Laurence Shames is an American writer.
Writing career
Laurence Shames is best known for his series of comic mysteries, all set in
Key West,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. One of his most popular books, however, ''Bad Twin'', was written under the pseudonym Gary Troup, in a cross promotion between publisher
Hyperion Books (now Hachette Books) and
ABC, the network which produced the TV series, ''
Lost''. In ''Lost'', Troup was a fictional character who was presumed dead in the airline crash that was the basis for the TV series, and he left a manuscript behind, leading viewers of the series to buy the book to find clues to the mysteries of ''Lost''. Shames was the ghostwriter for the bestseller, ''Boss of Bosses'', and was the Ethics columnist for ''Esquire''.
Personal life
Laurence Shames was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...]
in 1972. He now lives in
Ojai, California.
Books
Key West novels
* ''Florida Straits'' (1992)
* ''Scavenger Reef'' (1994)
* ''Sunburn'' (1995)
* ''Tropical Depression'' (1996)
* ''Virgin Heat'' (1996)
* ''Mangrove Squeeze'' (1998)
* ''Welcome to Paradise'' (1999)
* ''The Naked Detective'' (2000)
* ''Shot on Location'' (2013)
* ''Tropical Swap'' (2014)
* ''Chickens'' (2014)
* ''Key West Luck'' (2015)
* ''One Strange Date'' (2017)
* ''One Big Joke'' (2018)
* ''Nacho Unleashed'' (2019)
* ''The Paradise Gig'' (2020)
* ''Key West Normal'' (2021)
Others
* ''The Big Time: The Harvard Business School's Most Successful Class and How It Shaped America (The Class of 1949)'' (1986)
* ''Living Large: A Big Man's Ideas on Weight, Success, and Acceptance'' (with
Michael S. Berman) (2006)
* ''The Angels' Share'' (2015)
* ''Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived'' (with Peter R. Barton) (2004)
* ''The Hunger for More: Searching for Values in an Age of Greed'' (2015)
References
External links
*
Interview with Laurance Shames ''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #140 (1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shames, Laurence
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American mystery novelists