Trevanian


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"Trevanian" was the pen name of American author Dr. Rodney William Whitaker (12 June 1931-14 Dec 2005). He wrote in a wide variety of genres, achieved best-seller status, and published under several names, of which the best known was Trevanian. From 1972 to 1983, five of his novels sold more than a million copies each.[1] He was described as "the only writer of airport paperbacks to be compared to Zola, Ian Fleming, Poe and Chaucer."[2]

Whitaker also published works as Nicholas Seare and Beñat Le Cagot. He published the non-fiction work The Language of Film under his own name.

Contents

Life

Born in Granville, New York, 12 June 1931, Rodney William Whitaker became enthralled with stories as a boy. His family struggled with poverty and he lived for several years in Albany, New York as a youth (a time portrayed in his last published work).

Whitaker earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Washington.[3] While there he wrote and directed his own three-act play Eve of the Bursting. Whitaker went on to earn a doctorate in communications and film at Northwestern University.

He taught at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, where he was chairman of the communications division. He served in the US Navy during the Korean War, and later was awarded a Fullbright scholarship for study in England. When he wrote his first two novels, he was chairman of the Department of Radio, TV and Film at the University of Texas, Austin, where he continued to teach for many years. [4]

Whitaker married the former Diane Brandon, and they had four children: sons Lance and Christian, and daughters Alexandra and Tomasin. They lived for years in the Basque country of France.[5]

Whitaker died December 14, 2005 in the English West Country. He was survived by his wife and four grown children.

Literary works

In one account Whitaker said his wife chose the pen name Trevanian based on her appreciation of English historian G.M. Trevelyan. Trevanian wrote many bestselling novels in different genres, which received highly favorable critical reviews.[6]

His first novel, published under Trevanian at the age of forty when he was teaching at the University of Texas, was The Eiger Sanction, an intelligent, gritty and thrilling spy spoof. It became a world-wide best seller. It was produced as the 1975 movie starring Clint Eastwood. Trevanian described the movie as "vapid" in a footnote in Shibumi. He requested (and received) a screenwriting credit as Rod Whitaker. The balance of the script was written by Warren Murphy, the mystery author perhaps best known for co-writing the Destroyer series of men's action novels.

Saddened that some critics did not 'get' the spoof, Trevanian followed it with an even more intense spoof, The Loo Sanction (1973), which depicted an ingenious art theft (which was copied by thieves in Turin). Then came The Main (1976), a roman policier set in a poor neighborhood of Montreal. Claude LaPointe, a police lieutenant in his mid-50s whose wife had died young, was the lead character. Trevanian originally intended to publish The Main under the pen name Jean-Paul Morin. [7].

Next came Shibumi (1979), Trevanian's meta-spy novel, which received the most critical acclaim; and The Summer of Katya (1983), a psychological horror novel. The widely diverse books solidified the myth that "Trevanian" was a collective pen name for a group of writers working together. Under the name Nicolas Seare, Trevanian published 1339 or So: Being an Apology for a Pedlar (1975), a witty medieval tale of love and courage; and Rude Tales and Glorious (1983), a bawdy re-telling of Arthurian tales.

After a 15-year absence from domestic publishing, Trevanian reappeared as the author of a Western, Incident at Twenty-Mile (1998) and a collection of short stories, Hot Night in the City (2000). His last novel, written while he was in declining health, took a surprising turn. The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (2005) depicted the coming-of-age story of Jean-Luc LaPointe, a boy surviving with his mother and sister in the slums of Albany, New York in the years preceding and during World War II. (He shared a surname with the police lieutenant in The Main.) Although the book was published as fiction, commentators described it as autobiographical memoir. In November 2005 it was selected as one of eleven Editors' Choice books by the Historical Novel Society.[8]

In the summer of 2005, Crown Publishers relaunched a trade paper set of five of Trevanian's earlier bestsellers: The Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction, The Main, The Summer of Katya and the most revered of all his books, Shibumi.

Street of the Four Winds, Trevanian's vast tale of Parisian artists caught in the 1848 revolution, based on his meticulous research of the era, remains unpublished. An excerpt is posted on Trevanian's web site.[1]

Trevanian kept his true identity unknown for many years. He refused to grant interviews or contribute to the publicity efforts of his publishers. Trevanian's first known interview was granted to Carol Lawson of The New York Times for a 10 June 10 1979 article coinciding with the release of Shibumi. In this article Trevanian stated that "Trevanian is going out of business. Now he can talk."

It was often rumored that Trevanian was Robert Ludlum writing under a pen name. Trevanian rejected that idea stating, "I don't even know who he is. I read Proust, but not much else written in the 20th century." [9]

Trevanian wrote successfully in every genre. In a 1998 interview with Newsweek, he said that with each new book, he first decided what author should tell the story. He used Method-acting techniques to imagine himself as the author in order to work into the story he wanted to tell. [10] Trevanian fans followed his style changes with delight.

