Marc Olden (1933 – 2003) was an American author of mystery and suspense. He is perhaps best remembered for his mystery ''Poe Must Die'', in which 19th-century American author

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

appears as a protagonist. He was a prolific author, publishing forty books: two non-fiction and thirty-eight fiction. He was nominated for an Edgar Award for ''They've Killed Anna'', from his popular "Harker File" series about an investigative reporter. In 2000, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association presented Olden with the Literary Fiction Honor Award for his New York crime novel ''The Ghost''.

Early life

Olden was born to

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

parents in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. His father was graphic designer Georg Olden, his mother was actress and model Courtenaye Olden. After Georg was hired as art director for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, the Oldens moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Olden graduated from Queens College.

Career

Marc Olden started his writing career with two works of non-fiction — a biography of

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

and a study of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

in 1970s New York — before turning to the fiction genres of thriller and suspense. Under the pen name Robert Hawkes, Olden began writing the Narc series, which follows a policeman on a counterdrug task force. During those early years, Olden also produced the novel ''

Black Samurai ''Black Samurai'' is a 1977 American blaxploitation martial arts spy action adventure film directed by Al Adamson Albert Victor Adamson Jr. (July 25, 1929 – June 21, 1995) was an American filmmaker and actor known as a prolific director of ...

'', which became a film starring

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

. Olden's novel follows the exploits of Robert Sand, a martial arts expert and the only non-Japanese trained by a Japanese samurai master; it became the first in a successful series. Many of Olden’s eastern-influenced books, such as ''Giri'', ''Dai-Sho'', ''Gaijin'', ''Oni'', ''Te'', ''Kisaeng'', and ''Krait'' reflect his lifelong study of the martial arts. At his death, he held advanced degree black belts in

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

and karate. Several of his books were optioned for film rights.

Bibliography

Narc novels

(As Robert Hawkes) # ''Narc'' (1973) # ''Death of a Courier'' (1974) # ''Death List'' (1974) # ''The Delgado Killings'' (1974) # ''Kill the Dragon'' (1974) # ''The Beauty Kill'' (1975) # ''Corsican Death'' (1975) # ''Death Song'' (1975) # ''Kill for It'' (1975)

Black Samurai novels

# ''Black Samurai'' (1974) # ''The Golden Kill'' (1974) # ''Killer Warrior'' (1974) # ''The Deadly Pearl'' (1974) # ''The Inquisition'' (1974) # ''The Warlock'' (1975) # ''Sword of Allah'' (1975) # ''The Katana'' (1975)

The Harker File novels

# ''The Harker File'' (1976) # ''Dead and Paid For'' (1976) # ''They’ve Killed Anna'' (1977) # ''Kill the Reporter'' (1978)

Other novels

* ''Wellington's'' (1977) * ''The Informant'' (1978) * ''Poe Must Die'' (1978) * ''Gossip'' (1979) * ''Book of Shadows'' (1980) * ''Choices'' (1980) (As Leslie Crafford) * ''A Dangerous Glamour'' (1982) * ''Giri'' (1982) * ''The Unvanquished'' (1983) (As Terry Nelsen Bonner) * ''Dai-sho'' (1983) * ''Gaijin'' (1986) * ''Oni'' (1987) * ''Sword of Vengeance'' (1990) * ''Kisaeng'' (1991) * ''Krait'' (1992) * ''Fear's Justice'' (1996) * ''The Ghost'' (1999)

Non fiction

* ''Angela Davis'' (1973) * ''Cocaine'' (1973)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olden, Marc 1933 births 2003 deaths Writers from Baltimore Writers from New York City 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists African-American novelists American male novelists American mystery novelists American thriller writers Queens College, City University of New York alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Maryland 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers African-American male writers