I heard from Peter Enfantino this morning that Robert Colby passed away last weekend. Colby was a prolific paperbacker for a number of houses, including Gold Medal, where he published what might be his best novel, The Captain Must Die, a book that I wish Hard Case Crime would reprint because it deserves a wider audience.
8 comments:
Sorry to hear that. I really enjoyed Captain Must Die, Murder Times 5 and, particularly, Star Trap. He was a fine, neglected writer.
Damn. I was just starting to read the CF digests when he was writing the "Paint the Town..." series...collecting those, or reissuing the collection(s), would also be welcome...(I wonder if Peter had interviewed him for his ongoing HITCHCOCK'S project...)
Peter mentions having spent a few days with Colby several years ago, but nothing about an interview. There could be one in one of Peter's old zines, maybe.
Thanks for that comment, Ed. I know that he appeared often at the paperback show in California, and I hope he got some sense of how much he was appreciated by those who care about the old Gold Medal writers.
Damn! I've read only one novel by Colby - BEAUTIFUL BUT BAD (Monarch 1962) and that one in a quite bad Finnish translation, but it was pretty good. I never see it mentioned when Colby is discussed.
And also some pretty good, hard-striking short stories.
Another one of my favorite short-story writers leaving to a hopefully better world... So sad he never got the recognition he truly deserved.
Peter Enfantino turned me on to "The Captain Must Die" a few years back and I couldn't belive that somehow I'd missed this fine writer. Bravo and thank you to Hard Case, Point Blank, Stark House, Five Star and all the others keeping the great mid-century paperback stories available. And thanks to folks like Peter and Gorman and Pronzini and Crider for spreading the word on so many masters who worked under the radar line.
I just found out about the death of Robert Colby from reading Peter Enfantino's memoir online. I am saddened to hear this. My ex-wife and I spent many enjoyable evenings at the home of Rob & Francesca back in the late 1980s, early 1990s. I am sad to say I lost touch with them after moving to Arizona in 1993.
Does anyone have any contact information for Peter Enfantino or on Francesca Colby, Bob's widow? I would very much like to get back in touch with her if she still lives.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks very much!
Sincerely,
Daryl F. Mallett
darylmallett@aol.com
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