Gregory Mcdonald
1937 – 2008
Gregory Mcdonald was an American author of mystery novels famously known for the creation of the character Irwin Fletcher, an investigative reporter. Mcdonald was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University paid his school fees by operating yachts. Mcdonald worked as a teacher before becoming a journalist for the Boston Globe. He quit his 4-5 job to become a full-time writer. In 1985, the first book in Fletch series was optioned into a film with Chevy Chase playing the role of Fletch, the irreverent investigative reporter. In the second book in the series, Confess, Fletch the author introduced his second protagonist, Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn, an intelligent but aberrant Boston homicide detective who served as a foil for Fletcher. Flynn appeared in four of his spin-off books. The Fletch series also spawned another series titled Son of Fletch in which the author introduced Jack Faoni, the illegitimate son of Maurice Fletcher. Additionally, Mcdonald wrote other two books in the Skylar series and several non-series and non-mystery books.