John Dudley Ball Jr. (July 8, 1911 – October 15, 1988) was an American writer best known for

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

involving the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel ''In the Heat of the Night'', which won the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best First Novel from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

and was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name, starring

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

and

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

Life

Ball was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, grew up in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, and attended

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area that ...

. He wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers, including the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

''. For a time he worked as a part-time

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

deputy for the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

, was trained in martial arts, and was a

nudist Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. In the mid-1980s, he was the book review columnist for '' Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine''. Ball lived in

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

, and died there in 1988. He was a member of the exclusive

The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. The nonprofit organization currently numbers some 300 individuals worldwide. The group has published '' The Baker Street Journa ...

, a society of ardent Sherlock Holmes fans. He was invested in the BSI in 1960 as "The Oxford Flier." Ball's ''Last Plane Out'' consists of two stories which share characters and then meld together. The first involves a group of travelers in a troubled

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

country, waiting for the last plane out, which they hope will carry them to safety. The second story is shared by an aviation buff who is given his chance to increase his flying skills by the airline that has been built by the pilot of the first story. He died in 1988 and was buried at the

Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Histor ...

in Los Angeles.

Magic

While in college he performed as a semi-professional magician under the name "Jacques Morintell" and "Howduzi". He was listed in the "Who's Who in Magic" in the May 1933 issue of '' The Sphinx: An Independent Magazine for Magicians'' published from March 1902 through March 1953) and contributed an article called "Further Ideas" to ''The Sphinx'' in 1937.''The Sphinx'', March 1937

Bibliography

Virgil Tibbs series

*''In the Heat of the Night'',

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

Publishers, 1965 *''The Cool Cottontail'', Harper & Row Publishers, 1966 *''Johnny Get Your Gun'',

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily D ...

, 1969 **Republished as ''Death for a Playmate,'' Bantam 1972. *''Five Pieces of Jade'', 1972 *''The Eyes of Buddha'', Little, Brown, 1976. *''Then Came Violence'', Doubleday, 1980. *''Singapore'', Dodd, Mead, 1986, **short stories published in ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'': *"One for Virgil Tibbs" Feb 1976 *"Virgil Tibbs and the Cocktail Napkin" Apr 1977 *"Virgil Tibbs and the Fallen Body" Sep 1978 **short story published in Murder California Style (ed. by John Ball), 1987: *"Good Evening Mr. Tibbs"

Others

*''Operation Springboard'' (aka ''Operation Space'');

Duell, Sloan and Pearce Duell, Sloan and Pearce was a publishing company located in New York City. It was founded in 1939 by C. Halliwell Duell, Samuel Sloan and Charles A. Pearce. It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances ...

; 1958. *''Judo Boy'';

; 1964. *''Rescue Mission'',

, 1966. *''Arctic Showdown: an Alaskan Adventure'', 1966. *''Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms'', 1968. *''Last Plane Out'', 1970. *''The First Team'',

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

; , 1971 *''The Fourteenth Point'', Little, Brown and Company, , 1973. *''Mark One: The Dummy'', 1974. *''The Winds of Mitamura'', 1975. *''Phase Three Alert''; Little, Brown & Company; , 1977. *''Police Chief'', 1977. *''A Killing in the Market'', Doubleday and Company, 1978. *''The Mystery Story'' (edited), Penguin Books; , 1978. *''The Murder Children'', 1979. *''Trouble for Tallon'', 1981. *''Chief Tallon and the S.O.R.'', 1984. *''Murder California Style'' (edited), 1987. *''The Kiwi Target'', 1988. *''The Van: A Tale of Terror'', 1989 (released posthumously).

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, John 1911 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers American mystery writers Edgar Award winners Writers from Schenectady, New York Brooklyn Eagle Carroll University alumni Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) American male novelists Novelists from New York (state) People from Encino, Los Angeles American naturists