NORDAN, Robert W(arren) 1934-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born June 20, 1934, in Raleigh, NC; died of pneumonia and complications from Parkinson's disease, November 8, 2004, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Psychologist and author. Nordan was a children's advocate and director of children's services for the Illinois Masonic Medical Center, as well as the author of several mystery novels. An only child growing up in the American South, he often found himself taunted by people who discovered he was a homosexual. This experience would later influence his decision to help children as a career. Graduating from Duke University in 1956 with an English degree, he traveled to New York City and became a copywriter for Life magazine. While in New York, however, he decided he wanted to do more to help others, so he went back to school at the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. in psychology in 1968. Nordan was hired by Illinois Masonic in 1973 as a child psychologist and became director of children's services at the Katherine Wright Center. He worked at the center until 1998, helping children who often had nowhere else to turn. Nordan had other interests, too, he was an accomplished chef and he wrote several detective novels featuring the character Mavis Lashley. Among these are All Dressed up to Die (1989), Death on Wheels (1991), and Dead and Breakfast (2001). He also wrote a novel for young readers, The Secret Road (2001).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Sun-Times, November 24, 2004.

Chicago Tribune, November 26, 2004, section 3, p. 9.