Dibdin, Michael 1947-2007 (Michael John Dibdin)
Dibdin, Michael 1947-2007 (Michael John Dibdin)
OBITUARY NOTICE—
See index for CA sketch: Born March 21, 1947, in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England; died March 30, 2007, in Seattle, WA. Author. Dibdin was the creator of Italian police detective Aurelio Zen, who appeared in eleven mystery novels. After earning a B.A. from the University of Sussex in 1968, he traveled to Canada and finished an M.A. at the University of Alberta in 1969. Dibdin then worked as a house painter in Canada before returning to London. Next, he traveled to Italy and taught English for four years in Perugia before finally returning home and settling in Oxford. Dibdin had begun his literary career while still in Canada. He tried to write literary fiction without much luck. He finally was published with 1978's The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, which borrowed from the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. This was followed several years later with A Rich Full Death (1986), a mystery novel that featured poet Robert Browning as its hero. Dibdin hit his stride in 1988 with his first Aurelio Zen mystery novel, Ratking (1988). It would be followed by ten more installments about the Italian detective, including Cabal (1992), Blood Rain (1999), and End Games, which had not yet been published at the time of his death.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2007, p. B8.
New York Times, April 6, 2007, p. C10.
Times (London, England), April 5, 2007, p. 82.