Trevanian said of his fans:

"The Trevanian Buff is a strange and wonderful creature: an outsider, a natural elitist, not so much a cynic as an idealist mugged by reality, not just one of those who march to a different drummer, but the solo drummer in a parade of one."

[11]

Nonfiction (as Rod Whitaker)

  • The Language of Film (1970)
  • Christ on Stage. Dialog 5, Summer 1966, pgs. 226-227 (1966).
  • "Conversation: On translating Senecan tragedy into film", James Hynd (an interview with Rod Whitaker). Arion (Boston), v. 7 (Spring 1968), p. 58-67 (1968).
  • Stasis. Script to a film by Rod Whitaker and Richard Kooris. Copyright (c) 1968.
  • "The Lawyer, The Lawman, and The Law: Public Image", Texas Law Review: Volume 50 - Issue 4. pgs. 822-827 (1972).

Novels

As Trevanian

  • The Eiger Sanction (1972)
  • The Loo Sanction (1973)
  • The Main (1976)
  • Shibumi (1979)
  • The Summer of Katya (1983)
  • Incident at Twenty-Mile (1998)
  • The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (2005)

As Nicholas Seare

  • 1339 or So ...Being An Apology for A Pedlar (1975) (1339 or So... was, in early form, a stage play titled Eve of the Bursting)
  • Rude Tales And Glorious (1983)

Short stories

  • "Switching", Trevanian. Playboy Magazine. December 1978. (Note: a revised version of this story appeared in Hot Night in the City as After Hours at Rick's)
  • "Minutes of a Village Meeting", by Beñat Le Cagot, translated by Trevanian. Harper's Monthly. February 1979. pgs. 60 - 63. (Note: a revised version of this story appeared in Hot Night in the City.)
  • "That Fox-of-a-Beñat", by Beñat Le Cagot, translated by Trevanian. Yale Literary Magazine. 1984. Vol. 151, No 1, pgs 25-33. (Note: a revised version of this story appeared in Hot Night in the City.)
  • "The Secrets of Miss Plimsoll, Private Secretary", by Trevanian. Redbook. March 1984. (Note: a revised version of this story appeared in Hot Night in the City as "The Sacking of Miss Plimsoll".)
  • "The Apple Tree", by Trevanian. The Antioch Review, Yellow Springs: Spring 2000. Vol. 58, Iss. 2; p. 195 (14 pages)
  • "Waking to the Spirit Clock", by Trevanian. The Antioch Review, Yellow Springs: Summer 2003. Vol. 61, Iss. 3; p. 409

Other works

  • Eve of the Bursting, Rod Whitaker (he also directed.) A drama in three acts, 1959; performed at the University Playhouse at the University of Washington.
  • Introduction to the 1998 Re-issue of A Climb Up to Hell by Jack Olsen. 1st Ed. Harper & Row, 1962, New York, 1962. Reprint Edition by Griffin House (St. Martins Press), New York, 1998.
  • Editor and Introduction to the short-story mystery collection Death Dance: Suspenseful Stories of the Dance Macabre. Cumberland House, 2002.
  • The Crazyladies of Pearl Street Cybernotes Companion. Copyright 2005 by Trevanian.
  • The Street of the Four Winds - Part I Internet Edition'. Copyright 2005 by Trevanian.

See also

Citations

  1. ^ John Rodat, "Assumed Identity", Albany's Metroland Magazine, n.d. 2005, accessed 15 Nov 2008
  2. ^ Douglas Martin (December 17, 2005). "Rodney Whitaker, Writer, Is Dead at 74; Best Known as Trevanian", The New York Times. , accessed 15 Nov 2008
  3. ^ Myrna Oliver, "Rodney Whitaker, a.k.a. Trevanian, 74; Author Wrote 'Eiger Sanction'", Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec 2005, accessed 15 Nov 2008
  4. ^ "Rodney Whitaker, Writer, Is Dead at 74; Best Known as Trevanian", The New York Times (December 17, 2005). 
  5. ^ "Rodney Whitaker, Writer, Is Dead at 74; Best Known as Trevanian", The New York Times (December 17, 2005). 
  6. ^ Douglas Martin (December 17, 2005). "Rodney Whitaker, Writer, Is Dead at 74; Best Known as Trevanian", The New York Times. , accessed 15 Nov 2008
  7. ^ Trevanian Official Website, accessed 15 Nov 2008
  8. ^ Editors' Choice, Historical Novel Society, Nov. 2005, accessed 15 Nov 2008
  9. ^ Douglas Martin (December 17, 2005). "Rodney Whitaker, Writer, Is Dead at 74; Best Known as Trevanian", The New York Times. , accessed 15 Nov 2008
  10. ^ Myrna Oliver, "Rodney Whitaker, a.k.a. Trevanian, 74; Author Wrote 'Eiger Sanction'", Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec 2005, accessed 15 Nov 2008
  11. ^ Trevanian Official Website, accessed 15 Nov 2008

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