Joseph Hansen dead at 81

[bigguyinpasadena]

Associated Press

 

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Joseph Hansen, a mystery novelist known for crisp, lean prose and for creating one of his genre's first gay protagonists in the character of Dave Brandstetter, has died at the age of 81.

 

Hansen died of heart failure at his home on Nov. 24, his family reported. He had long suffered from respiratory illness.

 

He had already published five novels and a collection of short stories dealing frankly with homosexual subject matter under the name James Colton when "Fadeout," the first of 12 Brandstetter mystery novels, was released in 1970.

 

Brandstetter was a tough, street-smart shamus who was typical of the genre in every way except one.

 

"My joke was to take the true hard-boiled character in American fiction tradition and make him homosexual," Hansen told the Orange County Register in 1998. "He was going to be a nice man, a good man, and he was doing to do his job well."

 

San Francisco l (More Inside)

[HotdadENYC]

>Associated Press

>

>LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Joseph Hansen, a mystery novelist known

>for crisp, lean prose and for creating one of his genre's

>first gay protagonists in the character of Dave Brandstetter,

>has died at the age of 81.

>

>He had already published five novels and a collection of short

>stories dealing frankly with homosexual subject matter under

>the name James Colton when "Fadeout," the first of 12

>Brandstetter mystery novels, was released in 1970.

>

>Brandstetter was a tough, street-smart shamus who was typical

>of the genre in every way except one.

>

 

I am truly sorry to hear this. I've read (and in some cases, re-read) everything Hansen wrote that was readily available to me.

 

Even though others have taken up the genre (John Morgan Wilson and Richard Mark Zurbo, to name a couple), Hansen was a pioneer and most definitely a trendsetter.

 

He will be missed.

 

hd NYC

[jackhammer91406]

I read the obit today in the L.A. Times. As an avid reader of the genre, I was grateful to read about his career since I am constantly looking for authors I am not familiar with, because I often run out of reading material.

I will certainly be looking for his series of books.

[Boston Guy]

A Talented Novelist

 

I read all of the Brandstetter novels, in order. :-) I also read some of his other works but by no means all.

 

I thought he was a talented writer who really succeeded in what he set out to do with Dave Brandstetter. But he really pissed me off when he killed off Dave! After 21 years and 12 novels, I'd gotten to like the guy. Then, along comes A Country of Old Men in the Spring of 1991 and boom! No more Dave Brandstetter.

 

I knew Hansen was somewhat older but I didn't realize he was that old. Sounds like he had a good life. I regret there really never will be another Brandstetter novel... I kept hoping he'd somehow bring him back for just one more caper. :-)

 

Those here who have never had the pleasure of reading the Brandstetter series are well-advised to try them. They're lovely, spare, novels that are at once both respectful of gay people and gay life and also darn good reads in the tradition of Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, and Raymond Chandler. It was quite a coup when they first showed up in 1970: a successful, respected, gay detective written without any apologies at all. Hansen justifiably gathered many kudos and awards over the years, including awards from organizations not affiliated in any way with the gay community. I don't know if they're still in print or not, but if you're going to read them, try to read them in order. It's like watching the unfolding of a friend's life.

 

The books were timely and -- unfortunately! -- Brandstetter aged along with the rest of us as the years went on. They also reflected the changes that were happening in the gay community as time went by, including AIDS. Hansen introduced the character Cecil in Early Graves. Cecil is almost 30 years younger than Dave, black and from a much poorer background. Despite the differences, they fall in love, quite rapidly.

 

In A Country of Old Men (1991), Cecil says to Dave "But with so many dying, we better love each other for real, and all we can-- we're so lucky to have the chance." .

 

The Brandstetter series, in order, includes:

 

* 1 : Fadeout (1970) by Joseph Hansen

* 2 : Death Claims (1973) by Joseph Hansen

* 3 : Troublemaker (1975) by Joseph Hansen

* 4 : The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of (1978) by Joseph Hansen

* 5 : Skinflick (1979) by Joseph Hansen

* 6 : Gravedigger (1982) by Joseph Hansen

* 7 : Nightwork (1984) by Joseph Hansen

* 8 : Little Dog Laughed, the (1986) by Joseph Hansen

* 9 : Early Graves (1987) by Joseph Hansen

* 10 : Obedience (1988) by Joseph Hansen

* 11 : Boy Who Was Buried This Morning, the (1990) by Joseph Hansen

* 12 : Country of Old Men, a (1991) by Joseph Hansen

 

To Hansen, I give my thanks: thanks for many good reads over many years; thanks for creating characters who still live. I wish you well as you walk upon "the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveller returns".

