Lawrence Goldtree Blochman (February 17, 1900 – January 22, 1975) was an American detective story writer and translator. Lawrence Blochman was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, to Lucien A. Blochman, a banker, and his wife Haidee Goldtree. He began writing early. As a junior at

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sc ...

, Blochman reported school sports for the ''San Diego Evening Tribune'' and, as a senior, he replaced the ''Tribune'' sports editor who had left to serve in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Blochman then attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where he edited the college newspaper, the ''Daily Californian''. In the summer he served as a police reporter for the ''Tribune'' and a courthouse reporter for the ''San Diego Sun''. He graduated from college in 1921. After graduation, he tried to write his "way around the world," working in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

for the ''Japan Advertiser'', in

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for the ''South China Morning Post'', in

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for the ''Far Eastern Review'', in

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for ''The Englishman'', and in

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for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He returned to San Diego as

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of the ''Sun'' in 1924. In 1926, he married Marguerite Maillard in

. Writing as Lawrence G. Blochman, he published more than 50 books, including many mystery and detective novels, as well as several hundred short stories, novelettes, and articles. Several of his stories were made into films, television programs, and radio shows. He also translated more than a dozen books and detective stories from the French, including novels by the celebrated Belgian writer Georges Simenon. In 1948, Blochman served as the fourth president of the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Awa ...

, following

Baynard Kendrick Baynard Hardwick Kendrick (April 8, 1894 – March 22, 1977) was an American mystery novelist. He wrote whodunit novels about Duncan Maclain, a blind private investigator who worked with his two German shepherds and his household of assistants t ...

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...

, and Hugh Pentecost. In 1951, Blochman's "Diagnosis: Homicide" received an Edgar Award in the Best Short Story category. He was vice president of the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

and winner of its Meritorious Service Award in 1959. He died in

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in 1975. His widow Marguerite died there in 1991. Blochman's family was of French Jewish origin and was among the pioneers in San Diego.

Bibliography

*''Bombay Mail'' (1934) *''Bengal Fire'' (1937) *''Red Snow at Darjeeling'' (1938) *''Midnight Sailing'' (1939) *''Blow Down'' (1940) *''Wives to Burn'' (1940) *''See You at the Morgue'' (1946) *''Diagnosis: Homicide'' (1950) *''Death Walks in Marble Halls'' aka ''Murder Walks in Marble Halls'' (1951) *''Pursuit'' (1951) *''Rather Cool for Mayhem'' (1952) *''Recipe for Homicide'' (1952) *''Clues for Dr. Coffee'' (1964)

External links and sources

"The Blochman Saga in San Diego"
by Trudie Casper in the ''Journal of San Diego History'', Winter 1977, Volume 23, Number 1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Blochman, Lawrence 1900 births 1975 deaths American mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Edgar Award winners University of California, Berkeley alumni American editors 20th-century American translators American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers San Diego High School alumni