Prather, Richard S. 1921-2007 (David Knight, Richard Scott Prather, Douglas Ring)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born September 9, 1921, in Santa Ana, CA; died of complications from pulmonary disease, February 14, 2007, in Sedona, AZ. Author. Prather was the best-selling author of the private eye series featuring Shell Scott. After attending Riverside Junior College, he enlisted in the merchant marine during World War II. Afterwards, he was a Civil Service clerk at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He quit in 1949 to become a full-time writer. With the exception of the mystery novel Lie Down, Killer (1952), and a few titles written under the pen names David Knight and Douglas Ring, Prather devoted himself to his successful Shell Scott books. The stories were about a tough but cheerful former U.S. marine who becomes a private investigator in southern California. Often remembered for featuring buxom beauties who appeared naked with great regularity, the Scott novels could be campy and bizarre but won a devoted following. Beginning with Case of the Vanishing Beauty (1950), Prather wrote about forty books in the series, the last one being Shellshock (1987). He was also the editor of the anthology The Comfortable Coffin (1960). For his contributions to the genre, Prather was the recipient of the Life Achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America in 1986.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2007, p. B11.

New York Times, March 17, 2007, p. B10.