was a forerunner of the police procedurals so popular today. The first novel in the series was Cop Hater, published in 1956. The final 87th Precinct novel, Fiddlers, is set for release this September.

Although best known for his 87th Precinct novels, Hunter covered a number of different genres with his works. His novel Streets of Gold focused on an Italian American family. He even wrote a Western, The Chisholms. Hunter is perhaps unique as being one of the few writers to co-write a novel with himself. Candyland was credited to "Evan Hunter" and "Ed McBain." The first half, written by Hunter, was a character study. The second half, written by McBain, covered a murder investigation.

Hunter saw several of his works adapted as movies and for television, and he also wrote screenplays and teleplays. The Ed McBain short story "The Deadly Tatoo" was adapted for an episode of Climax in 1954. He also wrote two episodes for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Hunter would later write episodes of both Ironside and Columbo, as well as adapting The Chisholms as a miniseries. Hunter broke into screenwriting with an adaptation of his novel Strangers When We Met in 1960. He would write the screenplay for The Birds and also worked on Marnie before Hitchcock abruptly replaced him.

Evan Hunter has been one of my favourite writers for many years. Indeed, as "Ed McBain" he was probably my sister's favourite writer of all time (I swear she has read every single 87th Precinct novel). Whether writing as Hunter, McBain, or another one of his many pen names, Evan Hunter had a gift for realistic characters. This can be seen in the 87th Precinct series, in which the detectives of the precinct are not simple cardboard cutouts, but complex characters with their own beliefs and motivations. Hunter also had a gift for creating realistic settings. In the 87th Precinct novels, the city of Isola (which is pretty much New York) is as much a character as any of the precinct. The strength of Hunter's settings can also be seen in his other works, from The Blackboard Jungle to The Chisholms.

I must say that I am truly saddened by Evan Hunter's death. He was one of the best and most prolific writers of the late 20th Century. His work has had a lasting impact. The 87th Precinct series helped shape the police procedural genre. The Blackboard Jungle brought new levels of realism to the portrayal of youth in fiction. Evan Hunter has had a lasting influence that only a few of his contemporaries can boast.