Roderick Mayne Thorp, Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in police procedural/
crime novel
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
s. His novel ''
The Detective'' was adapted into a
film of the same name in 1968. Thorp is also better known for its sequel, the bestselling novel, ''
Nothing Lasts Forever'', which later served as the basis for the film ''
Die Hard'', thus Thorp became a creator of the entire
media franchise of the same name. Two other Thorp novels, ''
Rainbow Drive'' and ''Devlin'', were also adapted into TV movies.
Life
Thorp was born in
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York City.
As a young college graduate, Thorp worked at a detective agency owned by his father. He would later teach literature and lecture on creative writing at schools and universities in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
and California, and also wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. Thorp died of a heart attack in
Oxnard, California
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
.
[Nick Rav]
Roderick Thorp, 62, a Detective Turned Popular Crime Novelist
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, 4. May 1999.[Jack Adrian ]
Obituaries: Roderick Thorp
'. The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
, May 22, 1999[Jon Thurber]
Roderick Thorp; Writer of ‘Die Hard,’ ‘The Detective’
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
, 2. May 1999, S. B–5.
Novels
*''Into the Forest'' (1961)
*''
The Detective'' (1966)
*''Dionysus'' (1969)
*''The Music of Their Laughter: An American Album'' (1970)
*''Wives: An Investigation'' (1971)
*''Slaves'' (1973)
*''The Circle of Love'' (1974)
*''Westfield'' (1977)
*''
Nothing Lasts Forever'' (1979) (reissued as ''Die Hard'')
*''Jenny and Barnum: A Novel of Love'' (1981)
*''
Rainbow Drive'' (1986)
*''Devlin'' (1988)
*''River: A Novel of the Green River Killings'' (1995)
Filmography
*''
The Detective'' (1968) (novel)
*''
Die Hard'' (1988) (novel)
*''
Rainbow Drive'' (1990) (book)
*''Devlin'' (1992) (book)
*''
Deep Down'' (1994) (cast)
References
External links
*
Roderick Thorp at Goodreads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorp, Roderick
1936 births
1999 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
American crime fiction writers
American male novelists
People from the Bronx
Die Hard