Leslie Elson Waller (April 1, 1923 – March 29, 2007) was an American writer.

Biography

He is a son of Ukrainian immigrants and was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois. He suffered from

amblyopia Amblyopia, also called lazy eye, is a disorder of sight in which the brain fails to fully process input from one eye and over time favors the other eye. It results in decreased vision in an eye that typically appears normal in other aspects. Amb ...

and

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

as a child, but graduated from Hyde Park High School by the age of 16. He was interested in writing from an early age, and became a police reporter before he went to Wilson Junior College. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and continued to write, never leaving the US. His first published novel under his own name was ''Three Day Pass''. Before that, he published ''Lie Like a Lady'' under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

C.S. Cody. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and earned his M.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He married Louise Hetzel. Together, they moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where his second novel, ''Phoenix Island'', was published in 1953. The couple had two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan, and divorced in 1968. After the divorce, he married photographer and actress Patricia Mahen, and they moved to Calabria, Italy, in 1978 where they lived for 11 years and later moved to London. After 15 years abroad, they lived in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

where he wrote, lectured, and contributed to Florida’s leading cultural magazine, the Naples Review.Obituary: LESLIE WALLER (1923-2007)
/ref> Waller worked as a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

account executive at Harshe-Rotman and Druck in New York, servicing a variety of accounts, including Hertz Rent-a-Car. In the meantime, he continued to write novels and a children's book series, "A Book to Begin on...".

Writer

Leslie Waller with his co-author

Arnold Drake Arnold Drake (March 1, 1924 – March 12, 2007) was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, amo ...

are credited with having written the first

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, '' It Rhymes with Lust''. It was their idea to pitch a new idea, the "picture novel", a bridge between

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

and "book books", to St John, the publisher who released ''It Rhymes with Lust''. Originally published in 1950, the graphic novel was rereleased by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

in the Spring of 2007. His trilogy, ''The Banker'', ''The Family'', and ''The American'' garnered recognition, landing the last title on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller list. Waller became known as a go-to man for novelizations and produced the novels for ''

Dog Day Afternoon ''Dog Day Afternoon'' is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is wr ...

'' (under the pseudonym Patrick Mann), ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' and ''

Hide in Plain Sight ''Hide in Plain Sight'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by and starring James Caan with the storyline based on an actual case from the files of New York attorney Salvatore R. Martoche who represented Tom Leonard, a real-life Buffalo, New Yo ...

''.

Bibliography

*''Lie Like a Lady'' (writing as C S Cody) *''Three Day Pass'' (1944) *''Show Me the Way'' (1947) *'' It Rhymes with Lust'' (1950) (with

, writing as Drake Waller) *''The Bed She Made'' (1951) *''The Witching Night'' (1953) (writing as C S Cody) *''Phoenix Island'' (1958) *''The Banker'' (1963) *''Will the Real Toulouse-Lautrec Please Stand Up?'' (1965) *''Overdrive'' (1966) *''New Sound'' (1968) *''The Family'' (1968) *''Change in the Wind'' (1970) *''The American'' (1971) *''Number One'' (1973) *''The Vacancy'' (1973) (writing as Patrick Mann) *''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1974) (writing as Patrick Mann) *''Coast of Fear'' (1975) *''The Swiss Account'' (1976) *''K. Assignment'' (1976) *''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (1977) (with

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

) *''Hide in Plain Sight'' (1978) *''Trocadero'' (1978) *''Brave and the Free'' (1979) *''Blood and Dreams'' (1980) *''Steal Big'' (1981) (writing as Patrick Mann) *''Gameplan'' (1983) *''Falcon Crest'' (1984) (writing as Patrick Mann) *''Embassy'' (1987) *''Amazing Faith'' (1988) *''Mafia Wars'' (1991) *''Deadly Sins'' (1992) *''Tango Havana'' (1993) *''Manhattan Transfer'' (1994) *''Eden'' (1997) *''Comeback'' (1997) *''Target Diana'' (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Leslie 1923 births 2007 deaths American graphic novelists United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers