A Loss for the Young and Old Alike

Less than a week after I first became interested in the fiction of Sid Fleischman, who in the mid-20th century (before he became famous for writing children’s books) published adult crime novels under the byline A.S. Fleischman, The Gumshoe Site Jiro Kimura reports that Fleischman has died:

A.S. Fleischman died on March 17 at his home in Santa Monica, California. He was well known to children as Sid Fleischman, who won the Newbery Medal in 1987 for The Whipping Boy. The 13th Floor (Greenwillow, 1995) and The Midnight Horse (Greenwillow, 1990) were both nominated for an Edgar in the juvenile mystery category. As A.S. Fleischman, he wrote several adult mystery novels such as The Straw Donkey Case (Phoenix, 1948) and Counterspy Express (Ace, 1954). Look Behind You, Lady (1952), Danger in Paradise (1953), Malay Woman (1954), and The Venetian Blonde (1963, all four from Gold Medal) were recently re-issued from Stark house Press as double-books. His forthcoming book is Sir Charlie: The Funniest Man in the World, a biography for children to be out from Greenwillow this June.

Fleischman succumbed just one day after celebrating his 90th birthday. Our sympathies go out to his family.

READ MORE: “Sid Fleischman, Newbery Medal-winning Children’s Writer, Dies at 90,” by Dennis McClellan (Los Angeles Times); “Sid Fleischman (1920-2010),” by Steve Holland (Bear Alley).