Mystery Writer Mickey Spillane Dead at 88

Posted by Sandy Mitchell Jul 17, 2006

Spillane, best known for his Mike Hammer detective series, wrote his first mystery novel, I, the Jury, in 1947. Twelve more Mike Hammer stories followed as well as a dozen other books. Spillane's books were the subject of the television series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and several of his books were made into movies, most notably, the film noir cult classic, Kiss Me Deadly.

Spillane grew up in Brooklyn, but fell in love with coastal South Carolina in the 1950s and moved there permanently in 1954. He was married three times and has four children.

Spillane's books, long out of print, were reissued in 2001 by the New American Library.