Max Simon Ehrlich (October 10, 1909 – February 11, 1983) was an American writer. He is best known for the novel ''

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud ''The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'' is a 1975 American psychological horror film directed by J. Lee Thompson, and starring Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, and Jennifer O'Neill. It follows a university professor who, after experiencing a series ...

'' and the movie of the same name.

Biography

Early life and education

Max Simon Ehrlich was born in

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, Massachusetts on October 10, 1909 to Simon and Sarah Ehrlich. He received a B.A. degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1933. Finding aid for papers in Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, with linked "Biography/History".

Career

Ehrlich began his career in newspapers, working as a correspondent for the Albany, New York ''Knickerbocker Press'' and ''Evening News'' during his college years, then after graduating as a feature writer for the Springfield, Massachusetts ''

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

''. From there he turned to radio, working as the chief writer of the script division of WSPR in 1938 and 1939, in the script division of the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

from 1939 to 1941, and from 1941 to 1945 he was the assistant script director of the radio division of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

. After 1945, Ehrlich was a novelist, playwright, radio and TV dramatist, and author of adaptations for radio, television, and feature films. He wrote radio scripts for series including '' The Big Story'', ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'', ''

Big Town ''Big Town'' is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had ...

'', ''

Mr. and Mrs. North ''Mr. and Mrs. North'' are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple was featured in a series of 26 Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture and several radio and television s ...

'', and '' Murder at Midnight''. His television work included scripts for the series ''Barney Blake'', '' The Big Story'', '' The Defenders'', '' The Nurses'', ''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the U.S. Steel, United States Steel Corpor ...

'', and ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' (episode " The Apple"). Three of his feature film scripts (listed below) were adaptations of his own novels.

Marriage and children

Ehrlich married and had two daughters. One daughter, Amy Ehrlich, is a writer of books for children.

Death

Ehrlich died on February 11, 1983.

Published books

*''The Big Eye'' ( Doubleday, 1949) *'' Spin the Glass Web'' (

Harper & Brothers 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 ...

, 1952) *''First Train to Babylon'' (Harper, 1955) *''The Takers'' (Harper, 1961) *''Deep is the Blue'' (Doubleday, 1964) *''The High Side'' (

Fawcett Publications Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940). It kicked off with the publication of the bawdy humor magazine ''Captain Billy's Whiz B ...

, 1970) *''The Edict'' (Doubleday, 1971) *''

'' (Bobbs-Merrill, 1974) *'' The Savage is Loose'' (

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

, 1974) *''

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 1978) *'' Reincarnation in Venice'' (Simon & Schuster, 1979) *''Naked Beach'' (Granada, 1979) *''The Big Boys'' (

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, 1981) *''Shaitan'' (

Arbor House Arbor House was an independent publishing house founded by Donald Fine in 1969. Specializing in hard cover publications, Arbor House published works by Hortense Calisher, Ken Follett, Cynthia Freeman, Elmore Leonard and Irwin Shaw before being ac ...

, 1981)

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards

*1944:

Writers' War Board The Writers' War Board was the main domestic propaganda organization in the United States during World War II. Privately organized and run, it coordinated American writers with government and quasi-government agencies that needed written work to ...

Award *1963: Huntington Hartford Foundation Fellowship

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrlich, Max Simon 1909 births 1983 deaths American science fiction writers 20th-century American novelists University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers People from Springfield, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts