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John Franklin Bardin

ジョン・フランクリン・バーディン

Jon Furankurin Bādin

Pen Names: Gregory Tree（Pen name used for some crime novels）, Douglas Ashe（Pen name used for A Shroud For Grandmama and others）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1916-11-30 （Cincinnati, Ohio, United States）
Died
1981-07-09 （Beth Israel Medical Center, Manhattan, New York City） age 64
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Unknown
Residence History
Cincinnati, Ohio → New York City → Chicago, Illinois → East Village, Manhattan

Career

Occupations
Advertising executive, Editor, Novelist
Active Years
1946-1978
Affiliations
Edwin Bird Wilson, Inc., New School for Social Research, United Negro College Fund, United Jewish Appeal, Coronet magazine, American Medical Association, American Bar Association
Influenced By
Graham Greene, Henry Green, Henry James

Education

Walnut Hills High School
Country: United States
Graduated
University of Cincinnati
Engineering
Period: 1年
Country: United States
Studied engineering, left after first year to work

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Deadly Percheron

1946 Crime fiction

A psychiatrist encounters a patient with apparent delusions and a strange story, which connects to reality and draws him into an alternate identity.

DelusionsAlternate identityPsychological intrigue

The Last of Philip Banter

1947 Crime fiction

A man receives disturbing predictions about his life that partly come true, with destructive effects.

PredictionsMental alterationSelf-destruction
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Last of Philip Banter / Hervé Hachuel (1986)

Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly

1948 Crime fiction

A complicated story of mental patient Ellen's disintegration, told through her psychology.

Mental disintegrationHallucinationsSchizophrenia

Bibliography

  • The Deadly Percheron (1946)
  • The Last of Philip Banter (1947)
  • Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly (1948)
  • The Case Against Myself (Gregory Tree, 1950)
  • The Burning Glass (1950)
  • The Case Against Butterfly (Gregory Tree, 1951)
  • A Shroud For Grandmama (Douglas Ashe, 1951)
  • So Young To Die (Gregory Tree, 1953)
  • Christmas Comes but Once a Year (1954)
  • Purloining Tiny (1978)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Psychological crime fictionIntricate plotting
Recurring Motifs
Mental illnessHallucinations and realityFamily tragedies

Legacy

Best known for three crime novels from 1946-1948, which gained cult status and were rediscovered in Britain in the 1970s.

In Popular Culture

  • The Deadly Percheron is read and referenced in the film Mona Lisa
  • Used as example in Library of Congress Rule Interpretations

Trivia

  • Most immediate family died of various illnesses
  • Mother became a paranoid schizophrenic
  • Worked as editor for American Bar Association magazines in Chicago