 

Respectfully,

BG

[Guest gryphone]

Hansen"s death is a real loss. In addition the Brandstetter novels, I encourage

readers to look up "Living Upstairs" and its pre quel whose title I don't recall,

for a moving and poignant tale of gay life in the 1940s.

[Guest alanm]

RE: A Talented Novelist

 

I also loved the Brandstetter series; it is sad to know that Hansen is gone. He created a world that I believed in, with his dad, step mom and especially Cecil. I sensed that Hansen was getting tired of the series in the last few books, but Bradsteter's death in the final book was shock even though we knew it was coming. I am still upset 13 years later. Michael Nava has become the next generation's Hansen.

 

On novels, am I the only one who enjoyed Paul Russell's "War Against the Animals" as much as "At Swim, Two Boys." of historical novels. I could identify with many of the characters in Russell's book, even some of the locals in the small upstate New York town dealing with the all the new residents -- gays men from the city. Nice book, loved

poor Jesse.

[CT Dick]

Very progressive obituary

 

The AP obituary in the NYTimes discussed Hansen's 51-year marriage to Jane Bancroft. It ended:

 

"The couple had a daughter who later had gender reassignment. He is Mr. Hansen's only survivor."

 

Dick

[Guest rohale]

Joseph Hansen was very much a local fixture in Laguna Beach. He was very approachable and quite charming. I had a chance encounter with him earlier this year at an art gallery in July. In all honesty, I didn't have a clue as to who he was. I remember my friend saying that he was a literature writer. I didn't really care, to me writers are a dime a dozen. I found him different, because he was making wise cracks about writers in general. I thought to myself well this is totally different. I introduced myself to him, he was very obliging to me. My accent is what did the trick for him. He loved talking to people, regardless of age. I found myself very fortunate to be talking to such an intelligent man. He didn't like talking about his work, what he did like to do was make general observations about the world around him. I got a huge kick out of it. We also talked about literature and the history of classical music. I was even more suprised to find out that one point in his career, he was a folk singer in the early 1950's. I really enjoyed to talking to this gentleman.

 

I saw him on three other occassions, last time was at at the Fitzgerald's pub in Newport Beach. That was back in late October. He didn't seem to have a problem remembering me. I again had a nice conversation. I only found out three days ago that he died. A co-worker of mine who also resides in Laguna Beach, told me of his death. I felt a bit sad for this wonderful character. To me he came off as a really nice guy. I wish he were alive today, because he made a hell of a difference in this world, he made it better with his presence.

 

I was very suprised to find this thread about him, only to realise how much of an impact he had in the world of writing. To this day, I've never read a novel that he wrote. I probably wont, mainly lack of time. I'm glad that there are people out there who have enjoyed his work. There is one thing that still stands in my mind. The first time I met him, my friend asked him why a person of his caliber would want to live in Orange County, which is very much politically conservative. The way he answered the question was unique. He said that he loved living at the Bottom Of the Food Chain in Laguna Beach. It would prove to him that residents of Orange County are very materialistic. I'm not even half his age, but I'm grateful to have had the chance to cross paths with this wonderful man. I dont know how the rest of the country will view him with the passage of time. I know that Laguna Beach was definitely better of having as a resident of this beach front community. He made a difference in the world of literature and I hope his legacy will stand the test of time.

 

Rohale

[Luv2play]

RE: A Talented Novelist

 

>I sensed that Hansen

>was getting tired of the series in the last few books, but

>Bradsteter's death in the final book was shock even though we

>knew it was coming.

 

Funny you should say that, I got tired reading his detective novels by about number 7. I read all the ones up till then and still have them somewhere at the cottage (I never throw away an old book). But I couldn't go on for some reason. I think I found the novels too spare and the character Bradsteter too unconvincingly "gay" in his approach to life. His "gayness" was somehow incidental and he was never caught up in the gay issues or mileu of the day, and in the 70's there were plenty of issues. And California, where his novels were mostly set, was leading the way in the gay lifestyle, along with New York. Not too much of that seemed to be reflected in his novels.