Auggie Swisher, after winning The Edgar Allan Poe Award for his thriller, Whackyshack, was asked by a New York Times reporter if he would now try his hand at serious fiction. I was standing next to Swisher when he took that question at the Mystery Writers of America's Annual Awards Banquet in New York. Obviously annoyed by the reporter's question, Swisher asked the reporter to define, "serious fiction." When the look on the reporter's face revealed he had no clue on how to define "serious fiction," Swisher asked the guy if he ever considered doing , quote, "serious journalism." That ended the interview. When I got home, the first thing I did was buy a copy of Whackyshack. That was my last MWA awards banquet. There was no need to go back after the Swisher incident. It just couldn't get any better than that.
Thornton P. Knowles
Thornton P. Knowles
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