Friday, April 11, 2008

Happy Birthday, Peter O'Donnell!

Today, April 11, is the 88th birthday of my greatly admired friend, Peter O'Donnell. He created Modesty Blaise and also wrote wonderful gothic adventure novels under the pen name Madeline Brent. To learn more about him, visit Modesty Blaise, Ltd.

7 comments:

Peter Rozovsky said...

I wish him a happy birthday. I discovered Modesty Blaise only in the past year or so, and all I know are the first novel and the awful 1966 movie. The Modesty-Willie Garvin pairing is one of the more original and unusual in crime and adventure fiction, I'd say.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Jan Burke said...

I envy the joy ahead of you with the other books, Peter. You can also see reprints of the strip in Rick Norwood's Comics Revue. http://www.io.com/~norwoodr

Although Tartino's film was a vast improvement over the 1966 stinker, I think we're still awaiting the film team that will make the great Modesty Blaise movie.

I agree with you about Modesty and Willie. And when one keeps in mind that the strip was first published in 1963, Modesty represented a very different kind of female protagonist than had been seen before. (I still think she's incredibly original.) I've often wondered if the creator of "Buffy" was a fan of Modesty Blaise.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of her adventures!

Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks for that link to the strips. The comics ought to be interesting. It's hard to picture some of Modesty's tricks from the first novel making it into a daily newspaper comic strip, but I shall explore!
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with the happy birthday, but all deserve the happiness.. Just want to say how happy I am to see Irene books going audio!! I've read them all, and have wanted to share them with my partner who has great difficulty reading, but listens to 3 to 5 audio books a week. I can now introduce her to Irene. I know she is going to want all of the books to be released NOW.
By the by, when will we see a new book?

Thanks so much..

Mickee

Jan Burke said...

I think I know exactly which of those tricks first comes to mind! If you've only seen newspaper comic strips from the U.S., I think you'll be surprised. Pleasantly, I hope!

Jan

Jan Burke said...

Hi Mickee!

Thanks so much. I will be interested to hear from those who've read the books, to learn what they think of the audio editions. I've been hearing that some people have already received their audio edition of Goodnight, Irene, so I guess Recorded Books got them out early. I hope your partner enjoys them.

I'll post news about the new book here soon -- keep watching!

Jan

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan

Mickee again.. Listening to Goodnight Irene with my partner. So far, so great. The reader is very good. I'm enjoying the listen as much as the read. My partner is hooked. I see Sweet Dreams Irene is also scheduled for release. I am jazzed. Thank you for Irene!!

Mickee